(The) lie in the North Atlantic Ocean, between the parallels of Lat. 27.40 and 29.30 N., and the meridians of Long. 13.30 and 18.20 W. The names of the seven principal islands, their respective area in English square miles, and their population in 1835, are given in the following table:

| Tenerife | Grand Canary | Palma | Lanzarote | Fuerteventura | Gomera | Hierro | |----------|--------------|-------|-----------|---------------|--------|-------| | Area | 877.7 | 758.5 | 718.5 | 223.5 | 329.1 | 169.7 | | Population | 85,000 | 88,000| 33,000 | 17,400 | 13,800 | 11,700|

Fuerteventura lies nearest to the African coast, the interval being between 50 and 60 miles. Besides these, there are many islets, most of which are uninhabited.

History.—There is ground for supposing that the Phoenicians were not ignorant of the Canaries. The Romans, in the time of Augustus, received intelligence of them through Juba, king of Mauritania, whose account has been transmitted to us by the elder Pliny. He mentions "Canaria, so called from the multitude of dogs of great size," and "Ni varia, taking its name from perpetual snow, and covered with clouds," doubtless Teneriffe. Canaria was said to abound in palms and pine trees. Both Plutarch and Ptolemy speak of the Fortunate Islands, but their description is so imperfect that it is not clear whether the Madeiras or the Canaries are referred to. There is no farther mention of them until we read of their re-discovery about 1334, by a French vessel driven amongst them by a storm. A Spanish nobleman therupon obtained a grant of them with the title of king from Clement VI., but want of means prevented him carrying out his project of conquest. Two expeditions subsequently set out from Spanish ports, and returned without having taken possession. At length three vessels, equipped by Jean de Bethencourt a gentleman of Normandy, sailed from Rochelle in 1400, and bent their course to the Canaries. He landed at Lanzarote and Fuerteventura, but being opposed by the natives, and finding himself deficient in means to effect his purpose, he repaired to the court of Castile; and obtaining from Henry III. a grant of the islands, with the title of king, he sailed in 1404 with a strong force, which mastered Lanzarote, Fuerteventura, Gomera, and Hierro, without bloodshed. Being repulsed in his attempts on Palma and Canary, he returned to Europe in 1408 to obtain farther assistance. He was well received at the Castilian court, where he was promised the aid he sought; but he died shortly afterwards in France, whither he had gone to visit his patrimonial property. Bethencourt's nephew had been left governor of the islands, and claimed to succeed to his uncle's rights. Being charged with many acts of misgovern- ment, he went to Spain to clear himself, and whilst there sold his rights to Don Henrique de Guzman, who, after ex- panding large sums in fruitless endeavours to reduce the unconquered islands, sold them to another Spaniard named Paraza. His successors, about 1461, took nominal possession of Canary and Teneriffe, but the natives effectually resisted their occupation of them. Meantime it appeared that Jean de Bethencourt's nephew had fraudulently made a second sale of the islands to Don Henry of Portugal, who sent 1000 men and 100 horse to take possession. The difference thus arising between the crowns of Spain and Portugal was ended by the cession of the islands to the former. Grand Canary, Teneriffe, and Palma remaining unsubdued in 1476, Fer- dinand and Isabella of Spain compelled Paraza's successors to sell those islands to the crown; and the following year 1000 men were despatched to reduce them. After much blood- shed, and with reinforcements from the mother country, the Spaniards, under Pedro de Vera, became masters of Grand Canary in 1483. Palma was conquered in 1491, and Tene- riffe in 1495, by Alonzo de Lugo. All the islands have continued in the possession of the Spaniards to this day.

Inhabitants.—As to the derivation of their original in- habitants nothing certain is known. The most probable supposition is, that they came from the adjoining coast of Africa. Pliny states that the islands were uninhabited at the time of which he wrote. If this were so, we might infer from the absence of any trace of Mohammedanism amongst the people found there by the Spaniards, that the migra- tion took place between the time to which his account re- fers, and the time of the conquest of Barbary by the Arabs. They were called Guanches. Many of these people fell in opposing the Spanish invasion—many were sold by the con- querors as slaves—and many conformed to the Roman Catholic faith, and intermarried with the Spaniards; so that all trace of them as a distinct race is lost. They have always been celebrated for their tall stature, and Humboldt styles them the Patagonians of the old world. Spanish writings mention one chief who was 14 feet high, and another who measured 9 feet. Probably the Spaniards encouraged fables of this kind to magnify their conquest. The skeletons of eight or nine Guanche mummies were lately examined by Dr Hodgkin, who found them all to be less than average skele- tons of Europeans. The Guanches embalmed the bodies of their dead, and placed them in caves. Many mummies have been found at different times in a state of extreme desiccation, each weighing not more than six or seven lbs. A recent traveller (Captain Grey) states, that there are two inaccessible caves in a vertical rock by the shore, three miles from Santa Cruz (Teneriffe), which still contain bones. A few words of the languages spoken by the ancient inhabi- tants have been preserved, and a resemblance of some of them to words of North African dialects has been noticed. On the other hand, the Guanches had customs, such as that of preserving their dead, in which they differed from the Berbers.

