The Canary Islands : their history, natural history and scenery : an account of an ornithologist's camping trips in the archipelago

              THE CANARY ISLANDS
‘ I’HEIIL HIS’I’OKI’, XATUKAL HISTORY
ASI) SCENERY
XS .\ CCOUST 01; .4X ORNITHOLOGIST’S
C.\ I\ IPISG ‘ f- RIP. 5 IX THE AKCHIPELAGO
DAVID A. BANNERMAN
\ I. li. l:.. B..\.( Cmtnb), ll. Ji. O. U., F. R. G. S., ETG
ll- ITII 11, Ll: s: TRATIONS AND hIAPS
LOSDOY: 33 PI~ TERNOSTER ROW
EDIì\‘ l2: LTRGH: TWEEDDALE COURT
1922
TO
RíY WIFE
FOREWORD
THIS book does r, ot profess to be a complete Natural
History of the Canary Islands. It deals principally with
their Ornithology, an d Parts II. and II 1. contain accounts
of \- arious espeditions made by the author during a more
or less thorough exploration of the group on behalf of
thc Bird I> cpartment of the British hluseum of Natural
II istorj.. \\‘ hen in pursuit of birds in the various
islantis, it nntul- all)- followwl that other subjects besides
ornitholo~ y h; td, in the course of investigations, to be
studicd. Thc geological formatiuI1 uf the Islands had
to be esamined in relation to the fkna and flora ; the
Zones of 17egetation for their bearing on the distribution
of bird- life. ant1 so it carne about that the material for
Chapters II. to 1- I. was accumulated. The ornitho-logical
results have already been published in the pages
of the ZíizJ- the Journal of the flritish Ornithologists’
Gnion. The la& of any really brief account of the
discovery and conquest of the Islands prompted me to
include Chapter I., although it is somewhat outside the
scope of this booli. So attractive is the early history of
the Xrchipelago, that any tra\ reller sufficiently interested
in the Satura1 IIistory of the Islands to read these
pges, will almost certainly want to know something of
their early inhabitants and conquerors.
. . .
VIII FOREWORD
An attempt has becn made to give the author’s
impressions of the varied physical characteristics of
the Islands and to convey to the reader some ímpressíon
of the scenes visited during ten different visits to the
Archipelago. In Appendix B will be found a complete
list of the Birds of the Islands- Residents, Migrants
and Casual Visitors, thcir status and the islands in
which they occur.
To Mr IV. R. Og i 1v ie- G- ant, until recently ,4ssistant-
Keeper of Zoology, British Museum ( Natural History),
and to the late Mr C. E. Fagan, C. 13E. ., I. S. O.,
Secretary of the Natural History Riuseum, the author
owes more than he can express for the support, both
official and unofficial, which they gave to his ornitho-
Iogical cxploration of the Cannry Islnnds. The author
has much pleasure in acknowleclging his decp debt of
gratitude to hIr Campbell Smith, M. C., of the Dcpart-ment
of Minerals, British hluseum, for the great assist-ante
he has given him when writing Chapter II. ; for
examining and reporting upon al1 rock specimens which
were obtained, and finally for his valuable “ Note on a
Fa11 of Dust, ‘ Blood- rain,’ at Gran Canaria in 1320”
which appears in ful1 as Appendix A. Mr J. L.
Bonhote has becn good enough to read through the
proof- sheets of Chapter VI., and his valuable advice
on many points has been greatly appreciated. The
acknowledgments of the writer are also due to the
Editor of the fbis for aliowing him to reproduce the
colourecl illustrations of Chaffinches and Titmice, and
also the maps which, with the exception of that of
Graciosa, were specially drawn by Mr H. Mime.
FOREWORT) ix
Others to whom thanks are gratefully tendered are
Dr Prior, F. R. S., and Dr Rendell, F. R. S., of the British
;\ Iuseum ( Natural History), and Dr Eagle Clarke,
I. S. O., F. R. S. E., until this year Director of the Roya1
Scottish Rluseum, Edinburgh; for their help and advice:
to the late Colonel H. W. Feilden, C. B., for valuable
criticism and suggestions and to numerous friends and
residents in the Canary Islands, amongst whom special
mention should be made of Mr T. Morris, H. B. M.‘ s ;
Consul- General in the Canary Islands, Major Swanston, i
H. B. 11.‘~ Consul in Las Palmas, and the firm of Messrs
d
b
Elder ¿ ? L Fyffe, al1 of whom have contributed in no small
mensure to the succe ss of the various expeditions.
