Rides and studies in the Canary Islands

Front matter

RIDES AND STUDIES IN THE CANARY ISLANDS.

BY THE SAME AUTHOR.

LETTERS FROM CRETE.

Introduction

This book is written for the entertainment both of those who visit the Canary Islands and those who do not.

The fortunate few who propose to sojourn under the palms and sunshine of Tenerife may be glad to learn from it something about the early Canarians, whose bones alone remain to us. The Guanches, for example, were a race deserving of a fair niche in the mausoleum of defunct human types.

These fortunate few may also welcome the book, because it assumes to give a description (inadequate enough) of what they hope to see.

On the other hand, the " Rides and Studies " appeals no less to those discreeter travellers who do their journeying by the fireside. There is worse pastime than climbing a mountain with one's feet on the fender. And though it is a pleasure to ride, agape with expectation, among strangers in a strange land, it is even pleasanter to sit at ease in one's armchair, under our dull homely skies, and amid familiar faces. This the sage majority who travel only among the octavos know by heaven-born instinct.

X

INTRODUCTION.

In the building of this little book, I have had help which I must gratefully acknowledge.

To my comrade-in-affliction in the island of Palma, (the Rev. C. V. Goddard), I am indebted for most of the sketches. Like other human creations, they are imperfect; but, for that, "circumstances" are to blame, rather than their author.

The drawing on page 41 is by Miss Yeatman.

For the photographs here reproduced, I render thanks to Mr. A. Samler-Brown and Senor Baeza.

I have read and digested, with more or less effort, a quantity of literature about the Canary Islands : histories, epics, rhymes, chronicles, and fables. The usage that I have made of this literature seems to empower me to set the somewhat responsible term "Studies" a - pillion to the "Rides" of my title. But there is in truth nothing very scholastic about the book. And if aught in it appear to savour of erudition or antiquarian exploits, let praise for this be offered at a venture to the memory of the Abbe Viera who, a hundred years ago, unravelled the tangle of Canarian history.

Fragments of the " Rides and Studies " have already appeared in print in sundry magazines. The proprietors and editors of the Cornhill Magazine, Temple Bar, The Graphic, the St. James's Gazette, and other periodicals are hereby thanked afresh for their courteous permission to incorporate these fragments in the structure of the book.

Wolverhampton, Nov. 10, 1888.

Chapter I. Page

The S.S. Niger — West Coast merchants — Santa Cruz from the sea — The Anaga Hills — The Mole — Nelson and July 25, 1797 — The Churches of Santa Cruz — The workhouse — Street architecture and the Postigos — The Alaineda — Emigration — Santa Cruz a Spanish foundation — Statuary in the Plaza — The defects of a cosmopolitan seaport . . . . 1

Chapter II

The Grand Hotel and Sanatorium of Orotava — Commercial decay of the islands— An early ride — Roads and roadside scenes — The ungallant driver — Laguna — The north side of Tenerife — Matanza — Bencomo, the King of Taoro — Victoria — The Valley of Orotava and Humboldt's praise of it — The Peak 16

Chapter III

Sweet idling in Puerto — Trivial excitements of a health resort — Puerto as it is and as it was — The old wine xii CONTENTS.

PAGE

trade — Irish monuments in the Church — Puerto's harbour — La Paz — A Guanche sepulchre — Guanche skulls — A southern villa — The cochineal insect — Sugar, tobacco, and wine — The ruin of 1826 . . . .28

Chapter IV

Various conjectural origins of the name, people, and land of the Canary Islands — The island of San Borondon — The legendary first inhabitants — The Canaries and the Elysian Fields identical 55

Chapter V

Tacoronte — Its museum and miraculous crucifix — The Guanches — Their mummies and method of embalming — Their polity — Coronations — Ceremony of ennobling — Religion — The vestal virgins of Grand Canary — Education — Morals — Trial by smoke — Punishment of crime — Dress — General character — Food — The Palma mode of dying — Dwellings and furniture — Inscription of Belmaco — Strength and agility — Reflections . . 67

Chapter VI

The Gardens of Acclimatization — Eccentric trees and shrubs — The dragon tree — Orotava Villa — The private gardens of the Villa — The Castillo monument — The Villa Church de la Concepcion— The Dominican nuns and the Jesuit fathers — Periodical eruptions of Teide — Philosophy of life in the Villa 86