The present inhabitants are slightly darker than the people of the mother country; but in other respects scarcely dis- tinguishable. The men are of middle height, well made and strong; the women are not striking in respect of beauty, but they have good eyes and hair. Spanish is the only lan- guage in use. The people have most of the traits of the people of the peninsula; they are sober, but given to gam- bling, quick, but lazy, faithless, and grossly superstitious. The lower classes are quite illiterate, and the better classes not very enlightened. A few booksellers' shops of a minor description exist at Santa Cruz and Las Palmas. At the former place two newspapers, and at the latter one, are published. Emigration to the extent of about 200 persons annually takes place to Cuba. The sustenance of the lower classes is chiefly composed of salt fish, potatoes, and gofio, which is merely Indian corn or wheat roasted, and then when ground mixed with water.

Government, &c.—The Archipelago is politically con- sidered part of the province of Andalucia. The governor- general, who resides at Santa Cruz, has chief command both in civil and military affairs. The actual administration of affairs is in the hands of two lieutenant-governors, each with a district to himself, one of whom is resident at Santa Cruz, and the other at Las Palmas. On the other islands are de- puty-governors, acting under the lieutenant-governor to whose district they belong. The military force is composed of a battalion of soldiers of the line, numbering about 1000 men; six regiments of militia amounting to about 8000 men, distributed amongst the islands; and a few companies of artil- lery. There is a military commander on each island. The great court of appeal sits at Las Palmas. Courts of first instance sit at Santa Cruz, Orotava, and Las Palmas. The laws of Spain are administered here. The land in great part is strictly entailed; the law of landlord and tenant is very bad. The islands form two bishoprics, Teneriffe, and Grand Canary. The whole ecclesiastical revenue is esti- mated at upwards of £36,000. The monkish establishments have been suppressed, and such of the monasteries and con- vents as are not kept up for secular purposes are falling to ruin. No form of religion except the Roman Catholic is tolerated.

Climate and Meteorology.—From April to October a N. or N.E. wind of more or less strength blows upon these islands, commencing at 10 A.M., and continuing until 5 or 6 P.M. Foggy weather accompanies an easterly wind, but it becomes clear when the wind changes to the northward. On the S.W. coasts there is no regular sea or land breeze. In winter they are occasionally visited by a S.E. wind, called Levante. This is a hot wind from the African continent, producing various disagreeable consequences on the exposed parts of the person, besides injuring the vegetation, espe- cially on the higher grounds. Locusts have sometimes been brought by this wind. In 1812, it is said that locusts covered some of the fields in Fuerteventura to the depth of four feet. Their last visit was in 1844. Hurricanes at distant inter- vals, accompanied by waterspouts, have caused much de- vestation; but, on the whole, these islands are singularly free from such visitations. The climate generally is mild, dry, and salubrious. On the lower grounds the tempera- ture is equable, the daily range seldom exceeding 6°. On the mountains, of course, the range is greater, and the air much more cold and damp. The rainy season occurs at the same period as in southern Europe. The dry season is at the time of the trade-winds, which extend a few degrees farther north than this latitude. "In no part of the world is the barometer more susceptible of atmospheric changes than amongst the Canary Islands. A rapid rise is the sure precursor of an easterly wind, whilst the contrary as certainly indicates a change to W. or S.W." (Lieut. Arlett.)