The photographs which appear in this volume were
al1 taken by the author, with thc exception of Fig. 2,
p. 48, Fig. 2, p. 88, Figs. I and 2, p. 158, and Fig. 1,
p. 162 ( AIrs E. M. Bannerrnan) ; the illustration facing
p. 200 ( Aírs Herbert Hope) ; Figs. I and 2, p. 164, and
E’ig. I opposite p, 264 ( AIr H. Bishop), the negatives
of which have been kindly lent by the owners whose
names are mentioned.
To my publishers, 1 should like to express my
indebtedness for the gredt consideration they have
shown me, and for the care which they have bestowed
on the reproduction of the Plates and Maps.
D. A. B.
TEJE Rrnn- Roo~,
BI: ITISH hIus~ x~ ar ( NATURAL HISTORY),
LOEDOS, Octohcr 1921.
CONTENTS
PART 1
c , ilP. PAOP
1. DISCOVERY AND EM: LY HWORY . . . . 3 ;
Il. ORIGIN OF THE CANARY ARCHIPELAGO . . . 26 s
d
III. ‘ I‘ HE PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS - GRAN CANARIA,
b
FUERTEVENT~ WA, LANZAROTE, AND THE OUTER ISLETS 45
f
. m
11’. TI: SERIFE: : ITS PHTSICAL FEATURES, AND THE REGIONAL
t
UI~ TRIRUTIOS OF THE ORNIS AND FLORA- PALMA, 5
GohImA, .~ ND HIERRO . . . . . 61 j
V. XFFINITIES AND OKIGIN OF THE CANARIAN FLORA . IOj s
VI THE DISTKIIKJTION OF AKIMAL AND BIRD LIFL .
i
. 122 d
.”
;
!
d
B
;
PART 11 t
05
TRAVELS AN U ORNITHOLOGICAL EXPEDITIONS
IN THE WESTERN CANARY ISLANDS
VII. A JOURP; EY INTO THE HEART OF THE CUMBRES . . 157
17111. IN SEMKH OF ‘~ HT: BLUE CHXFFINCH OF GRAN CANARIA 180
I? c. TITE <‘ CIIARCO” OF MA~ PBLOMAS. . . . . 19s
; Y. THE CANARIAN RED- LEGGED PARTRIDGE . . . 214
? íI. AN EXPEDITION TO THE ISLAND OF GOMERA . . 231
si
PART III
TRAVELS AND ORNITHOLOGICAL EXPEDITIONS
IN THE EASTERN CANARY ISLANDS
CEbP. P* op:
XII. AN ORNITHOLOGICAL EXPEDITION TO THE EASTERN
CANARY ISLANDS- FUERTEVENTURA . . . 255
XIII. LANZAROTE . . . . . . 281
XIV. TH; SHEARWATERSO F GRACIOSA . . . . 292
XV. MONTAÑA CLARA- THE ROQUE DEL OUESTE, AND
ALLEGRANZA . . . . . . . 303
APPENDICES
A. NOTE ON A FALL OF DUST, LLB~~~~-~~~~,' l AT GRAN
CANARIA IN 1920. By W. Campbell Smith, M. C., M. A.,
F. G. S. . . . . . . . . 321
B. LIST OF THE BIRDS OF THE CANARY ISLANDS . , 328
INDEX . . . . . . . . . 35’
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
The Blue Chaffinch of Gran Canaria, by Roland Green ( colourerl) I; rontispiece
Guimar, Tenerife- under the shade of the mountains . .
The Garden of the Santa Catalina Hotel, Las Palmas. in rgo8- a
n- ealth of vegetation
The Fountain at Guimar, and a \ Vasherwoman . . .
\ Vashing- Clothes at Guimar . . . . . .
The lirwxnca and Village of Guimar, Tenerife . . .
‘ fhe ” . S2natorin :’ Rungalow, Guimar. Note patrhes of Pine Forest
below Pass of Pedro Gil . . . . . .
The Guimar Road by the Lava- flow . . . . .
Candelaria, Tenerife, 1920 . . . . . .
The Arifo- Guimar Lava- flow, Tenerife. . . . .