Chapter VII

A tour round Tenerife — The boys and the bell-tower — The configuration of Tenerife — Barrancos — Zones of tern-

CONTENTS. xiii

PAGE

perature — Realejo, Upper and Lower — Bencomo and Realejo — The Church of Rambla — I cod — The dragon tree— The sad citizen — Garachico — The story of 1706 — The drunken prisoner — Sunset on the Peak — Playing the pedagogue . . . . .104

Chapter VIII

A trait of Icod character — A fair morning — Pumice plains and lava beds — Gomera — On the Cahadas — A volcaneta — The Peak at its toilette — Palm Sunday service —Garachico from above — A valley bivouac — Santiago — A severe mountain — Chia— Guia — Excitement in Guia — Hospitality of Guia — For and against country life ... 129

Chapter IX

The hot south side of Tenerife — The Euphorbia — Josd's bragging — Adeje — Its Casa fuerte — Its population — Ascent to Chasna — Chasna of the clouds — The doctor and his daughter — A morning outlook — Flower customs — The Eve of St. John — Granadilla — Its oranges — A sturdy gentleman — Granadilla' s church, club, and tobacco factories — Rio — Barrancos and cave dwellings — Flies — Arico — The ex-dockman — Fast life in Arico . 146

Chapter X

A dilemma — Spanish generosity — The Barranco de Herque — Fasnea — The genial householder — A downpour — Escobonal and the Carretara — View of Guimar — The procession of Holy Thursday — Fanaticism — Candelaria — Rude burial — The camel — Santa Cruz — Strategy — Laguna — Orotava 167

XIV

CONTENTS.

Chapter XI. Page

Easter morning — A Guanche festival — Bencomo — The city of Laguna— Its history — The romance of Dacil and Castillo— The pestilence of Laguna — Ecclesiastical appropriations — Public festivities and mourning — The miraculous sweat — Some governors of the Canaries — Bishops, and Murga's injunctions — The expulsion of the Jesuits — Laguna as it is 184

Chapter XII

The Laguna Churches — Social difficulties — Scheme for the emancipation of women — A working men's club — Ecclesiastical treasures — The library — The Professor and his pamphlet — Superstitions — The burning of Judas Iscariot — A diocese without a head . . . 200

Chapter XIII

The Anaga Hills — The woods of Mercedes — A dainty greensward — The Anaga edges and abysses — The " Cruz del Carmen " — The " Cruz de Afur" — Taganana woods and village — The " Cura " — A rustic beauty — A Guanche idyl — " El Roque de las Animas " — The monk and the nuns — Bencomo and Zebensin — Tenerifah economics — Return up the " Vuelta " .... 210

Chapter XIV

Traditions about the Peak — First account of an ascent — Preparations for the climb — Our start — Glorious day — In the clouds — Above the clouds — El Pico de Teide — Stages of the ascent — The Retama Plain — Obsolete

CONTENTS. xv

PAGE

hardships — At the foot of the pyramid — The Estancia — Bed-making and eating — Sunset — A restless night — On by moonlight — An unexpected meeting — The Rambleta — Sunrise — On the summit — In the crater — Hot and cold — Sulphur men— The ice cave — The descent 224

Chapter XV

Palma from Tenerife — The weekly correo — The misery of it — A fair night at sea — Topography of Palma — Origin of its name — Guayanfanta — Conquest of Palma — The brave king of the Caldera — Alonso de Lugo's mean shift — Later history of Palma — Tenerife named by the people of Palma — The Bishop and the convent cake — Independence of Palma — The Vandewalle family, past and present 261

Chapter XVI

Santa Cruz of Palma — A warm town — The mole — Steep streets — Palma women — Don Pedro and his wife — Palma fashions — Morning routine — The craterette of Santa Cruz — Architecture and industries of Santa Cruz — The Church of San Salvador — Altar machinery — Our Lady of the Snows — The cockpit — A series of fights — Palma's dependence on England — Local wines and tobacco — Weevils — Locusts — Legend of the Peak of Tenerife and the Caldera of Palma . . . . 270

Chapter XVII

Preparations for a tour round Palma — Barranco de Galga — A red land — San Andre's— Los Sauces — Its merry mill — Barrancos de Herradura — Gallegos and Peleos — Awful roads — A beautiful country — We lose our way — The timid shepherd boys — A fairy fog — The kindly

CONTENTS.

