flaps of plaited hair, hang down on each side of their faces*
streaming with oil.”
The Gunda Tibboo, further southward, are “ slender, Well-
made, with sharp, intelligent, copper-coloured, faces, large
prominent eyes, flat noses, large mouth and teeth, high foreheads.”
*
S e c t io n VII.—Of the Guanches, or old Inhabitants of the
Canary Islands.
It is supposed that the Guanches, the ancient inhabitants
of the Canary Islands, were a branch of the great Lybian, or
Atlantic stock. This once flourishing, and if we believe; historical
accounts, happy and innocent race, of people, have
long since perished, and have left no other remains than their
skeletons, which are dispersed among the cabinets and. museums
in Europe.
It has often been conjectured, that the Canary Islands-:
were the vrjtroi Maxaptav of the ancients, and the site of the fabulous
gardens of the Hesperides. They seem to be obscurely;-
indicated in the traditions of the early Grecian mythology,
but the first occasion in which they are mentioned in history,'
or in any account that approaches to. authentksifppSi ifi thé.
report which was given to Sertorius, on the credit of which,
we are told by Plutarch that the Roman general was seized,
with a desire to return to thëm and live in peace and repose/
It is said that when flying from the arms of Syllay Sertoritis.
met with some seamen but newly-arrived from the Atlantic
Islands, which were said to be distant 10,000 furlongs from thé
coast of Africa. f They are called,” says Plutarch,« the Fortunate
Isles. Rain only falls there, as it is said, in moderate
showers: the seasons of the year are temperate: and gentle
breezes abound, bringing with them soft dews which so enrich
the soil, that it bears, untilled, plenty of delicious fruits, and
supports its inhabitants, who enjoy an immunity from toil.”*
These islands and the neighbouring seas were explored
by King Juba, of whose discoveries the younger Pliny has
• Lyon’s Travels, p. 3 •f* Plutarch in Syllä.
given us an account as it appears from Juba’s own description;
for this African prince was not only a navigator but a
celebrated writer on geography.* The first island, according
to Juba, was named Ombrion : it had no vestiges of human
habitation, but contained a mountain lake: the second, and
a small one adjoining, were termed Junonia: the next, called
Capraria, abounded in lizards of great size;;aNivaria, doubtless
Teneriffe, was famed for perpetual snow and fogs ; next to it
was Canaria, so termed from its containing dogs of huge
bulk, of which two were brought to Juba : here were found
thé remains of dwellings. All these islands abounded in fruits
and groves of palm-trees bearing dates and filled with various
birds and beasts, f
4 It would appear from this account that the Canary Islands
were but partially/ if at all, inhabited in the time of Juba.
The modem history of the Canary Islands commences with
their accidental discovery in consequence of the shipWreck of
a French • vessel on the coast between the years 1326. arid
J3f|ll. Expeditions wa*e afterwards made* by thé Spaniards
fbr the sakeóf plunder and carrying off slaves, in one of which
the king and queen of Lancerote, and seventy of i^he. inhabitants
wore taken captive. At the beginning of the fifteenth
century a Norman baron, J ohn de Bétaneourt, subdued several
of the islands, but Teneriffe was not brought under the yoke
till ninety-five years afterwards. Here the native people, who
termed themselves “ Guanches,” made a valiant resistance.
The most instructive accounts of the. Guanches. are to. be
found in the narratives of some old voyagers who visited the
Canary Islands during the time when they were as vet but
imperfectly conquered by the Spaniards, and apapng them we
may distinguish the celebrated navigator, Cadamösto, : who
discovered the Cape de Verd Islands, and an Englishman
named Scorey, whpse report was, printed by Purchas. In the
* Juba is termed by Pliitarch the best of all royal historians, and by Athenseus
ctvqp iroXvnaOsararog. Besides his “ Commentary on, Africa,” Juba wrote a Roman
history, of which the first book is mentioned- with commendation by Stepha-
pus of Byzantium; an account of Arabia, frequently cited by Pliny; a work' in
two books on the ancient Assyrians, containing extracts from Berosus ; • and several
treatises on.various subjects. He was the son of the Numidian king who fought
against Caesar.
-j- Plinii Hist. Nat. lib* vi, c. 32.
VOL. I I . D