Agriculture, Manufactures, and Commerce.—In ordinary years, sufficient grain and potatoes are produced to supply the wants of the islands. The soil on the lower part of the islands, where water is plentiful, is productive; in some places two crops of Indian corn and one of potatoes can be ob- tained from the same piece of ground in a twelvemonth. Except at Fuerteventura, the vine is much cultivated, but chiefly at Teneriffe, the best wines being produced on the N.W. coast. None, however, is considered so good as the wine of Madeira. The most esteemed kind is sent to Eng- land under the name of Vidonia. The grape disease made its appearance at the Canaries in 1863, and destroyed nearly the whole crop. Previously the total annual produce was estimated at about 40,000 pipes, of which 25,000 pipes were produced in Teneriffe. Between 8000 and 9000 pipes were exported. The price per pipe on board ranged from L8 to L20. Some of the wine is distilled into good brandy. Sumach for the tanners, canary-seed, and a little flax, are grown. The gardens produce, in addition to the vegetables of English gardens, pumpkins, gourds, yams (taro), garlic, red pepper, and the castor-oil plant. The fruit trees are badly managed, so that the fruit is generally inferior. Here are found fruits from every quarter of the globe, including oranges, figs, bananas, dates, pine apples, pomegranates, papaws, guavas, custard apples, and prickly pears (the fruit of the cactus). There are no cocoa-nut trees or bread-fruit trees, as Humboldt reports. A little oil is obtained from the olive in Grand Canary. The agave is abundant, and supplies a material for ropes, girths, &c. The leaves of the date palm are made into hats and baskets. A good deal of orchilla-lichen is gathered for exportation; and the ice-plant is cultivated for barilla. The sugar manufacture, once so largely carried on, has fallen before the American and West Indian trade; the only two existing mills are on Palma. Wine having been for some time so little remunerative, other things have received attention, the chief of which is cochineal. This insect, which feeds on the common cactus (Opuntia tuna), is now largely produced on all the islands, land formerly occupied by grain and vines being devoted to its cultivation. The insect has not been long introduced, but the cultivation has rapidly extended. In 1849, 800,000 lbs. were exported, principally to France and England. Since that year the exports have much increased; the price paid to the Canary exporter is about a dollar per lb. The silkworm is reared to a small extent, chiefly on Palma. Raw silk is exported, and some is manufactured on the spot into stockings, ribands, &c. Some linen and woollen stuffs of a coarse kind are made for home consumption, but the great bulk of the clothing in use is of British manufacture. The island goats (a peculiar and esteemed breed) furnish milk, from which butter and cheese are made. Sheep of a small coarse-woollen breed are numerous. Horses and cattle are scarce; domestic fowls and rabbits plentiful. Asses and mules are much used. A fishery on the African coast, at present engaging from 40 to 50 vessels, and giving employment to many persons, has existed since an early period. It was deemed of such importance, that the home government lately sent out a commissioner to report on it with a view to its improvement. The fish taken is principally bream. It is salted, and largely consumed at the Canaries.

There is a good deal of intercourse by means of boats and small sailing vessels amongst the different islands. In this way wine, raw silk, cochineal, barilla, and dried fruits are taken to the places of export; and grain is conveyed from those islands where it is abundant to those where the supply is deficient. The principal foreign trade is with England, the chief articles of export being wine, cochineal, barilla, and orchilla. The imports consist of iron, metal goods, glass, crockery, leather, silk, cotton, and woollen manufactures. There is also a considerable trade with the United States, and the countries bordering the Mediterranean. With Hamburg and France an exchange of commodities takes place. The ships employed in this commerce are foreign, chiefly British, but the islanders send a few vessels of their own with brandy, coarse earthenware, and silk goods to the Spanish West Indies, bringing back cigars, sugar, coffee, rum, cacao (the material of chocolate), and a few other articles. Santa Cruz, Orotava, and Las Palmas, are the only ports engaged in foreign trade; nearly 200 vessels enter these ports in the course of a year. In 1852, the ports were practically made free—the small duty of 2s. per cent. only being now levied upon imported goods, with the exception of tobacco, which pays 6d. per lb., and cigars which pay 10d. per lb. A Spanish steamer from Cadiz makes two voyages to Santa Cruz every month. The Spanish government packet on her outward voyage to Havana touches at Santa Cruz once a month; and the same port is visited monthly by the English mail steamers to Brazil by the African coast, both on their outward and homeward voyages.

