the quay. So large a town, with a population so apparently
scanty, is apt to impress a stranger with an idea of some
dreadful calamity having swept away a great proportion of the
inhabitants. The fact is, the Spaniards seldom stir abroad
except to attend matins and vespers; and the British merchants,
who here as well as at Madeira may be said to monopolize
the wine trade, are few in number; and those few
reside chiefly at the port of Oratava, from whence the greater
part of the wines are shipped.
The many little conveniences and comforts to which an
Englishman is accustomed at home but ill prepare him for
the awkward shifts he is obliged to make, the bad accommodations
he is sure to meet with, and the endless difficulties
he must necessarily encounter, in every country where Englishmen
do not form' a considerable portion of the inhabitants.
We wrere told, however, that in Santa Cruz there was
an excellent inn ; but the expectations we had formed, from
our experience in Madeira, suffered little disappointment oft
finding it just the reverse of what it had been represented.
The bare walls, scarcely covered with lime, the. miserable
furniture and, above all, the dirty appearance of every thing
within, if not a criterion of absolute poverty, were at least
sufficient indications o f the indolence of the owners and the
little sense they entertained of the comforts arising from cleanliness.
■ I t afforded nothing but a few grapes and brown
bread, and wine that was scarcely drinkable. Having secured,
as we thought, a sufficient number of horses and mules
for an expedition to the Peak the following morning, and
taken a view of the town, we were glad to return to dinner
7
on board our respective ships. And as a journey of twenty
miles is considered to be a great day's work, in a hilly country,
where the roads are not the best, nor the beasts of burden
the strongest, we determined to start at break of day. On
our landing, however, not a mule was in readiness at this
early hour, nor could we collect more than nine in the whole
place. We started with as many as we could get, and, after
jogging on for two hours at a sl°W rate’ °Ver a r0Cky r°ad’
mostly up hill and in some places very steep, we reached
Laguna, which is about five miles distant from the port.
This city is considered as the capital of the island ; but its size
does not appear to entitle it to that distinction,,being little, and
perhaps not at all, more extensive than thè town of Santa
Cruz. The houses are in general built on a larger scale, and
the streets are wider. There are two churches, five or six
convents for nuns.and friars, several hospitals, a large jail,
a court of judicature, and many other buildings and offices
of a public nature, appropriated for the civil and ecclesiastical
departments of govèmment ; but it appeared to us to be still
more gloomy and desolate than Santa Cruz. A few jolly
looking friars were the only persons who enlivened the streets,
many of which were literally overgrown with grass. Here
and there we observed a solitary figure, muffled up in a black
hooded cloak, and gliding along as if afraid to be seen. The
jail was by far the most lively part of Laguna. It seemed to
be crowded by disorderly females, who were laughing and
singing at the iron gratings, and whose joyful countenances
wore no indications of their suffering in confinement any very
severe punishment for their offences, whatever the nature of
them might have been.
F 2