Jacques Labillardière

“ Experience had taught us that the sheep of this island do not bear confinement on board so well as ours. The pure air which they have been accustomed to breathe on the mountains where they feed, renders them the more susceptible of injury from the impure air between-decks. ”

“ It was near noon when we arrived at the height of the clouds, which spread a thick dew over the brush-wood through which our road led us.
One should think that the abundance of rain which falls upon these heights, in consequence of the natural propensity of the atmosphere, [2] must give rise to a great number of springs. They are, nevertheless, very rare; as the earth is not sufficiently attenuated to retain the water, which filtrating through the volcanic soil, discharges itself, for the greater part, into the ocean, without collecting into regular streams. ”

“ Some of the finest ships in the French navy, such as the Majestueux, the Etats de Bourgogne, the America, &c. were then in the harbour.
While our astronomers were engaged in making the observations necessary for determining the movements of our time-keepers, those who designed to make Natural History the principal object of their attention were employed in furnishing themselves with all the requisites for preparing the collections, which they purposed to make in the unknown countries we were about to visit. ”

“ Some large fragments that we found, were our only shelter against the east wind, which blew with considerable violence. The cold was very intense at this height, where nature has not consulted the convenience of travellers, as very little wood is found here; so that the scanty fuel that we were able to collect, was not sufficient to prevent us from passing a very unpleasant night.
The day at length began to dawn. We left some of our guides with their mules at the place where we had spent the night, and proceeded on our journey to the peak, which we were now in haste to accomplish. ”

“ The place is meanly built, and very thinly inhabited. We were informed that at least one half of its inhabitants consists of monks.
On our way to Laguna we passed over some barren mountains, which were covered with a variety of plants of a luxurious growth. Amongst others we noticed the euphorbia canariensis, the euphorbia dendroides, the cacalia kleinia, the cachis opuntia, &c. These plants, as they derive their nourishment almost entirely from the atmosphere, thrive very well in spite of the sterility of the abrupt precipices on which they grow. ”

“ Teneriffe also affords great abundance of dried fish. They particularly carry on an extensive traffic with the species termed bonite.
Those parts of the island upon which the labour of cultivation has been bestowed, are very fertile, as is generally the case in volcanic islands. The internal heat of the earth which forms their basis, exhales towards the surface of the ground a portion of the rain-water which they have imbibed, which produces a remarkably luxuriant vegetation. ”

“ This glass, though formed in the vast crucibles of the mountains at the time of their combustion, might become very useful in the arts; for being already completely manufactured by the hand of nature, it would only require to be exposed to the action of the fire in order to fuse it anew, and render it susceptible of being moulded into all the forms that the hand of man is able to give to it. ”

“ Croix, where the country is in general very barren.
The town is very thinly peopled, even in proportion to the smallness of its extent; though the harbour here is more frequented than any other in the island. The Spaniards have introduced here their own manner of building. The distribution of the internal part of the houses is the same with that which they practise in Europe, without any of those modifications which the difference of the climate requires. ”

“ Although the olive thrives very well in this island, it is very little cultivated. The different species of the palm-tree that are to be met with in some of the gardens, are cultivated only for curiosity.
We had been assured, before our departure from St. Croix, that we should find the summit of the peak already covered with snow. I had not thought it necessary to take a barometer with me at setting out; but I found at Orotava that I had been led into a mistake ”

“ On the other hand the too slow decomposition of some of these volcanic stones, and the extreme dryness of some of the mountains, render many parts of the island unfit for cultivation. The action of the fire to which they have been exposed at different periods after long intervals, as is attested by historical records, together with the shelter which they receive from the plants peculiar to those situations, retarding in many places that gradual decomposition which would otherwise have taken place, had they been left entirely bare. ”

“ In the clefts between the mountains, I observed the polipodium virginicum, and several species of the laurel that were new to me, amongst the rest the laura indica of Linnæus.
Although we purposed to perform our journey within a space of not many days, we ought to have provided ourselves with a larger stock of shoes; for even the strongest soles were soon ground to pieces by the lava on which we walked. ”

“ Some travellers have asserted, that an indigenous species of the parrot is found in these islands; but I have never seen any in my excursions, and several credible persons among the inhabitants have assured me that this assertion is destitute of foundation.
A very stiff gale, which sprung up to-day, caused the sea to swell to such a height, as to drive on shore the pinnace of the Esperance, after having overset it upon one of the sailors, who could not be extricated in less than a space of several minutes. ”

“ Such a constitution is very desirable for those who undertake long voyages; for it is impossible to describe the disagreeable sensations that attend this spasmodic affection, which, as it operates upon every part of the frame, produces such a general depression of its powers, that life would be insupportable, were it not for the hope of a speedy termination of the disorder. ”

“ The Scorpion sloop of war, of sixteen guns and one hundred men, commanded by captain Benjamin Hallowell, had cast anchor in the roads on the 18th, consorted by a small cutter. They had sailed from Madeira five days before, where they had left a vessel of fifty guns, which was expected soon to arrive at Teneriffe. Commodore Englefield who commanded it, had also the general command of this small armament, which was destined for the coast of Africa. These officers, aware of the danger to which sailors are exposed whilst they remain on shore, kept them as much as possible on board ”

“ Croix, the mercury, in the barometer that Lamanon had taken with him, fell at the peak of Teneriffe to 18 inches 4 lines, whilst the thermometer indicated 92⁄3° above 0, though, at the same moment of time, the barometer stood, at St. Croix, at 28 inches 3 lines, and the thermometer at 241⁄2°. ↑ We may here remark, that when high mountains become much heated by the rays of the sun, they act as a kind of stove, by which the superincumbent atmosphere is elevated in consequence of the dilatation which it undergoes. ”