Zoology.—The indigenous animals, reptiles, and insects of the Canary Islands, are very few in number. As to mammals, only species of dog, of swine, of goat, and of sheep, were found upon the island by the Spanish conquerors. The race of large dogs which gave a name to Canary has been long extinct. A single skeleton was lately found and deposited in one of the museums at Paris. The ferret, rabbit, cat, rat, mouse, and two kinds of bat, have become naturalized. The ornithology is more interesting, both on account of the birds native to the islands, and the stragglers from the African coast. The latter are chiefly brought over in winter when the wind has blown for some time from the east. Amongst the former are some birds of prey, such as the African vulture, the falcon, buzzard, sparrow-hawk, and kite. There are also two species of owl, three species of sea-mew, the stockdove, quail, raven, magpie, chaffinch, goldfinch, blackcap, canary bird (green in its wild state), titmouse, blackbird, house-swallow, &c. The bird with the sweetest song is the capirito, a variety of Sylvia atricapilla. As to the insects, we need only mention a species of gnat or mosquito, which is sometimes troublesome especially to strangers, and the cockroach. The list of reptiles is limited to a small scorpion originally brought from the West Indies, a scolopendra, and the frog. The only fresh-water fish is the eel. The marine fishes are not numerous, the reason perhaps being, that the steepness of the coast does not allow of seaweed to grow in sufficient quantity to support the lower forms of marine animal life. M. Valenciennes states, that the fishes frequenting these coasts, like those of St Helena and Ascension, closely agree with the fishes of South America. Whales and seals are occasionally seen. Little is known as to the molluscs of these islands. Professor E. Forbes remarks, that the presence of littorina striata, a marine conchiferous mollusc, is a fact supporting the hypothesis that the Canaries, the Azores, the Madeiras, and the Peninsula, were once united. The cuttle fish is abundant, and is sought for as an article of food.

Botany.—The position of mountainous islands like the Canaries, in the sub-tropical division of the temperate zone, is highly favourable to the development within a small space of plants characteristic of both warm and cold climates. Von Buch refers to five regions of vegetation in Teneriffe. 1. From the sea to the height of 1300 feet. This he styles the African region. The climate in the hottest parts is similar to that of Egypt and southern Barbary. Here grow amongst the introduced plants the coffee tree, the date palm, the sugar-cane, the banana, the American agave, and the cactus; and amongst indigenous plants, the dragon tree on the N.W. of Teneriffe. A leafless and fantastic euphorbia, and a shrubby composite plant, Cacalia Kleinea, give a character to the landscape about Santa Cruz. 2. Between 1300 feet and 2800 feet is the region of South European vegetation, the climate answering to that of southern France and central Italy. Here flourish the vine and the cereals. 3. The region of indigenous trees, including various species of laurel, an Ardisia, Ilex, Rhomnus, Olea, Myrica, and other trees found wild also at Madeira. The clouds rest on this region during the day, and by their humidity support a vegetation amongst the trees, partly of shrubs, and partly of ferns. It extends to the height of 4000 feet. 4. The region of the Pinus canariensis, extending to the height of 6400 feet: the broad-leaved trees have ceased to grow, but arborescent heaths are found in its whole extent, and a few specimens of Juniperus oxycedrus may be met with. 5. The region of Retama, (Spartium nubigenum), a species of white-flowering and sweet-scented broom, which is found as high as 11,000 feet. At the upper edge of this region a violet clings to the soil, and above there is nothing but a little liehen. The number of indigenous planterogamous plants may be estimated at between 700 and 800, upwards of 160 of which are peculiar to the Canaries. The forms of vegetation must in the main be considered North African, since the origin of many of those which they have in common with southern Europe should be looked for in Africa. The character of the vegetation in Lanzarote and Fuerteventura islands, composed of extensive plains and low hills, with few springs, is different from that of the other islands, which are more elevated and have many springs. The wood is more abundant, and the vegetation more luxuriant.

Geology.—The lower and exterior portion of these islands consists for the most part of basalt, compact, vesicular, or scoriaceous, interstratified with beds of variously coloured tufa. In some cases the rock is chiefly trachyte. The basalt presents an abrupt and precipitous face to the sea. The compact variety frequently contains scattered grains and crystals of augite and olivine. In Teneriffe, the basalt and tufa form an exterior mass, through which in the centre emerge the felspathic or trachytic rocks forming the nucleus of the volcanic cone, and over them fragments of pumice and streams of modern lava have been thrown. These trachytic rocks contain numerous disseminated crystals of glassy felspar. The few minerals that have been found in the Canary Islands are those characteristic of volcanic regions. A little iron exists, but is not turned to account. In no part of Teneriffe has there been discovered any sedimentary rock. The old lavas in Lanzarote are covered by a thin layer of white concretionary limestone, the origin of which is obscure. In Grand Canary and Fuerteventura there is also calcareous stone, but its nature does not appear to be known. It has long been conjectured that the Canaries, the Azores, and the Madeiras, were once connected with each other, and with the continents of Europe and Africa. Recent investigations seem to yield results that give some colour to the hypothesis.

