A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels Volume Xv Part 29

The road of Santa Cruz is situated before the town of the same name, on the S.E. side of the island. It is, as I am told, the princ.i.p.al road of Teneriffe, for shelter, capacity, and the goodness of its bottom. It lies entirely open to the S.E. and S. winds. But these winds are never of long continuance; and, they say, there is not an instance of a s.h.i.+p driving from her anchors on sh.o.r.e.[69] This may, in part, be owing to the great care they take in mooring them; for I observed, that all the s.h.i.+ps we met with, there, had four anchors out; two to the N.E., and two to the S.W.; and their cables buoyed up with casks. Ours suffered a little by not observing this last precaution.

[Footnote 69: Though no such instance was known to those from whom Captain Cook had this information, we learn from Glas, that some years before he was at Teneriffe, almost all the s.h.i.+pping in the road were driven on sh.o.r.e. See Glas's History of the Canary Islands, p. 235. We may well suppose the precautions now used, have prevented any more such accidents happening. This will sufficiently justify Captain Cook's account.--- D.]

At the S.W. part of the road, a stone pier runs out into the sea from the town, for the convenience of loading and landing of goods. To this pier, the water that supplies the s.h.i.+pping is conveyed. This, as also what the inhabitants of Santa Cruz use, is derived from a rivulet that runs from the hills, the greatest part of which comes into the town in wooden spouts or troughs, that are supported by slender posts, and the remainder doth not reach the sea; though it is evident, from the size of the channel, that sometimes large torrents rush down. At this time these troughs were repairing, so that fresh water, which is very good here, was scarce.

Were we to judge from the appearance of the country in the neighbourhood of Santa Cruz, it might be concluded that Teneriffe is a barren spot, insufficient to maintain even its own inhabitants. The ample supplies, however, which we received, convinced as that they had enough to spare for visitors. Besides wine, which is the chief produce of the island, beef may be had at a moderate price. The oxen are small and bony, and weigh about ninety pounds a quarter. The meat is but lean, and was, at present, sold for half a bit (three-pence sterling) a pound. I, unadvisedly, bought the bullocks alive, and paid considerably more.

Hogs, sheep, goats, and poultry, are likewise to be bought at the same moderate rate; and fruits are in great plenty. At this time we had grapes, figs, pears, mulberries, plantains, and musk-melons. There is a variety of other fruits produced here, though not in season at this time. Their pumpkins, onions, and potatoes, are exceedingly good of their kind; and keep better at sea than any I ever before met with.

The Indian corn, which is also their produce, cost me about three s.h.i.+llings and sixpence a bushel; and the fruits and roots were, in general, very cheap. They have not any plentiful supply of fish from the adjoining sea; but a very considerable fishery is carried on by their vessels upon the coast of Barbary: and the produce of it sells at a reasonable price. Upon the whole, I found Teneriffe to be a more eligible place than Madeira, for s.h.i.+ps bound on long voyages to touch at; though the wine of the latter, according to my taste, is as much superior to that of the former, as strong beer is to small. To compensate for this, the difference of prices is considerable; for the best Teneriffe wine was now sold for twelve pounds a pipe; whereas a pipe of the best Madeira would have cost considerably more than double that sum.[70]

[Footnote 70: Formerly, there was made at Teneriffe a great quant.i.ty of Canary sack, which the French call _Vin de Malvesie_; and we, corruptly after them, name Malmsey (from Malvesia, a town in the Morea, famous for such luscious wine). In the last century, and still later, much of this was imported into England; but little wine is now made there, but of the sort described by Captain Cook. Not more than fifty pipes of the rich Canary were annually made in Glas's time; and he says, they now gather the grapes when green, and make a dry hard wine of them, fit for hot climates, p. 262.--D.]

The Chevalier De Borda, commander of the French frigate now lying in Santa Cruz road, was employed, in conjunction with Mr Varila, a Spanish gentleman, in making astronomical observations for ascertaining the going of two time-keepers which they had on board their s.h.i.+p. For this purpose, they had a tent pitched on the pier head, where they made their observations, and compared their watches, every day at noon, with the clock on sh.o.r.e, by signals. These signals the chevalier very obligingly communicated to us; so that we could compare our watch at the same time.

