Gran Canaria

“ In the middle of the fifteenth century Gran Canaria and Teneriffe were still independent, with a joint population of 25,000. The conquest of these islands lasted thirty years, during which most of the men were killed or brought to Spain and sold as slaves in Cadiz or Seville. Others committed suicide rather than survive the loss of their freedom, while a large number were swept away by the niodorra, an epidemic like those which have recently carried off so many tribes in America and Oceania. ”

“ Having waited a considerable time for an answer to his letter, he sailed with the two vessels from Gomera on August 23d for Gran Canaria, and fell in with the bark on the following day, which had been detained all that time on its voyage by contrary winds. He now took his man from the bark, and, sailing in the night past the island of Teneriffe, the people were much astonished at observing flames bursting out of the lofty mountain called El Pico (or the Peak of Teneriffe) . ”

“ Even more disastrous for agriculture are the sandy dunes or coast-hills, thrown up by the currents off the African shores, the sand of which is driven inland by violent N. winds. The Gran Canaria, on the other hand, though by no means free from the locust pest, holds an intermediate position in point of climate and scenery between the more continental E. group of islands and the almost wholly oceanic W. group. ”

“ On the 28th of September, being then 100 leagues from Spain, great numbers of land birds, among which were turtle-doves, and many small birds, came aboard the admirals ship, which were supposed to come from the Azores, and to be on their passage to Africa to pass the winter. Holding on their course, the fleet came to anchor at Gran Canaria on Wednesday the 2d of October, and sailed again at midnight for Gomera, where it arrived on the 5th of October. The admiral issued orders for every thing of which the fleet might stand in need to be provided with all possible dispatch. ”

“ The wood and the wool and the skins are, in fact, the capital without which their work as manufacturers in their respective trades is impossible—so that the vital and other capital supplied by Gran Canaria and Teneriffe is most indubitably the necessary antecedent of the industrial labour of Lanzerote. ”

“ Thus the Groenberghe (" Greenhill ") became Monteverde, and notwithstanding their diverse origin, all the inhabitants of the archipelago have long been zealous Spanish patriots. All attacks made on their fortified towns were always successfully repelled. French Huguenots, Barbary corsairs, English buccaneers, and even a Dutch fleet of seventy ships, vainly attempted to take either Teneriffe or Gran Canaria, and in 1797 Nelson himself failed to reduce Santa-Cruz, losing a ship and an arm on the occasion. The only local industries are agriculture and fishing. Formerly the islanders ”

“ Teneriffe, Gran Canaria, and sometimes Palma are the islands usually visited by tourists; the others chiefly attract botanists and geologists.
29The Canaries, supposed by some geographers to form part of the submerged continent of Atlantis, and by others to have been outlying spurs of the Atlas of Morocco (p. 93) , have the same geological formation as Madeira (see pp. 17, 18, 19) . ‘In Fuerteventura especially there occur masses of slag and lava, thrown up by countless eruptions, superimposed on the diabase formation, which is still visible in many places ”

“ There still remains a "bottomless" funnel, in which long echoes are awakened by stones thrown from side to side. The most recent lavas in Gran Canaria appear to be those of Isleta, a small group of insular volcanoes connected with the north-east angle of the large island by the sandy isthmus of Guanarteme. The sands of this narrow causeway oy planted with tamarisks, consist chiefly of the remains of shells and foraminateræ gradually consolidated into a granular limestone with marine concretions added on both sides. ”

“ He had been instructed to steer widely clear of the Portuguese coast, and he bore away in the lead directly to the southwest. On the seventh day (October 1) they reached the Gran Canaria, where they tarried to repair a leaky ship. On the 5th they anchored at Gomera. Two days were required here to complete some parts of their equipment, for the islands had already become the centre of great industries and produced largely. "They have enterprising merchants who carry their commerce to many shores," wrote Coma to Scillacio. ”