Teneriffe, the largest island of the group, lies between Canary and Gomera. It is of an irregular shape, 60 miles in length, with an extreme breadth of 30 miles. Not more than one-seventh is cultivable. A chain of mountains traverses the island in the direction of its greatest length, and in the middle of the broadest part rises the celebrated peak locally known as the Pico de Teyde, which, with its supports and spurs, occupies nearly two-thirds of the whole island. It has a double top; the highest, El Piton, is 12,180 feet above the sea; the second, Chahorra, connected with the first by a short narrow ridge, has a height of 9880 feet. They are both orifices in the same grand dome of trachyte. Neither reaches the line of perpetual snow. There is, however, a natural cavern, 11,000 feet above the sea, where snow is preserved all the year. Snow remains about four months on the upper part of the peak.

For more than one-half of its circumference the base of the true peak rises from an elevated but comparatively level tract called by the Spaniards El Llano de la Retama (retama is a local name for the Spartium nubigenum which abounds there), and by the English the Pumice-Stone Plains. Three miles from the base of the cone, on the S.E., south, and S.W., there is a high ridge overlooking the Pumice-Stone Plains, and presenting a very steep face to the peak. Between the ridge and the sea the slope is more gradual, and there are intervening table-lands. Peaks rise from the ridge, one of which attains the height of 9400 feet. The aspect of this ridge, the Llano, and the cone, is described by Von Buch as resembling a fortress with ramparts and a foss. He says that there would be a similar rampart on the N.E., north, and N.W., had not comparatively late eruptions filled up the foss. The peak, then, is a pile of lava, trachyte, and ashes, thrown up, either in an immense rent, where older volcanic rocks, consisting principally of basalt and tufa, have been torn asunder, or in an ancient crater which had become greatly enlarged. Both El Piton and Chahorra have craters on their summits, from which issue steam and a little sulphurous vapour, forming what is called a solfatara. The crater (Caldera) on El Piton is surrounded by a wall of lava which would prevent access to the interior if it were not broken away on one side. The lava of the interior has been made white by the action of sulphurous vapours, and every crevice contains crystals of sulphur. The thermometer rises considerably when thrust into the ground. It is not perfectly circular; its dimensions are given as 300 feet across in one direction, and 200 feet in another, with an average depth of 100 feet. It takes more than an hour to walk round the crater on Chahorra, but its depth is scarcely 150 feet. The view from the highest point, when no clouds intervene, is very extensive. All the islands of the Archipelago are visible, and the horizon is 140 miles distant. The coast of Africa and the island of Madeira are not within the range of vision. Pico Ruivo, the highest peak of Madeira, must be three times higher than it is to bring it into view. Humboldt estimates the height of the peak to be with of the circumference of its basis, and he says that if the slope were uniform from the summit to the base, it would have an inclination of 12° 29′. The steepest part of the cone has an inclination of 40°.

The ascent of the peak is usually made from Orotava, on the northern side of the island. After leaving the cultivated grounds, a belt of chestnut trees is crossed, and then the regions of arborescent heaths and ferns, as far as a pass (Portillo) which admits the traveller between two basaltic hills (part of the rampart above spoken of), into the Llano de la Retama. The scenery here is in striking contrast with what it has previously been. Instead of a steep and rugged ascent among black basaltic rocks, the traveller enters upon gently sloping ground, covered to a considerable depth with white pumice gravel, amongst which spring tufts of spartium. The tender shoots of this shrub serve the wild goats for food, and the flowers yield a rich honey to the bees. The entrance to the Llano is nearly 8920 feet above the sea. Between two and three hours are consumed in crossing the Llano to the base of the cone, the lower part of which (Monton de Trigo) is ascended to a point 9750 feet above the sea, called Estancia de los Ingleses (Englishmen's station), where the mules must be left, and where travellers frequently pass the night. The rest of the way is very steep and fatiguing, the cone being here composed of loose stones, ashes, and pumice, upon which narrow streams of obsidianic lava are laid like black ribands. The pumice is in such quantity, that at a distance it has the appearance of snow coating the peak. From 20 to 24 hours are consumed in ascending the peak and returning to Orotava.

To the N.W. of the grand cone, some thousands of feet below Chahorra, there are many small cones of eruption, showing that the intensity of volcanic action was greatest on this side. Eastward from the ridge bounding the pumice-stone plain, extends a chain of mountains to the northeastern extremity of the island. The highest peaks are Izaña, 7374 feet; Perexil, 6027 feet; and Cuchillo, 5467 feet. The road from Santa Cruz to Orotava crosses the chain at a point near Laguna, where it is less than 2000 feet high.