But our stay was too short, to profit much by his kindness.

The three days comparisons which we made, a.s.sured us that the watch had not materially, if at all, altered her rate of going; and gave us the same longitude, within a very few seconds, that was obtained by finding the time from observations of the sun's alt.i.tude from the horizon of the sea. The watch, from a mean of these observations, on the 1st, 2d, and 3d of August, made the longitude 16 31' W.; and, in like manner, the lat.i.tude was found to be 28 30' 11" N.

Mr Varila informed us, that the true longitude was 18 35' 30", from Paris, which is only 16 16' 30" from Greenwich; less than what our watch gave by 14' 30". But, far from looking upon this as an error in the watch, I rather think it a confirmation of its having gone well; and that the longitude by it may be nearer the truth than any other. It is farther confirmed by the lunar observations that we made in the road, which gave 16 37' 10". Those made before we arrived, and reduced to the road by the watch, gave 16 33' 30"; and those made after we left it, and reduced back in the same manner, gave 16 28'. The mean of the three is 16 30' 40".

To reduce these several longitudes, and the lat.i.tude, to the Pic of Teneriffe, one of the most noted points of land with geographers, (to obtain the true situation of which, I have entered into this particular discussion,) I had recourse to the bearing, and a few hours of the s.h.i.+p's run after leaving Santa Cruz road; and found it to be 12' 11" S.

of the road, and 29' 30" of longitude W. of it. As the base, which helped to determine this, was partly estimated, it is liable to some error; but I think I cannot be much mistaken. Dr Maskelyne, in his _British Mariner's Guide_, places the Pic in the lat.i.tude of 28 12'

54". This, with the bearing from the road, will give the difference of longitude 43', which considerably exceeds the distance they reckon the Pic to be from Santa Cruz. I made the lat.i.tude of the Pic to be 28 18'

N. Upon that supposition, its longitude will be as follows:

{The time-keeper, 17 0' 30" } By {Lunar observations, 16 30' 20"} W.

{Mr Varila, 16 46' 0" }

But if the lat.i.tude of it is 28 12' 54", as in the _British Mariner's Guide_, its longitude will be 13 30' more westerly.

The variation, when we were at anchor in the road, by the mean of all our compa.s.ses, was found to be 14 41' 20" W. The dip of the N. end of the needle was 61 52' 30".

Some of Mr Anderson's remarks on the natural appearances of Teneriffe, and its productions, and what he observed himself, or learnt by information, about the general state of the island, will be of use, particularly in marking what changes may have happened there since Mr Glas visited it. They here follow in his own words:

"While we were standing in for the land, the weather being perfectly clear, we had an opportunity of seeing the celebrated Pic of Teneriffe.

But, I own, I was much disappointed in my expectation with respect to its appearance. It is, certainly, far from equalling the n.o.ble figure of Pico, one of the western isles which I have seen; though its perpendicular height may be greater. This circ.u.mstance, perhaps, arises from its being surrounded by other very high hills; whereas Pico stands without a rival."

"Behind the city of Santa Cruz, the country rises gradually, and is of a moderate height. Beyond this, to the south-westward, it becomes higher, and continues to rise toward the Pic, which, from the road, appears but little higher than the surrounding hills. From thence it seems to decrease, though not suddenly, as far as the eye can reach. From a supposition that we should not stay above one day, I was obliged to contract my excursions into the country; otherwise, I had proposed to visit the top of this famous mountain."[71]

[Footnote 71: See an account of a journey to the top of the Pic of Teneriffe, in Sprat's History of the Royal Society, p.200, &c. Glas also went to the top of it.--History of the Canary Islands, p. 252 to 259. In the Philosophical Transactions, vol. xlvii. p. 353-356, we have observations made, in going up the Pic of Teneriffe, by Dr T. Heberden.