PAGE

proprietress and her hospitality — Tricias — Its elevation — Primitive quarters — A mill by cow-power — More barrancos — Bad water — Candelaria — Its ancient church — A gracious noonday rest — On the Caldera edge — Indescribable panorama — The Caldera — Its colours and immensity — The Pico de Bejanao — Volcanoes and lava flows 290

Chapter XVIII

Los Llanos' 3 — Its fenda — Curious visitors and fellow guests — Argual — Paso and the Alcalde — Paso's school — The Caldera by the Barranco — Under the Pico de los Muchachos — The Caldera bed — The Cumbrecita Pass — Steep crags — Clouds brewing in the Caldera — The old and the new road over the Cordillera — The volcano of Tocade — We desert Don Pedro — A cruel voyage from Palma 310

Chapter XIX

Historical summary — Bethencourt and his successors — Disputes about the Canaries between Spain and Portugal — Generous native princes — Rejon and the conquest of Grand Canary — Los Palmas — Ascension Day in the cathedral — Bones and copes — Paintings — The hospital — The English sailor among the Spaniards — Theatre and markets— Spanish justice — The harbour— Cloudy weather — The evening promenade — A funeral and burial . . 325

Chapter XX

Characteristics of Grand Canary — The noisy sleeper — A sudden idea — Pancho and the Andalusian — The Cal-

CONTENTS. xvii

PAGE

dera de Vandama — Tafira — Atalaya — Probable pedigree of the dwellers in Atalaya — Santa Brigida — San Mateo — Pancho's relations — The priest and his assistants — Across country — Guimar — A pretty prospect — Telde — Troglodytes and aristocrats — A brisk ride in the dark— S.S. Opobo— The last of the Peak . . 349

APPENDIX 363

LIST 1 OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

PAGE

OLD CONVENT AND CHURCH TOWER IN SANTA CRUZ

OF palm A ... ... ... ... Frontispiece

THE PEAK: FROM A ROOF IN PUERTO ... ... 30

A PICTURE IN PUERTO ... ... ... ... 34

A BUSY DAY IN PUERTO ... ... ... ... 38

VIEW FROM A GARDEN NEAR HUMBOLDT'S VILLA 41

A GUANCHE SEPULCHRE ... ... ... 45

AN ENGLISH RESIDENCE BY PUERTO ... ... 4 8

A VILLA OF TENERIFE ... ... ... ... 5 2

THE ISLAND OF SAN BORONDON ... ... ... 64

FACSIMILES OF THE INSCRIPTIONS OVER THE CAVE OF

BELMACO, IN THE ISLAND OF PALMA 82

SCENE ON THE ROAD TO THE VILLA ... ... 87

LOOKING WEST FROM PUERTO ... ... ... I08 xx LIST OF ILL USTRA TIONS.

PAGE

BALCONY IN SAN JUAN DE LA RAMBLA ... ... Il6

THE PEAK IN MARCH: FROM ABOVE ICOD ... 1 36

A CLUMP OF EUPHORBIA ... ... ... ... 148

A TENERIFAN IN HIS MANTA ... ... ... I5 2

A GOATHERD OF TENERIFE ... .... ... 229

A BEGGAR OF TENERIFE ... ... ... ... 234

THE PEAK FROM PUERTO : SHOWING THE TIGAYGA

OUTLINE OF CHAHORA, AS SEEN FROM THE SUMMIT OF

MAP OF GRAND CANARY ... ... ... 333

RIDES AND STUDIES IN THE CANARY ISLANDS.

Chapter I

The S.S. Niger — West Coast merchants — Santa Cruz from the sea — The Anaga Hills — The Mole — Nelson and July 25, 1 797 — The churches of Santa Cruz — The workhouse — Street architecture and the " Postigos " — The "Alameda" — Emigration — Santa Cruz a Spanish foundation — Statuary in the Plaza — The defects of a cosmopolitan seaport.