We have no account in history of eruptions from either crater of the peak. In 1795 a great quantity of lava was poured out from three vents on its eastern side; and in the same year lava streams issued from a crater near Guimar, half way between Santa Cruz and the peak. In the following year, a vent on the north-western side of the peak discharged a copious stream, which flowed down to the sea, and nearly filled up the harbour of Garanrico. For three months in 1798, much lava and other volcanic matter was ejected from orifices to the west of Chahorra.

Santa Cruz de Santiago, on the south coast, is the residence of the governor-general of the Canaries, the civil lieutenant-governor of the Tenerife district, and the military governor of the island. Its position is N. Lat. 28° 28' 30", and W. Long. 16° 16' 0". It is a well-built and tolerably clean town of 9000 inhabitants, lying on a strip of level ground, at the foot of a vertical wall of black barren rocks. Scarcely any vegetation except thorny cactuses and euphorbias is to be seen in the neighbourhood. The streets are at right angles to each other, narrow, but provided with sidewalks. There are three public squares. The houses are generally low, with flat roofs; those of the better class are large, with a court-yard in the middle, planted with shrubs in the Spanish fashion. The market is well supplied with meat, fruits, and vegetables. Good water is brought from a distance, passing at one part of its course along an aqueduct 180 feet in length, with a depth of cut of 120 feet. A British consul resides here, as well as four or five English families. The accommodation for strangers is neither plentiful nor good. The Spanish cloak is much worn by the men, and the white mantilla by the women. Dromedaries, though not bred on the island, are in use for the conveyance of merchandise, and in agricultural operations. They are brought from Lanzarote and Fuerteventura. A good animal costs from 30 to 40 dollars. A few wheel-carriges are in use. Much ground in the neighbourhood is planted with cactus (Opuntia tuna) for the support of the cochineal insect. The town is defended by several batteries; and it was by a shot from one of these that Lord Nelson lost his arm, when he unsuccessfully attacked the place in 1797. Some of our flags lost on that occasion are still hanging in one of the churches. The anchorage is good, and landing is assisted by a mole. About 100 vessels annually visit the port. The climate is dry and temperately warm, the annual mean being 71° Fahr. The mean of the coldest month is 63°-8 F., and of the hottest 78°-8 F. Rain falls on an average on 36 days in the year.

Laguna (pop. 10,000), the capital of the island, and the seat of the political, judicial, and ecclesiastical establishment, stands at the distance of four miles from Santa Cruz, in the centre of a plain where much grain is produced, elevated 1725 feet above the sea, and nearly surrounded by mountains. The situation is beautiful, but the town itself is gloomy. Here are several deserted convents, and a cathedral. In summer the temperature is refreshingly cool, and for that reason Laguna is then resorted to by the rich of Santa Cruz. In winter it is cold and damp, the plain being frequently laid under water by rain. The mean temperature of the year is 72°-2 Fahr. Snow has never been known to fall here. The humidity of the atmosphere is shown by the numbers of semperviva growing on the houses and walls.

The road from Santa Cruz to Orotava, 25 miles distant, lies through Laguna and Matanza—a place deriving its name from an overthrow received by the invading Spaniards from the Guanches in 1494. All travellers speak in terms of warm admiration of the scenery in this part of the island. Humboldt's words are: "Under the torrid zone I found sites where nature is more majestic, and richer in the display of organic forms; but, after having traversed the banks of the Orinoco, the Cordilleras of Peru, and the most beautiful valleys of Mexico, I own that I have never beheld a prospect more varied, more attractive, more harmonious in the distribution of the masses of verdure and of rocks, than the western coast of Teneriffe." The town of Orotava is 1040 feet above the sea. It contains about 8000 inhabitants. The houses are solidly built, but it has a deserted aspect. A stream of water is conducted through every street. The famous Dragon-tree grows in the garden of the Marquis of Sanzal. It is quite hollow, and is a mere wreck of what it has been. It has a height of between 50 and 60 feet, the circumference just above the roots is nearly 48 feet, and the opening into the interior is 13 feet wide.