The doctor makes its height, above the level of the sea, to be 2566 fathoms, or 15,396 English feet; and says, that this was confirmed by two subsequent observations by himself, and another made by Mr Crosse, the consul. And yet I find that the Chevalier de Borda, who measured the height of this mountain in August 1776, makes it to be only 1931 French toises, or 12,340 English feet. See Dr Forster's Observations during a Voyage round the World, p. 32.--D.]

"To the eastward of Santa Cruz, the island appears perfectly barren.

Ridges of hills run toward the sea; between which ridges are deep valleys, terminating at mountains or hills that ran across, and are higher than the former. Those that run toward the sea, are marked by impressions on their sides, which make them appear as a succession of conic hills, with their tops very rugged. The higher ones that run across, are more uniform in their appearance."

"In the forenoon of the 1st of August, after we had anch.o.r.ed in the road, I went on sh.o.r.e to one of these valleys, with an intention to reach the top of the remoter hills, which seemed covered with wood; but time would not allow me to get farther than their foot. After walking about three miles, I found no alteration in the appearance of the lower hills, which produce great quant.i.ties of the _euphorbia Canariensis_. It is surprising that this large succulent plant should thrive on so burnt-up a soil. When broken which is easily done, the quant.i.ty of juice is very great; and it might be supposed that, when dried, it would shrivel to nothing; yet it is a pretty tough, though soft and light wood. The people here believe its juice to be so caustic as to erode the skin;[72] but I convinced them, though with much difficulty, to the contrary, by thrusting my finger into the plant full of it, without afterward wiping it off. They break down the bushes of _euphorbia_, and, suffering them to dry, carry them home for fuel. I met with nothing else growing there, but two or three small shrubs, and a few fig-trees near the bottom of the valley."

[Footnote 72: Glas, p. 231, speaking of this plant, says, "that he cannot imagine why the natives of the Canaries do not extract the juice, and use it instead of pitch, for the bottoms of their boats." We now learn from Mr Anderson their reason for not using it,--D].

"The basis of the hills is a heavy, compact, bluish stone, mixed with some s.h.i.+ning particles; and, on the surface, large ma.s.ses of red friable earth, or stone, are scattered about. I also often found the same substance disposed in thick strata; and the little earth, strewed here and there, was a blackish mould. There were likewise some pieces of slag; one of which, from its weight and smooth surface, seemed almost wholly metalline."

"The mouldering state of these hills is, doubtless, owing to the perpetual action of the sun, which calcines their surface. This mouldered part being afterward washed away by the heavy rains, perhaps is the cause of their sides being so uneven. For, as the different substances of which they are composed, are more or less easily affected by the sun's heat, they will be carried away in the like proportions.

Hence, perhaps, the tops of the hills, being of the hardest rock, have stood, while the other parts on a declivity have been destroyed. As I have usually observed, that the tops of most mountains that are covered with trees have a more uniform appearance, I am inclined to believe that this is owing to their being shaded."

"The city of Santa Cruz, though not large, is tolerably well built. The churches are not magnificent without; but within are decent, and indifferently ornamented. They are inferior to some of the churches at Madeira; but I imagine this rather arises from the different disposition of the people, than from their inability to support them better. For the private houses, and dress of the Spanish inhabitants of Santa Cruz, are far preferable to those of the Portuguese at Madeira; who, perhaps, are willing to strip themselves, that they may adorn their churches."

"Almost facing the stone pier at the landing-place, is a handsome marble column lately put up, ornamented with some human figures, that do no discredit to the artist; with an inscription in Spanish, to commemorate the occasion of the erection, and the date."

"In the afternoon of the 2d, four of us hired mules to ride to the city of Laguna,[73] so called from an adjoining lake, about four miles from Santa Cruz. We arrived there between five and six in the evening; but found a sight of it very unable to compensate for our trouble, as the road was very bad, and the mules but indifferent. The place is, indeed, pretty extensive, but scarcely deserves to be dignified with the name of city. The disposition of its streets is very irregular; yet some of them are of a tolerable breadth, and have some good houses. In general, however, Laguna is inferior in appearance to Santa Cruz, though the latter is but small, if compared with the former. We are informed, likewise, that Laguna is declining fast; there being, at present, some vineyards where houses formerly stood; whereas Santa Cruz is increasing daily."

