48 ZERO FOR LONGITUDE SANTA CRUZ. Jan.
island, or on board a ship in the offing, except by a trigonometrical
process, always open to errors. Indeed the summit of
the peak is not visible from the east, on account of intervening
land, until the observer is at some distance from the shore.
Hence all meridian distances measured from Teneriffe must
depend upon the degree of accuracy with which the position of
the actual starting-point, with respect to the Peak, was determined.
How many errors have been caused in ascertaining the longitudes
of distant places, by a mistake in the longitude of the
position from which a ship, or an observer, actually departed !
How many discrepancies between the measurements of different
nations would vanish, if the precise points from which each
observer set out were known; and if the positions of those
points, with respect to one another, were accurately verified !
About noon we approached the sun-burned, uninviting town
of Santa Cruz. Lying upon a level, arid space, at the foot of
hills, that rise slowly to a considerable height, so as to shut
out the more elevated part of the island ; hardly a tree to be
seen, and no appearance of cultivation; guarded by a rocky
shore, on which there is always a disagreeable—often a dangerous
surf; it offers indeed little to tempt delay. But notwithstanding
this unpromising exterior, and a port so exposed that
Spanish ships of war were ordered by their Government to
moor there with four anchors, there is much to be found in
the higher and interior parts of Teneriffe which amply repays
the labour of ascending to and exploring those regions. In one
of the churches in Santa Cruz is still hanging the remains of a
flag, taken from the English, or left behind, when Nelson lost
his arm.
Our anchor had just touched the ground, when a boat from
the Health Office approached nearly along-side, conveying the
British vice-consul and some quarantine officers, who told us,
after hearing whence we came, that it would he impossible to
grant permission for any person to la n d ; and that until we
should have performed a strict quarantine of twelve days’ duration,
no personal communication could be expected. This II 'á
;8 3 2 . aU ARA N T IN E— SWELL SQUALL. 49
regulation was adopted on account of the reports which had
reached them respecting the cholera in England.
Observations on shore being indispensable for our purpose,
and finding, after some discussion, that there was no chance of
attaining our object in a manner that would at all compensate
for the delay caused by anchoring and performing quarantine,
we weighed ivithout further loss of time, and made sail for the
Cape Verd Islands.
This was a great disappointment to Mr. Darwin, who had
cherished a hope of visiting the Peak. To see it—to anchor
and be on the point of landing, yet be obhged to turn away
witliout the slightest prospect of beholding Teneriffe again—
was indeed to him a real calamity.
During the whole of the 7th, the Peak was visible ; but on
the following day no land was in sight, and we made rapid
progress. A very long swell from the north-west, which we
felt until the 10th, was probably caused by a gale in the northern
Atlantic; and, judging from its size and velocity, I
should think that it could not have subsided before traversing
many, perhaps ten more, degrees of latitude; which would be
to about 10° north. I t is interesting to notice how fai- the
imdulatory movement of water reaches: in this case it extended
through at least ten degrees of latitude where the wind
was from different quarters, and probably much fai-ther.
An unusual appearance was observed on the 12th. A cloud
hke a dense fog-bank approached ; and as it drew near, the
lower and darker part became arched, and rose rapidly, while
under it was a white glare, which looked very suspicious.
Sail was immediately reduced—we expected a violent squall;
but the cloud dispersed suddenly, and only a common fresh
breeze came from the foreboding quai-ter. Neither the sympie-
someter nor the barometer had altered at all; but the cloud
was so threatening that I put no trust in their indications, not
being then so firm a believer in their prophetic movements as
I am at present. Nevertheless, I would by no means advocate
the neglect of any precaution suggested by appearances of the
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