Our ship, the Niger, of the African Steamship Company, dropped anchor off Santa Cruz on the morning of Sunday, the 20th March. So many of our country folk had come on board at the last moment, in a scamper from the east winds and sleet of " dear old England," that throughout the voyage the vessel had carried a freight of human flesh much beyond her capacity. Some of us had in consequence been put, aft like stowaways. The Bay of Biscay had drenched us by bucketfuls in our nightly stumble and slide down the wet decks to these sad quarters, and the pitching was as if we had been in a swing at the mercy of lusty arms. At Madeira

THE CANARY ISLANDS.

certain pale invalids and knickerbockered tourists enlarged our circle, so that for the final two days of the eight from Liverpool to Tenerife people slept on the dining tables and under them, like the dregs of a debauch. For the Steamship Company this was admirable, but for us who were not interested in its dividends it was not so pleasant. Besides, the provisions had begun to fall off : there was not enough marmalade for the tenth day. Taking these various circumstances into account, it was joy to know that the voyage was at an end. The twentieth of March is a day on which, in the Catholic calendar, souls are released from the pains of Purgatory. It is also the first day of Spring, according to Spanish reckoning. Thus our landing on Spanish and Catholic soil was doubly auspicious.

We parted with the half-dozen passengers whom we left on the Niger to proceed to Sierra Leone and the West Coast, much as one might part with an explorer bound for the North Pole. Over brandies and sodas these heroes of commerce had told us of the heat, ennui, and flavour of doom that marked their life at the lonely trading stations in the mangrove swamps of the wide river mouths. King Chance rules in Benin during the wet season as grimly as when he held court in Paris, with Robespierre for his prime puppet.

These merchants were married. Their wives lived in England, and made them welcome for a couple of months every alternate year. One gentleman, bolder or more pitiless than the rest, was, this trip, accompanied by his wife : it was an experiment.

SANTA CRUZ.

Six weeks after- I left the Niger her death was in the papers.

Is it not ghastly ? Black men and women, gold dust, elephants' teeth, leopard skins, blue skies, palm-trees, and freedom from the restraints of convention, cannot give charm to these cruel shores, which force white men to solace themselves with the old hectic and deluding cordial, " Let us eat, drink, and be merry ; for to-morrow we die ! "

From the water Santa Cruz has the gay air of a Levantine city. Its bulk of white houses with flat roofs, the two dark campaniles of its principal churches, the pale pink or ochre bodies and yet brighter turrets of mercantile and municipal buildings, the flutter of flags, and the heavy curl of surf on its sandy beach, give it a lively look. But the town is nothing to its surroundings. Imagine a mass of pointed and serrated mountains hedging it close on one side, and the long backbone of Tenerife, springing behind the town from these chaotic hills, and rising gradually in the opposite direction until, thirty miles away, it culminates in the Peak itself, 12,180 feet above the sea : you may then have an idea of the mere land frame of Santa Cruz.

The Anaga hills, near our anchorage, drop into the sea by stern red precipices. Their summits, winningly fantastic, two and three thousand feet high, are crested with laurels and heaths, the leafage of which is wonderfully clear against the blue background of sky. For the rest, there are many palm trees among the houses of the city, and beyond it, where the land swells to the watershed, are fields

THE CANARY ISLANDS.

of barley, and patches of the cochineal cactus. These last, decked in their white rags, are curiously suggestive of extensive laundry grounds.

One word, however, about the Peak. In Santa Cruz it is little more than a tradition. The buttresses of the Canadas, or old crater, eight or nine thousand feet from the level, and upon which the Peak proper is built as a precise pyramid, stand like a distant wall between the capital and the mountain top. Thanks to this foreshortening, only enlightened eyes can identify a tiny purple pimple, peering over the great wall, as the Teide long believed to be the highest elevation in the world.

After eight days at sea, some of us were hasty in our efforts to land on Tenerife. But the health officer had first to certify that we were bringing no infectious disease to this little island which has suffered so many scourges of various kinds since it came into civilised history. " Patience ! " therefore, was the word. Indeed, this was a plea to which we soon got habituated. If the dinner came not for an hour or two after it was ordered, " Patience, senor," murmured the landlord. If the horse I had engaged for a week's riding tour appeared as an animated sheaf of bones, the livery man remarked that with " patience " the " beast would improve in looks." If, in a clumsy attempt to eat a prickly pear, I ran four or five spines into my thumb, and groaned while trying to extract them, a swarthy native was sure to be near to assure me that with " patience " the wound would fester comfortably and allow the venomous points to expel themselves. And when

NELSON AND SANTA CRUZ.

the southern husband, in a rare moment of petulance, complains of the screaming of his babe, ten to one the mother will whisper " Patience," and remind the father that by and by the squaller will become a man.