[Footnote 73: Its extended name is St Christobal de la Laguna; and it used to be reckoned the capital of the island, the gentry and lawyers living there; though the governor-general of the Canary Islands resides at Santa Cruz, as being the centre of their trade, both with Europe and America. See Glas's History, p. 248.--D.]

"The road leading from Santa Cruz to Laguna runs up a steep hill, which is very barren; but, lower down, we saw some fig-trees, and several corn fields. These are but small, and not thrown into ridges, as is practised in England. Nor does it appear that they can raise any corn here without great labour, as the ground is so enc.u.mbered with stones, that they are obliged to collect and lay them in broad rows, or walls, in small distances. The large hills that run to the S.W., appeared to be pretty well furnished with trees. Nothing else worth noticing presented itself during this excursion, except a few aloe plants in flower, near the side of the road, and the cheerfulness of our guides, who amused us with songs by the way."

"Most of the laborious work in this island is performed by mules; horses being to appearance scarce, and chiefly reserved for the use of the officers. They are of a small size, but well shaped and spirited. Oxen are also employed to drag their casks along upon a large clumsy piece of wood; and they are yoked by the head, though it doth not seem that this has any peculiar advantage over our method of fixing the harness on the shoulders. In my walks and excursions I saw some hawks, parrots which are natives of the island, the sea-swallow or tern, sea-gulls, partridges, wagtails, swallows, martins, blackbirds, and Canary-birds in large flocks. There are also lizards of the common, and another sort; some insects, as locusts; and three or four sorts of dragon flies."

"I had an opportunity of conversing with a sensible and well-informed gentleman residing here, and whose veracity I have not the least reason to doubt. From him I learnt some particulars, which, during the short stay of three days, did not fall within my own observation. He informed me, that a shrub is common here, agreeing exactly with the description given by Tournefort and Linnaeus, of the tea shrub, as growing in China and j.a.pan. It is reckoned a weed, and he roots out thousands of them every year from his vineyards. The Spaniards, however, of the island, sometimes use it as tea, and ascribe to it all the qualities of that imported from China. They also give it the name of tea; but what is remarkable, they say it was found here when the islands were first discovered."

"Another botanical curiosity, mentioned by him, is what they call the impregnated lemon.[74] It is a perfect and distinct lemon, inclosed within another, differing from the outer one only in being a little more globular. The leaves of the tree that produces this sort, are much longer than those of the common one; and it was represented to me as being crooked, and not equal in beauty."

[Footnote 74: The writer of the Relation of Teneriffe, in Sprat's History, p. 207, takes notice of this lemon as produced here, and calls it _Pregnada_. Probably, _emprennada_, the Spanish word for impregnated, is the name it goes by.--D.]

"From him I learnt also, that a certain sort of grape growing here, is reckoned an excellent remedy in phthisical complaints; and the air and climate, in general, are remarkably healthful, and particularly adapted to give relief in such diseases. This he endeavoured to account for, by its being always in one's power to procure a different temperature of the air, by residing at different heights in the island; and he expressed his surprise that the English physicians should never have thought of sending their consumptive patients to Teneriffe, instead of Nice or Lisbon. How much the temperature of the air varies here, I myself could sensibly perceive, only in riding from Santa Cruz up to Laguna; and you may ascend till the cold becomes intolerable. I was a.s.sured that no person can live comfortably within a mile of the perpendicular height of the Pic, after the month of August."[75]

[Footnote 75: This agrees with Dr T. Heberden's account, who says that the sugar-loaf part of the mountain, or _la pericosa_, (as it is called,) which is an eighth part of a league (or 1980 feet) to the top, is covered with snow the greatest part of the year. See Philosophical Transactions, as quoted above.--D.]