The S’nlley of Guimar. Note the Lava- flor from the ArSfo Volcano
The Prickly- Pear ( Upwzfi~) Belt in Tenerife . . . .
liemnrl~ nble Terracing on the Guimar- Fasnia Road . . .
A BUWUZCO in the Valley of Guimar, Tenerife . . .
Deselt 1- egctntion in a Buvmnco near the Sea, Tenerife. EujAoróia
ohf/ ts/ 3~ iiir on the right of the picture . . . .
l* egetation inside the Rim of the Montañeta de Guimar . .
ITz~ Jhorbia b~ rlsnmifera- on the Rim of the Crater of the Montañeta
de Guimnr . . . . . . . .
The Landing- stnge, Santa Cruz de Tenerifé . . . .
A 17alley in Tenerife, and a fine Aguve mnehz? za . . .
Ilcsert I’egetation on the Montañeta de Guimar Lava - flow
( Eu~ hwliid, Pìocamz, /- aunen, etc.), Maritime Zone . .
Escobin ( Cyfisus proZt; rer), silver- leaved and white- flowered, by
\ 701cano of Arrífo, 5 150 feet . . . . . .
‘ fhe Drag- on- tree in the Garden of the Pino de Oro Hotel, Santa Cruz
Cnnnri: m Tittnice, drama by H. Gronvold ( ro~ ot~ e~) . . .
Cnnnrian Chaffinches, drawn by H. Gronvold ( coZooured) . .
On the Outskirts of Laguna, Tenerife . . . . .
Laguna, the Ancient Capital of Tenerife . . . .
X. I. 1< 1
98
98
II2
126
132
158
158
xiv LIST OF ILLUSTRATTONS
FACPA SE
The Isleta and Puerto de la Luz, Las Palmas, Gran Canaria . . 160
The Anaga Promontory, Santa Cruz, Tenerife . . . . 160
A Water- tank on the Monte Road . . . . . 162
A Well- watered Bavvanco in Gran Canaria- Palms and Banana
Groves . . . . . . . . 162
Bamboos anda Typical Afequia . . . . . 164
The Monte Road lined with Eucalyptus Trees . . . 164
Santa Brigida, Gran Canaria . . . . . . 166
In the Monte, Gran Canaria, 15Sofeet . . . . . 166
The Cueva de las Niñas . . . . . . . 186
The Camp on the Outskirts of the Pine Forests . . . 186
?‘ z% us canuriez& growing on the Ridges- The home of the Blue
ChafIinch in Gran Canaria . . . -. . . 194
Camp below the Roque Nublo, 6000 feet above the Sea . . 194
The Cumbres towards the South- a succession of Pine- ciad ridges . 196
An unexpected home of the Red- legged Partridge in Gran Canaria,
6mo feet above the Sea . . . . . . 196
Wonderful Vegetation on the Lava- flow on the Telde Road . . 198
Desert Vegetation- Eujhorbia and Tamarix . . . . 198
Orange and Banana Grobes near Tellle _ . . . 200
Coming Ashore at Maspalomas . . . . . . 202
Camp on Maspalomas Plain . . . . . . 202
The “ Charco” of Maspalomas- Tunltarix~ x canariensis . . 206
Water- plants in the Maspalomas “ Charco” . . . . 206
A Dangerous Path above Aldea . . . . . 224
The Landing- place, San Sebastian, Gomera . . . . 232
Hermigua Alta- terraced banana plantations . . . . 232
In the Mountaiñs of Gomera, 4ooo feet . . . . . 236
Amongst the Giant Heaths in the Mountains of Gomera, 3000 feet
ahove the SPR . 7- 38
In the Mountains of Gomera, looking down the Valley of San
Sebastian . . . . . . , . 238
Banana Plzntations in the Valley of Her- migua, Gomera . . 248
The Landing- place, Hermigua, Gomera. Note basket with
passengers for the S. S. Taoro . . . . . 248
On the March . . . . . . . . . 260
Camels loaded up . . . . . . . 260
Camp by the Old Tower of Toston . . . . . 264
Toston and the Coast to the North . . . . . 264
The Lava Reefs at Toston . . . . . . 268
The Landing- place, La Peña, Fuerteventura . . . . 268
IJS’L’ OF ILLUSTRATIONS xv
PUF. P. mP
La refin Camp . . . . . . . 270
The Heme of the E‘ uerteventuran Chat . . . . 270
Santa llaria de Betancurin . . . . . . 272
The .-! ncient Capital of Fuerteventura . . . , . 272
Baggnge Catnels resting in Betancuria . . . . 274
Canle drawing 11- xter frotn a [ Vell . . . . . 274