About three hundred years ago, when the populalation of Santa Cruz was under a thousand, the inhabitants began to build a mole for the protection of their harbour. This mole is still unfinished. A long line of gigantic cubes of concrete are waiting to be hurled pell-mell into the sea for the due continuance of the work ; but it is impossible to say how many years they have thus been waiting, or when the mole will be completed. " Patience ! " however.

This thick fragment of a pier, with the lighthouse upon it, has strong interest for an Englishman. It was while he was standing on it during the night of the 24th July, 1797, that a brilliant shot from a field-piece under the alameda, about two hundred yards distant, carried off Nelson's right arm, killed Bowen, the captain of the Terpsichore, wounded the captain of the Seahorse and two seconds in command, and killed a score of others. We had already captured the mole, but had been forced to abandon it. It was doubtful if Trowbridge and his thousand men had succeeded in their endeavour to row upon the shore, march into the town, and bring the Governor- General to a surrender. In this strait Nelson himself came into the strife, just in time for the cannon shot which, in the words of the Spanish rhymer —

..liHik

THE CANARY ISLANDS.

The citizens of Santa Cruz are proud of the memory of this battle, and with good reason. Nelson was not accustomed to be beaten. His tone in demanding the Philippine treasure-ship, Principe dc Asturias, which was the ostensible cause of his coming to Tenerife, was, therefore, high-handed, not to say insolent. Trowbridge, when he had safely got through the surf in the teeth of the shore guns, and brought his small body of men into the heart of the city, was even more peremptory than Nelson. His force had got divided, so that he found himself in the Plaza, face to face with the castle and its guns, with only about 340 men around him. Nelson's co-operation had failed. The rest of his troops were isolated elsewhere in the city. Nevertheless, says the Spanish historian, " in spite of this false position, Trowbridge had the hardihood to send a sergeant to the castle, demanding its surrender, and threatening else to burn the town." Later, when the reunited British force had taken shelter in the convent of San Domingo, and Nelson's second attempt to relieve him had been defeated, Trowbridge altered his tone. He sent to the Spanish general to say that he did not wish to injure the town, but that he was determined to have the bullion of the Manila ship. Such persistence, in such a situation, was heroic. But when the Governor, in reply, threatened at once to besiege the convent, and to give no quarter, our sturdy Trowbridge returned to his right senses. A flag of truce ended the engagement. The 675 survivors of the original 1,000 assailants marched with all honours of war

NELSON'S LETTER. 7

through the Plaza, between the French and Spanish soldiery of the defence, and embarked for their ships. It is worth mention that the victors, as courteous after as they were brave and intelligent during the battle, gave our men a breakfast before allowing them to re-embark. 1

II 'a I leer &• Boutall sc

Tenerife : Extreme dimensions, 60 miles by 30.

1 Nelson's letter to the Governor shows how he appreciated tins civility :

" Sir, — I cannot quit this island without thanking your Excellency most sincerely for your extreme kindness to me, for your humanity in regard to our dead and wounded in your power and under your care, and for your generosity towards all

THE CANARY ISLANDS.

The total number of men engaged in the defence of Santa Cruz was only 1,669. Trowbridge estimated them at 8,000, and English historians have held to his estimate. But he did not know that, by a trick of war, the same troops were being marched backwards and forwards, like pantomime dummies, to make an effective show.

It is the fashion with visitors to decry Santa Cruz. They use it as a stepping-stone to the other side of the island, and lament when they are obliged to return to it. This is hard on the town, which is at least worth a leisurely inspection. Its two large churches are full of the heavy gilded carving and spiral wooden pillars of which the Spaniards are so fond. Their canvasses, too, are characteristic. Either the figures portrayed are grotesquely out of drawing, or the colours have vanished. The subject of Purgatory, with the elect presided over by Popes and Jesuits, is treated as coarsely in Santa Cruz as in every little village church throughout the islands. When one has looked on Nelson's flags, in a chapel of the> cathedral, and admired the ingenious carved work of a certain Spaniard who died in 1743, leaving this as his monument, the real interest of the building is exhausted. The flags are in elongated cases, under lock and key, and hung on the wall high out of reach. This was deemed essential after the rude

who are disembarked. I will not fail to inform my sovereign of this, and I look forward to an opportunity when I may personally assure your Excellency how much I am your Excellency's most obedient and humble servant,

" Horatio Nelson."

THE WORKHOUSE.

theft of them, once upon a time, by a British midshipman, who thought his and his country's honour depended on their recovery.