Port Orotava, three miles from the villa, is a clean place, with between 4000 and 5000 inhabitants, amongst whom are three or four English families. The streets are broad, and the houses well built. The roadstead, protected by a fort and some batteries, affords little or no shelter against wind. The botanic garden, founded by a patriotic Spanish nobleman, has gone to ruin since it came into the possession of the government. Icod de los Vinos, a pretty town of 4000 inhabitants, farther to the west in a fertile district, has a manufacture of silk, but it is not flourishing. There are several other towns on the island, but none so large as these. They stand principally on the N.W. side, not far from the coast. The highest inhabited place is Chasna, on a plain more than 4000 feet above the sea, to the south of the peak.

Grand Canary (Gran Canaria), the most fertile island of the group, is nearly circular in shape, with a diameter of 24 miles, and a circumference of 75 miles. The interior is a mass of mountain, with ravines radiating to the shore. Its highest peak, Los Pexos, is 6400 feet above the sea. Large tracts are covered with native pine (P. canariensis). There are several mineral springs on the island. From the nature of the ground, only a small part is under cultivation. The fishery on the African coast gives employment to a large number of persons. Las Palmas (pop. 10,000), the seat of the local government, is a well-built and clean town in a small bay on the east coast. It contains a handsome cathedral, a hospital, a college, several secularized convents, and an alameda or public walk. Its climate is more humid than that of Santa Cruz. Water is brought into the principal streets and squares by an aqueduct. The harbour, Puerto de la Luz, affords good anchorage and shelter against all winds except the S.E. It is formed by a rocky peninsula (Isleta), connected with the mainland by a low neck of land. The mole is still unfinished. Several forts defend the bar and harbour. A British vice-consul resides here. In 1851 the cholera visited the island, and 9000 persons died. Not a single case occurred on any other island. Telde, the second place in the island, stands on a plain surrounded by palm trees. At Atalaya, a short distance from Las Palmas, the making of earthenware vessels employs some hundreds of people, who inhabit holes made in the tufa.

Palma (correctly, San Miguel de la Palma) is 26 miles long, with an extreme breadth of 16 miles. It lies 67 miles W.N.W. of Tenerife. Its shape is somewhat like that of a pear. It is traversed in its longest direction (north to south) by a chain of mountains, the highest of which is 7900 feet above the sea. At the broadest part is a crater nine miles in diameter, known as the Caldera (i.e., cauldron), from which, on its S.W. side, runs a ravine to the sea. The bottom of the crater has an elevation above the sea of 2300 feet, and it is overhung by peaks that rise more than 5000 feet above it. Some of these peaks are covered with snow for several months in the year. Extensive woods, principally composed of chestnut and pine, lie on their flanks. Palma contains several mineral springs, but there is great want of fresh water. The only stream which is never dried up is that which issues from the Caldera. In 1677 an eruption, preceded by an earthquake, took place from a vol-

---

1 Humboldt in describing it says—"Among organized beings this tree is undoubtedly one of the oldest inhabitants of our globe. It is remarkable that the Dracaena Draco is not a native of these isles nor of Africa, but of Eastern Asia. How at a remote period it came to this island is a matter of curious speculation." cana at the southern extremity of the island, and much damage was done by the ejected ashes, stones, and lava. The sugar-cane is grown on an elevated plain called Los Llanos. Ribands and stockings are manufactured from silk produced on the island. The poor make much use of the roots of the *Arum coloecasia* to mix when ground with flour. Grain is imported. Sheep, goats, and cattle are numerous. Santa Cruz, on the eastern coast, is the principal town; it has 6000 inhabitants. The anchorage is good. The cultivated soil is fertile, but the labouring classes are in a wretched condition notwithstanding their industrious habits. The enormous dimensions of the Caldera are supposed by Sir C. Lyell (on the facts supplied by Von Buch) to have resulted from the action of the sea, exerted as the island was slowly lifted upwards by subterranean forces from beneath the waves. The cone, which, according to Von Buch, is composed of alternating beds of basalt and conglomerates pierced by basaltic dikes, had been previously formed by a long series of volcanic eruptions; and the great ravine may have been caused by the sea entering the crater at the lowest point of the rim, and cutting a passage for itself that went deeper and deeper as the mountain was pushed up. The exterior of the cone is seamed by ravines that radiate on all sides towards the sea, but none penetrate the Caldera except the single one already mentioned.