“ The return of Jean de Béthencourt—Gadifer's jealousy—Béthencourt visits his archipelago—Gadifer goes to conquer Gran Canaria—Disagreement of the two commanders—Their return to Spain—Gadifer blamed by the King—Return of Béthencourt—The natives of Fortaventura are baptized—Béthencourt revisits Caux—Returns to Lancerota—Lands on the African coast—Conquest of Gran Canaria, Ferro, and Palma Islands—Maciot appointed Governor of the archipelago—Béthencourt obtains the Pope's consent to the Canary Islands being made an Episcopal See—His return to his country and his death. ”

“ The chaplains associated with Bethencourt's expedition have left on record that in Fuerteventura they saw " the strongest castles that could be found anywhere." The idols, figures, and ornaments designed on the vases bear a great resemblance to the types presented on the Egyptian monuments. Inscriptions in characters like those of the Libyan alphabet have even been found at the very extremity of the archipelago, in the Belmaco grotto, Palma, on a wall on the east side of Hierro, and in Gran Canaria. ”

“ He imparted his project to Courtois, who highly approved of it, and added, "Sir, when you return to France, I will go with you. I am a bad husband. It is five years since I saw my wife, and, by my troth, she did not much care about it."
The 6th of October, 1405, was the day fixed for starting for Gran Canaria, but contrary winds carried the ships towards the African coast, and they passed by Cape Bojador, where Béthencourt landed. He made an expedition twenty-four miles inland, and seized some natives and a great number of camels that he took to his vessels. ”

“ The other three islands of this group, Grand Canaria, Teneriffe, and Palma, which are larger and better peopled than the other four, are still unsubdued and possessed by the aboriginal idolaters. Grand Canaria has between eight and nine thousand souls, and Teneriffe, which is the largest of all these islands, is said to contain fourteen or fifteen thousand, and is divided into nine separate lordships. Palma, however, has very few inhabitants, yet it appears to be a very beautiful island. Every lordship seems to have its own mode of religious worship ”

“ It is to be known that among the other isles which are at the said great Canaria, there is one, where not a drop of water is to be found proceeding from a fountain or a river, only once a day at the hour of midday, there descends a cloud from the sky which envelops a large tree which is in this island, and it falls upon the leaves of the tree, and a great abundance of water distils from these leaves, so that at the foot of the tree there is so large a quantity of water that it seems as if there was an ever-running fountain. The men who inhabit this place are satisfied with this water ”

“ The head iland, where the justice, which they call Audiencia, is resident, and whither all sutes have their appealation and finall sentence, is the grand Canaria, although the Tenerifa is held for the better and richer iland, and to have the best sugar; and the wine of the Palma is reputed for the best. The pitch of these ilands melteth not with the sunne, and therefore is proper for the higher works of shipping. Betwixt Forteventura and Lancerota is a goodly sound, fit for a meeting place for any fleete; where is good anchoring and aboundance of many sorts of fish. ”

“ The real Canary of these islands, however, the Fringilla Canaria of Linnæus, and which still abounds here, is not of the saffron or yellow colour it attains in Europe; but is, in its wild state, the [76] colour of our common field or grey linnet, the yellow hue being the result of repeated crossings in its artificial state amongst us. The Canaries are amongst several other islands that were known to the ancients, but not discovered by modern Europe until the middle of the fifteenth century, when, after a brave resistance from the natives, the Spaniards conquered and have since retained them. ”

“ The opinion of the author of the History and Conquest of the Canary Islands, is, that the inhabitants came originally from Mauritania, and this he founds on the resemblance of names of places in Africa and in the islands: "for," says he, "Telde 214, which is the name of the oldest habitation in Canaria, Orotaba, and Tegesta, are all names which we find given to places in Mauritania and in Mount Atlas. It is to be supposed that Canaria, Fuertaventura, and Lancerotta, were peopled by the Alarbes 215, who are the nation most esteemed in Barbary ”

