Friday, 17th.—The York, East Indiaman, was lying off this place in the forenoon whilst her boat went on shore with letters. Some of the officers took horse this morning and went to the town of Laguna, which is about six miles from Santa Cruz. They found the road in a terrible state, from a quantity of large stones and rubbish, which a late hurricane, with heavy rain, had brought down from the higher lands. Their ride was a very cheap one, for they only paid half a dollar for each horse, including a guide—a rare occurrence for Englishmen to find any thing cheap in a foreign country. Port Oratava, which lies on the opposite or north side of the island, the principal town for commerce on it, is 21 miles by land from Santa Cruz; and it is said to be 36 miles from Oratava to the summit of the Peak, a journey of at least two days' ascent from the latter place, which is the starting point.
TOWN OF SANTA CRUZ, TENERIFFE
Our visit to this island was too short to be of much interest to a traveller, for it would have required at least a week to have visited the Peak only and returned to Santa Cruz, which I certainly would have done if the ship had remained a sufficient time; as I also wished to have visited Porto Rueva, at Madeira, but on my arrival at that island I had not sufficiently recovered my strength after the indisposition I experienced on leaving England.
They have at Teneriffe, (besides horses, asses, and mules,) camels, which are much in use as beasts of burden. Smoking is a very general practice here, and consequently there is no want of ordinary cigars; but I was surprised to find that Havannah cigars are very difficult to be procured. They can be obtained, however, but at un exorbitant rate, in consequence of the risks attending the smuggling. Tobacco is a royal monopoly, and the duty is so high, that it amounts almost to a prohibition, and consequently affords great temptation to smuggling. They have ice at their command here in abundance, which is a great luxury for a hot climate. They bring it down from the mountains, and use it very commonly in lemonade, creams, and for many other purposes. It is desirable to call here on your way to a hot climate, if it were only to procure a few good drip stones, the best of which are brought from Grand Canary, and which are to be had in great plenty, and very cheap, from one to three Spanish dollars each, which is the most current coin of this island.
Teneriffe, in climate, soil, produce, and general appearance, strongly resembles Madeira, from which it is distant 240 miles, due south. The principal towns are Port-Oratava, Oratava, Realexo, and Caracheeo, on the north side of the island; and on the south, Santa Cruz, Candilaria, and Adexi; besides the inland towns, Laguna, (the capital) about two leagues from Santa Cruz, Metanza, and Victoria, all on the road between Santa Cruz and Port-Oratava, which arc at an elevation, varying from 3,000 to 5,000 feet above the level of the sea. This affords a considerable variety of climate, and choice of residence. Teneriffe, however, possesses but little English society, consequently there are few comforts or inducements for invalids. There is an extensive plain of table land and corn country round Laguna, which is a bishop's see, with an income of 30,000 dollars per annum. The governor of the province resides at Santa Cruz. There is also a bishopric at Grand Canary (where the audience, or supreme court is held), worth about 50,000 dollars a-year.
Teneriffe, from its great elevation, and gradual slope to the sea, possesses every variety of vegetation from the tropic to the frozen regions. In the first or lower region are found the date, palm, pine-apple, alligator-pear, and sugar cane, tea and coffee trees, lemons, citrons, oranges and grapes; the next region is that of grain and fruits, and trees of temperate climates; next follow the chesnuts, pines (Pinus Cananensis), and other hardy Alpine trees; then the region of heaths, laurels, and other evergreens; and at the extreme limit of vegetation, a considerable distance from the summit, the white broom (Spartium Nubigenum.) The population of the Canary Islands is about 200,000, viz. Teneriffe, 80,000; Grand Canary, 60,000; Palma, 25,000; Lanzerota, 15,000; Forteventura, 10,000; Heirro, 4,000; Gomera, 6,000.
The exports, exclusive of the coasting trade, are wines, barilla, orchilla weed, rock-moss, safflower, (hay-saffron,) and silks. The imports are sugar, cocoa, oil, tobacco, paper, &c. from Cadiz; earthenware, from St. Lucia; brandy, from Catalonia; dry goods, cloth, iron, and hardware, from England; and staves, soap, candles, and rice from the United States of America.
The volcanic nature of the soil of the Canary Islands renders it extremely favourable to the cultivation of the vine, which grows luxuriantly in Teneriffe, where more than three-fourths of all the wines exported from the Canaries is produced. The Teneriffe wines are of the same description and varieties as the wines of Madeira, namely, Tinto, Verdelho, Gual, Listan, Malvasia,[[5] ] &c., but they are not equal in quality to the fine wines of the south side, yet superior to the wines of the north side, of that island. They are distinguished by what may be called the generic denominations of dry and sweet. The dry is well known by the name of Vidonia, and the sweet as Malvasia. The first quality of the former can only be obtained from the most respectable merchants, it being a very common process to convert it, by admixtures, into a counterfeit of Madeira, or sherry, and occasionally to drug it with port. The strongest quality of the celebrated wine called sack,[[6] ] is made in Teneriffe, Grand Canary, and Palma.
Carbonate of soda is obtained from the sal sola soda, extensively cultivated at Lanccrota and Forteventura. It is gathered in September, dried, and then charred or fused into a ringing, hard, cellular mass, of a greyish blue colour. A small quantity is made also at Grand Canary. The barilla of the Canary Islands has been sold in England so high as 80l. a ton, and as low as 6l.; at the present time, (December, 1833) it is worth 9l. 10s. a ton. The depreciation is caused chiefly by kelp, and other substitutes found in the British alkali, a French chemical discovery, manufactured from sea salt, from which, the other ingredients are detached, by combination with sulphur, and acids subjected to heat. The imports of barilla from the Canary Islands to this country are about 3,500 tons a-year. The United States of America, and of late years, Brazil, also, take off a few cargoes of this article. Lancerota produces, annually, about 300 tons of barilla; Forte ventura about 1500 tons.