?‘ IIc ILL) uf Tiì~ os.~, Soutll- east Coast uf Larrzarote . . 282
The ~~~ llnge of Cg‘ a . . 282
Cultivation beta- een Uga and Yaiza . . . . . 284
The Lni- a- i? o\\- Ixtn. een Yniza and the Sca . . . . 284
Tents behind I’rickly- Pears, Haria . . . . . 288
The Camp in the \- alley of Ilwia . . . . . 288
El liio. Graciosa, nnd 1Iontnfia Clara viewed from Summit of El Risco 290
The . lncient SignaI . . 290
X Ses: ing- place trf l< uhI’s Canal- ian Shearwaters on Graciosa . 294
Cnmp on Graciosa, El Risco in background . . . . 294
Typicnl C. round Formntioa in the South of Graciosa _ . 296
I\ Iontn?, a Amrrilla nnd Surrounding Country . . . . 296
The Heme of Jfcndc-\\ mnltlo’s Black Oystercatcher . . . 304
‘ rIonta9a Clara , , . . . . . . 304
Tlie Sorth- west Const of ZIontak Clara . . . . 308
Tlie Camp on 3Iontaña Ciara . . . . . 312
The Cre\\ of the Sm FYCTII~-~ SCO . . . . . . 3x2
Sketch > Inl) of the Cnnnr!- Isl, u~ ds . . . . . 46
Sketih ‘\ Inp of Grn:; Canaria . . . . . . 50
Sketch AIal) of the Eastern Canary Islands . . . 256
‘ iIap uf GI- a15i\ m; L - = 9=
YART 1
DISCOVERY, CONQUEST, AND EARLY HISTORY
CHAPTER 1
.\ I: R 1 E 1; SKETCH OF TIIE DISCOVERY, CONQUEST, AND
E. iI< LY HISTORY OF THE CANARY ISLANDS, AND
THEIT: INHABITANTS.
;
IT is to the poets that we must turn for the earliest
s d
mention of the Archipelago, which is the subject of
i
8
this book. It has been suggested, with some cause, 2E
that the Canaries were known to the Phcenician colony p
of Carthaginians at Cadiz three thousand years ago, and 5I
Ilomer alludes to the “ habitations of the blest,” which
fY
it ic generally inferred were the “ Fortunate Islands” E
- the name by which the Canaries are often known. s
Plutarch, in his life of Sertorius, refers to two of the
E
d
Canary Tslands about 82 R. C. in the following passage: zE
” He ( Sertorius) there ( in Andalucia) found some
mariners lately arrived from the Atlantic Islands.
These are two in number, separated from each other
by a narrow channel, and lying at the distance of four
hundred leagues from the African coast. They are
called ’ The Fokunate Islands.’ Rain seldom falls
therc, and then falls moderately ; while they have
usually soft breezes which scatter such rich dews that
the soil is not only good for sowing and planting, but
spontaneously produces the most excellent fruits ; and
those in such abundance that the inhabitants have only
to indulge themselves in the enjoyment of ease and
leisllre. The air is always pleasant anrl salubrious,
through the happy temperature of the seasons, and
4 THE CANAHY ISLANDS
their insensible transition into each other. For the
north and the east winds, which blow from our con-tinent,
are dissipated and lost in the immense interval :
and the sea winds ( that is, the South and the West) bring
with them from the otean slight and gentle showers, but
still more frequently only a refreshing moisture, which
imperceptibly scatters pIenty over their plains. Hence
it is generally’believed, even among the barbarians, that
these are the Elysian Fields and the seats of the blessed,
which IIomer has described in al1 the charms of verse.” ;
The two islands here alluded to are probably d
Fuerteventura and Lanzarote. Hiny next alfudes to d
the islands, mentioning five of thcm by name from a i8
memorandum preserved by a certain Statius Sebosus 2E
“ from the accounts of navigators of his time” in the j
year 53 3. c. The islands mentioned by name are: 5I
I. Junonia ; 2. PIuviãlia ; 3. Capraria ; 4. Convallis ;
Y
f
5, Planaria.