"Although some smoke constantly issues from near the top of the Pic, they have had no earthquake or eruption of a volcano since 1704, when the port of Garrachica, where much of their trade was formerly carried on, was destroyed."[76]

[Footnote 76: This port was then filled up by the rivers of burning lava that flowed into it from a volcano; insomuch that houses are now built where s.h.i.+ps formerly lay at anchor. See Glas's History, p. 244.--D.]

"Their trade, indeed, must be considered as very considerable; for they reckon that forty thousand pipes of wine are annually made, the greatest part of which is either consumed in the island, or made into brandy, and sent to the Spanish West Indies.[77] About six thousand pipes were exported every year to North America, while the trade with it was uninterrupted; at present, they think not above half the quant.i.ty.

The corn they raise is, in general, insufficient to maintain the inhabitants; but the deficiency used to be supplied by importation from the North Americans, who took their wines in return."

[Footnote 77: Glas, p. 342, says, that they annually export no less than fifteen thousand pipes of wine and brandy. In another place, p. 252, he tells us, that the number of the inhabitants of Teneriffe, when the last account was taken, was no less than 96,000. We may reasonably suppose that there has been a considerable increase of population since Glas visited the island, which is above thirty years ago. The quant.i.ty of wine annually consumed, as the common beverage of at least one hundred thousand persons, must amount to several thousand pipes. There must be a vast expenditure of it, by conversion into brandy; to produce one pipe of which, five or six pipes of wine must be distilled. An attention to these particulars will enable every one to judge, that the account given to Mr Anderson, of an annual produce of 40,000 pipes of wine, has a foundation in truth.--D.]

"They make a little silk; but unless we reckon the filtering-stones, brought in great numbers from Grand Canary, the wine is the only considerable article of the foreign commerce of Teneriffe.'

"None of the race of inhabitants found here when the Spaniards discovered the Canaries, now remain a distinct people;[78] having intermarried with the Spanish settlers; but their descendants are known, from their being remarkably tall, large-boned, and strong. The men are, in general, of a tawny colour, and the women have a pale complexion, entirely dest.i.tute of that bloom which distinguishes our northern beauties. The Spanish custom of wearing black clothes continues amongst them; but the men seem more indifferent about this, and in some measure dress like the French. In other respects, we found the inhabitants of Teneriffe to be a decent and very civil people, retaining that grave cast which distinguishes those of their country from other European nations. Although we do not think that there is a great similarity between our manners and those of the Spaniards, it is worth observing, that Omai did not think there was much difference. He only said, 'that they seemed not so friendly as the English; and that, in their persons, they approached those of his countrymen.'"

[Footnote 78: It was otherwise in Glas's time, when a few families of the _Guanches_ (as they are called) remained still in Teneriffe, not blended with the Spaniards. Glas, p. 240.--D.]

SECTION III.

_Departure from Teneriffe.--Danger of the s.h.i.+p near Bonavista.--Isle of Mayo.--Port Praya.--Precautions against the Rain and sultry Weather in the Neighbourhood of the Equator.--Position of the Coast of Brazil.--Arrival at the Cape of Good Hope.--Transactions there.--Junction of the Discovery.--Mr Anderson's Journey up the Country.--Astronomical Observations,--Nautical Remarks on the Pa.s.sage from England to the Cape, with regard to the Currents and the Variation_.

Having completed our water, and got on board every other thing we wanted at Teneriffe, we weighed anchor on the 4th of August, and proceeded on our voyage, with a fine gale at N.E.

At nine o'clock in the evening on the 10th,[79] we saw the island of Bonavista bearing south, distant little more than a league; though, at this time, we thought ourselves much farther off: But this proved a mistake. For, after hauling to the eastward till twelve o'clock, to clear the sunken rocks that lie about a league from the S.E. point of the island, we found ourselves, at that time, close upon them, and did but just weather the breakers. Our situation, for a few minutes, was very alarming. I did not choose to sound, as that might have heightened the danger, without any possibility of lessening it. I make the north end of the island of Bonavista to lie in the lat.i.tude of 16 17' N., and in the longitude of 22 59' W.