town of Oratava, without having obtained a single glimpse
of the grand object of our journey, the Peak of Teneriffe;
when, by the clouds suddenly dissipating, its lofty and stupendous
summit burst at once upon the view, far above the
thinnest vapour that floated in the a ir: these clouds again
collecting into different masses, either by the difference of
their specific gravity, or by the attractive power of electricity,
remained in suspension on the bosom of the mountain, in
successive strata, like so many belts. Nothing could be more
majestic than the huge cone tapering to a point, and backed
by the azure blue; and nothing could exceed in picturesque
beauty the lower part of this grand mountain melting into the
plain, which, with, an almost imperceptible slope, stretched
away to the sea-coast. At the foot of its base stands the
pleasant city La Villa d’Oratava; and three miles to the
right the sea-port town E l Puerta d’Oratava. In the
former reside most of the grandees of the island, to whose
families were originally given grants of land and who affect
to set no small value on their true Castilian blood. It abounds
with churches, monasteries and convents, and is surrounded
with gardens, vineyards and fruit groves. Six British mercantile
houses contribute in no small degree to the flourishing
state of the sea-port town, which appears to be fully as large
as the city, and to support quite as many churches, monasteries
and convents.
The quantity of wine produced on the island varies from
ten to twenty thousand pipes a year, the greater part of which
is exported to the London market at the prime cost of about
ten to twelve pounds a pipe, where it is said to be converted
into Madeira, to which indeed, in its original state, it seems
to be little if at all inferior. This and similar conversions of
Sherry and certain other Spanish wines will account for the
great consumption of what is called Madeira in England beyond
what is actually exported from the island. The grape
of Teneriffe is the same as that of Madeira and the soil volcanic
; but the higher and more steady temperature of the
former communicates^ to the fruit a greater portion of saccharine
matter, in consequence of which the wines, like those
of the Cape, grow sweeter with age. Much, however, of the
quality of wines, I am inclined to think, depends on the care
and attention that are bestowed in the selection and the
pressing of the grapes. The high price that real good Madeira
bears on the spot of its growth encourages the cultivator
to bestow a greater portion of labour on his vineyard
than the grower on Teneriffe could possibly afford to do. It
answers his purpose to assort the sound and ripe fruit, grape
by grape, and to press them with the nicest care; and there
can be no doubt that the singular qualities which this wine is
known to possess are, in a great degree, owing to the must
being more pure, and of a more homogeneous nature, than that
of almost any other wine.
In the dusk of the evening we entered the port of Oratava,
on full gallop, as the etiquette seemed to require ; for as to
ourselves we had no choice of our own: all we had to do
was to keep our seats as well as we could and in every other
respect to remain passive. To remonstrate with the muleteers
would have been in vain : they goaded the little animals