The Travels and Researches of Alexander Von Humboldt; Being a Condensed Narrative of His Journeys in the Equinoctial Regions of America, and in

Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: SANTA CRUZ OF TENERIFFE. 35 nometer gave 18 33' 10, the accuracy of which result, although differing from the longitude assigned by Cook and others, was afterward confirmed by Krusenstern, who found that port 16 12' 45 west of Greenwich, and consequently 18 33' west of Paris. The dip of the magnetic needle was 62 24', although it varied considerably in different places along the shore. After undergoing the fatigue of answering the numberless questions proposed by persons who visited them on board, our travellers 'were at length permitted to land. CHAPTER III. Island ofTeneriffe. Santa Cruz?Villa de la Laguna?Guanches?Present Inhabitants of Teneriffe?Climate?Scenery of the Coast?Orotava?Dragon-tree? Ascent of the Peak?Its Geological Character?Eruptions?Zones of Vegetation?Fires of St. John. Santa Cboz, the Anaja of the Guanches, which is a neat town, with a population of 8000 persons, may be considered as a great caravansera situated on the road to America and India, and has consequently been often described. The recommendations of the court of Madrid procured for our travellers the most satisfactory reception in the Canaries. The captain-general gave permission to examine the island, and Colonel Armiaga, who commanded a regiment of infantry, extended his hospitality to them, and showed the most polite attention. In his garden they admired the banana, the papaw, and other plants cultivated in the open air, which they had before seen only in hothouses. In the evening they made a botanical excursion 36 VILLA BE LA LAG UNA. towards the fort of Passo Alto, along tne basaltic rocks which close the promontory of Naga, but had little success, as the drought and dust had in a manner destroyed the vegetation. The Cacalia Kleinia, Euphorbia canariensis, and other su...