The workhouse of Santa Cruz seemed to me almost an ideal place for the long death of old age. It was far from depressing. The good sister who led me through its airy, clean, whitewashed corridors and wards laughed cheerfully all the while. I found fifty well-knit boys busy with slates and pencils and problems of long division. They rose to their feet with pleased alacrity when we appeared, and enjoyed the diversion. From the boys we went to the girls. They were of ages from eight or nine to fifteen, and some of them gave promise of great beauty. Dark eyes that go to the heart are common in Spain; but here, among these well-bred orphaned girls, were also complexions worthy of England, as well as eyes lucid with sweet expression. The girls were variously employed ; some embroidering, some cutting paper patterns for the decoration of church statuary, or devising bouquets of paper roses and geraniums, for use in this land teeming with natural flowers. In this democratic establishment there was work for all who could work. Even the crones, poor ugly old creatures, found pastime in picking corn from a mammoth heap in the midst of their apartment, and they chattered vociferously over their labour. For the men there was bootmaking, carpentering, tailoring, &c. None were degraded to the task, fit only for Bridewells, of meddling with oakum. We discovered seven little urchins making their midday meal, in truly national style, round one big

IO

THE CANARY ISLANDS.

bowl of gofio. They paused with uplifted spoons at the sight of us, but soon resumed their repast. Thus, down the scale, we arrived at the nursery, where a couple of young mothers began to tidy their babes, but a few weeks old, for our entertainment. " That one is blacker than it ought to be," remarked the sister, with a shake of the head, to one of the mothers. But we did not tarry to listen to the voluble explanations which the girl offered on behalf of the child and its parentage. Lastly, we went into the patio or inner courtyard of the building — a garden full of flowers, with palms, bananas, and orange trees interlaced between the sky and the earth. Here the veterans of the workhouse strolled and sunned themselves, free from anxiety. I daresay the southern sun has something to do with it ; but the contrast between this workhouse in a colony of Spain, and the prison-houses to which in England our unfortunate paupers are consigned, was startling.

The streets of Santa Cruz, though not elegant, are by their narrowness adapted for the shade one sighs for under a tropical sun. They are uneven and cobbled, and to drive through them is torture. The houses are lofty, with carven balconies, doors, and window shutters, painted green, with no small degree of individuality. Some of the older buildings on the Marina are palatial in their woodwork — especially the consular houses.. From the patio of palms and orange and lemon trees, with a fountain in their midst, one looks up broad heavy staircases with twisted banisters at dainty supports with elaborate capitals and embossed roofs that would

DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE.

1 1 have done credit to Nuremberg in its best days. Piazzi Smyth reproaches the Canarians because their " liliputian panelling " is of American deal, instead of the tougher olive or walnut wood. Of course the labour of carving olive timber as they have carved the deal would have been greater ; but the work ought surely to be judged only according to its pretensions. It assumes to be ornamental, and it is ornamental. It does not assume to be high art, and v therefore it merits no blame because it is not high art.

These wooden window shutters play an important part in the domestic life of the Canarians. They keep the house cool by the exclusion of light and heat : but they also bring the ladies of the house into immediate though delicate association with their friends and acquaintance outside. The shutters are invariably pierced at the base by a small movable trap which goes outwards on hinges ; and with this postigo pressed open more or less wide by their heads, the women pass hours of the day looking forth into the street, their powdered cheeks level with the cheeks of the pedestrian. At first it is a little embarrassing to walk down one of these long, close, empty streets between a file of faces, the black eyes of which are merciless and unswerving in their concentrated scrutiny. But, after a time, one perceives that it is a gracious custom whereby a stranger may at small cost see the pretty faces of the town in very agreeable contiguity, and contrast the one with the other as easily as if they were photographs in a shop window.

THE CANARY ISLANDS.

The alameda (from alamo, a poplar — the tree favoured in the Peninsular for these public places) of Santa Cruz is a remarkable little tract of forestry in the middle of the town. Here the botanist may try his erudition with almost certain discomfiture. Among date palms and royal palms he will find laurels as tall as a house, and many a plant indigenous to the tropics, but quite at home* in this dry, warm air, which knows hardly anything of a temperature below 50 Fahrenheit. On the hottest of days one may breathe at ease under this thick foliage, or even indulge in a paddle in the fountains of the alameda, like a certain maid whom I caught knee-deep in the water, whiffing a cigarette.