nary contributions, they are entitled to the tenth of the produce
of the land, out of which, however, the Crown demands
the royal thirds that were granted by the Pope. All exports
and imports are also taxed for the benefit of the Crown ;
and the luxuries of snuff and tobacco are royal monopolies
prohibited, on very heavy penalties, from being imported
by individuals or cultivated on the island. A little weed that
grows on the rocks, the Lichen Rochella, usually called Or-
chella, used as a purple dye for silks, is also a royal monopoly.
As an extraordinary indulgence on the part of the
Crown, the small quantity of silk produced in Teneriffe is allowed
to be manufactured into gloves and stockings ; and the
growth of the sugar-cane is not absolutely prohibited, because
the cultivation of this article is not attended with any profit
to the planter ; but the culture and the manufacture of all
such articles, as the mother-country or her more favoured colonies
can supply, are directly prohibited on this island.. Yet
with all these restrictions, the whole amount of the taxes,
imposts and vexatious monopolies on the Seven Islands, is
scarcely equal, after the expences are deducted, to the annual
profits of a London brewer. And, with so many-discouraging
drawbacks on industry, it is hardly to be wondered that they
should have no great abundance of surplus produce to dispose
of except their wines. The quadrupeds on the island consist
in a few horses, mules, asses, and horned cattle, besides
sheep, goats, hogs, and rabbits ; and we found all kinds of
poultry dear and difficult to procure. The market is equally
ill supplied with fruit and vegetables. Their bread is very
indifferent. Such are the pernicious effects of a bad government
on one of the finest islands probably on the surface of
the globe—an island which, if inhabited by an industrious
and intelligent race of men, and governed by just and salutary
laws, would not only afford the means of subsistence for
eighteen or twenty thousand families, which may be somewhere
about its present population, but might be made to
produce an abundant supply of valuable commodities for the
markets of Europe; such as, for instance, in addition to its
wines, silk, cotton, olive oil, and dried fruits. All the hilly
country is said to be well adapted, for the growth of almonds,
and the deep ravines for that of chesnuts. Its fisheries on the
opposite coast of Africa might' be carried on to almost any
exterit, and a very considerable source of trade created by the
article of salted fish alone. But although on commercial considerations
the Canary Islands are capable of much improvement,
and the condition of their inhabitants of being
greatly meliorated and the population extended; and although
they are situated in the direct track of all the outward-
bound fleets for India and the Southern Whale Fishery, they
do not appear of much importance to any power either in a
nival or political poirft of view. Their situation is too near
the coasts of Europe to break the length of an Indian voyage
with any advantage; and there is neither a secure bay nor
any harbour for large ships in the whole groupe. The soil,
however, .on most of them is good, and extremely well suited
for the cultivation of the vine, and of various kinds of grain
and pulse; and the climate is delightful beyond that perhaps
of any other country on the surface of the globe. During
our stay on the island, which was certainly but short, the
thermometer of Fahrenheit never descended below 70°, nor
rose beyond 76°, generally remaining about 72°; and we