*Lanzarote*, the most easterly of the group, has a length of 31 miles, and a breadth varying from 5 to 10 miles. It is naked and mountainous, bearing everywhere marks of its volcanic origin. Montaña Blanca, the highest point, attains a height of 2000 feet, and is cultivated to the summit. In 1730 the appearance of half the island was altered by a volcanic outburst. A violent earthquake preceded the catastrophe by which nine villages were destroyed. In 1825 another volcanic eruption took place, accompanied by earthquakes, and two hills were thrown up which still emit smoke. The port of Naos on the S.E. of the island affords safe anchorage. It is protected by two forts. A short distance inland is the town of Arecife, with a population of 2500, where a British vice-consul resides. The climate is hot and dry. There is only a single spring of fresh-water on the island, and that is in a position difficult of access. From the total failure of water the inhabitants were once compelled to abandon the island. The inhabitants are now chiefly employed in agriculture, in the fishery off the African coast, and in the callings to which the fishery gives rise. Grain, wine (which is of superior quality), brandy, barilla, orchil, and raisins made from the muscatel grape, are the principal articles of export. The cattle are small, and horses few. Dromedaries are used as beasts of burden. Teguise on the N.W. coast is the residence of the local authorities, and has a population of 1000. A strait of about 6 miles in width separates Lanzarote from Fuerteventura.

*Graciosa*, a small uninhabited island, is divided from the north-eastern extremity of Lanzarote by a channel a mile in width, which affords the most capacious and only safe harbour for large ships at the Canaries; but basaltic cliffs 1500 feet high prevent intercourse with the inhabited part of Lanzarote. Forty persons reside on the little island Algeciras, a mass of lava and cinders ejected at various times from a now extinct volcano, the crater of which has still a well-defined edge.

*Fuerteventura* lies between Lanzarote and Grand Canary. It has a length of 52 miles, and an average width of 12 miles. Though less mountainous than the other islands, its aspect is barren. The springs of fresh water are only two, and they are confined to one valley. The larger vegetation is composed of an inconsiderable number of date palms, and fig trees. Lava streams and other signs of volcanic action abound, but there have been no signs of igneous activity since the Spaniards took possession. At each of its extremities are high mountains which send off branches along the coast so as to inclose a large and plain. The highest peak is in the peninsula of Handia; it is 2500 feet in height. In external appearance, climate, and productions, this island greatly resembles Lanzarote. An interval of three years without rain has been known. The inhabitants are poor and indolent, but a strong and well-built race. Various kinds of grain and potatoes are cultivated. The wine is bad. Barilla and orchilla are largely exported. Oliva is the largest town; it has 2000 inhabitants. A smaller place in the centre of the island named Betancuria is the residence of the authorities. Cabras, on the eastern coast, with a population of 1000 persons, is the chief port. Goats are numerous. Dromedaries are bred here. The peninsula of Handia, a mass of high mountains that presents a precipice to the N.W., and a steep slope furrowed by ravines to the S.E., is joined to the rest of the island by a low isthmus of sand. This peninsula affords pasturage to many herds of cattle and goats. Much orchilla is collected here.

*Gomera* lies 20 miles S.W. of Teneriffe. Its shape is rudely triangular. The longest straight line that can be drawn in it is about 23 miles long. Its coast is precipitous and its interior mountainous, but it is the most wooded and best watered of the group. The inhabitants are deeply impoverished and half-famished. Wine, brandy, orchilla, raw silk, and dried fruits are sent to Teneriffe. Dromedaries are bred on Gomera, and there are thousands of them here. St Sebastian, the chief town and a port, has 1000 inhabitants. Columbus resided here before sailing in quest of the New World.

*Hierro* or *Ferro*, the most westerly and the smallest island of the group, is somewhat crescent-shaped. Its length is about 18 miles, its greatest breadth about 15 miles, and its circumference probably 50 miles. It lies 92 miles W.S.W. of Teneriffe. Its coast is bound by high steep rocks, which only admit of one harbour, but the interior is tolerably level. Its hill-tops in winter are sometimes wrapped in snow, which however does not lie long. Better and more abundant grass grows here than on any of the other islands. The island is exposed to westerly gales which frequently commit great damage. There is here a sulphurous spring, the water of which has a temperature of 102° F. The springs of fresh water are few. The once celebrated and almost sacred Til tree, which was reputed to be always distilling water from its leaves in sufficient abundance to fill two large tanks, no longer exists. Only a small part of the cultivable land is under tillage, the inhabitants being principally employed in pasturage. Wine, brandy, orchilla, excellent dried figs, and sheep, are sent to Teneriffe. At Valverde, the principal town, the local authorities reside. Geographers were formerly in the habit of measuring all longitudes from Ferro.

(J. Y. J.)

**CANARY-BIRD.** See ORNITHOLOGY.