“ Pliny mentions Canaria, and accounts for that name from the number of large dogs which the island contained; a circumstance which some modern voyagers, perhaps with little accuracy, repeat as having occasioned the same name to be given by the Spaniards. Nivaria, spoken of by the same author, is evidently Teneriffe, and synonymous, if we are rightly informed, to the modern name*. Ombrion, or Pluvialia, is supposed to be Ferro; where the dryness of the soil has at all times compelled the inhabitants to depend for water on the rains. ”

“ These vessels shall meet at the island of Grande Canaria [Grand Canary Island] during this time, and each one of the said parties shall send certain persons in them, to wit, pilots, astrologers, sailors, and any others they may deem desirable. But there must be as many on one side as on the other, and certain of the said pilots, astrologers, sailors, and others of those sent by the said King and Queen of Castilla, Aragon, etc., and who are experienced, shall embark in the ships of the said King of Portugal and the Algarbes ”

“ Here a perpendicular face of calcareous rock fronts a deep valley, backed by a rounded hill, with the blue chine of El Cumbre in the distance: this is the highest of the ridge, measuring 8,500 feet. The wall is pierced, like the torrent-side of Mar Saba (Jerusalem) , with caves that shelter a troglodyte population numbering some 2,000 souls. True to their Berber origin, they seek refuge in the best of savage lodgings from heat, cold, and wind. The site rises some 2,000 feet above sea-level, and the strong wester twists the trees. Grand Canary preserves more of these settlements than Tenerife ”

“ According to Faidherbe, this name is derived from the Berber Canar, or Ganar, formerly attributed to the neighbouring African seaboard; and the Wolofs even still apply the term Ganar to the region stretching north of the Senegal river. Ptolemy also calls one of the western headlands of Africa Canaria, while Pliny speaks of some " Canarian " tribes among the populations dwelling about the Atlas Mountains. ”

“ AND THE GOVERNORS AT LAGUNA AND SANTA CRUZ.
It is reported they can raise 12,000 armed men on this island. The governor or general (as he is called) of all the Canary Islands lives at Laguna: his name is Don Pedro de Ponto. He is a native of this island, and was not long since President of Panama in the South Seas: who bringing some very rich pearls from thence, which he presented to the Queen of Spain, was therefore, as it is said, made general of the Canary Islands. The Grand Canary is an island much superior to Tenerife both in bulk and value ”

“ Vast areas of it are submerged at high water, above which only the upper part of the trees of the sombre forests appear. At Canaria, the high land commences and continues as far as Tabatinga, and thence up stream. ”

“ The Islas Canarias, as the Spaniards have it, or the Canaries, or Canary Islands, as we have it, lie between thirteen and eighteen degrees of west longitude, and between twenty-seven and a half and twenty-nine and a half degrees of north latitude. They have an aggregate area of thirty-two hundred square miles, and a population of two hundred and twenty-seven thousand. There are seven principal islands, the most important of which are Teneriffe, Grand Canary, and Palma. These islands are all very mountainous, volcanic, and rocky. ”

“ Their eyes are very beautiful and not small, and themselves far from black, but the color of the Canarians. Nor should anything else be expected, as this island is in a line east and west from the island of Hierro in the Canaries. Their legs are very straight, all in one line, and no belly, but very well formed. They came to the ship in small canoes, made out of the trunk of a tree like a long boat, and all of one piece, and wonderfully worked, considering the country. They are large, some of them holding 40 to 45 men, others smaller, and some only large enough to hold one man. ”

“ The land is, in great part, strictly entailed.
Government.—The archipelago forms one Spanish province, of which the capital is Santa Cruz de Tenerife, the residence of the civil governor, who has under his command one of the two districts into which the archipelago is divided, this first district comprising Teneriffe, Palma, Gomera and Hierro. The other district includes Grand Canary, Lanzarote, Fuerteventura, and has at its head a sub-governor, residing in Las Palmas, on Grand Canary, who is independent of the governor except in regard to elections and municipal administration. ”