Pliny is again the historian who chronicles the s
E
expedition sent by King Juba the Second of Mauretania d
to explore the Fortunate Isla&. On the return of zE
this expedition King Juba drew up a report of the d
islands which Pliny has handed down to us as follows :- :
” The Fortunate lslands he to thc South- west, at 05
“ 625 miles from the Purpurariz. To reach them from
the latter thcy first sailed 250 miles westwards and thcn
375 miles to the east.. The first is cakd Ombrios, and
contains no traces of buildings. There is in it a pool
in the midst of mountains, and trecs like ferrules, from
which water may be pressed, which is bitter from the
bIack kinds, but from the lighter ones pleasant to dr. ink
[ sugar- cane]. The second is called Junonia, and con-tains
a small temple built entirely of stonc. Near it
is another smaller island havinb the same name. Then
comes Capraria, which is full of large liza&. Within
DISCOVERY AND EARLY HISTORY 5
sight of thesc islands is Nivaria, so called from the
snow and fogs with which it is constantly covered. Not
far from Nivaria is Canaria, so called on account of the
‘ qre: lt number of large dogs therein, two of which wcrc
brought to King Juba. There were traces of buildings
in this island. Al1 the islands abound in apples and in
birds of every kind, and in palms covered with dates,
and in the pine nnt. There is also plenty of honey.
The papyrus grows there, and the Silurus fish is found
in the rivers.” ;
In this account it is more possible to distinguish [
which islands are meant. Nivaria is of course Tenerife,
Canaria is Gran Canaria.
i
Ombrios, Junonia, and ;
Capraria are uncloubtedly Palma, Gomera, and Hierro, i
but opinions differ as to whether Ombrios is best j
identifiecl with Palma- the “ pool in the midst of 3t
mount; Lins ” inclines une to the belief that the Caldera B
of Palma is here alluded to- or rather with Hierro. It E
wiil be noted in the following pagcs that two birds, s
native of, ancl peculiar to, Hierro, have been sub-
E
8
spccitically namecl o~ z6/* Zesn* by their discoverers.
Thence for many centuries the history of the Canary
Archipekqo lies buried in oblivion. In 1334 we learn g
that the A1rchipela~ o was, by his own request, bestowedrI
g
2
upon Luis de la Cerda, Count of Talmond, by the Pope ;
but I> on Luis cloes not seem to have profited by Pope
Clement 1’ 1.‘~ permission to become Lord of the Islands,.
or, as he ~- as then termed, the Prince of Fortune.
Seven years later, in 1341, a. voyage was made to
the Canaries under the auspices of the King of
Portugal : the narrative of this expedition is given at
le11g~ l1 ir1 the introcluction to T/ te Cannrz’an, edited
1 Cnnm Tri5tr:~ m w‘: of opinion thnt Hierro nas best identified with
Olllb~ iOS. IIis ~- v~ e:~ rlrhc~\ verc invnriabiy carried out \ vith great accuracy,
2nd should thcrcfoi- e carr)- 1, eight.
6 THE CANARY ISLANDS
by Mr Major of the British Museum. Therein we
are told that it is to the poet Boccaccio we are indebted
for the history of the King of Portugal’s expedition.
The information was derived from lctters writton by
certain Florentine merchants of Seville, and is of such
interest that 1 in& de it as recorded in the Hakluyt
Society’s volume where the following account appears :-
“ On the 1st of July of that same year, two vessels,
furnished by the King of Portugal with all the neces-sary
provisions, and accompanied by a smaller vessel,
well armed and manned by Florentines, Genoese,
Castilians, and other Spaniards, among whom were
naturally included Portuguese- for the word “ Hispani”
included al1 inhabitants of the Peninsula- set sail for 2f
[ from] Lisbon, and put out into the open sea. They i
took with them horses, arms, and warlike engines for 5t
storming towns and castles, in search of those islands B
commonly called the ‘ Rediscovered.’ The wind was i
. favourablc, and on the 5th day they found land. They 6
did not return till the month of November, when they
brought back with them four of the natives, a large
i
;
quantity of goats’ skins, the fat and oil of fish, and ! d
seal skins ; red wood which dyed almost as well as ;
the verzino ( Brazil wood), although connoisseurs pro-g
5o
nounced it not to be the same; the barks of trees
to stain with a red colour ; red earth and other such
things. Nicoloso de Recto, a Genoese, the pilot of
this expedition, stated that this Archipelago was nearly
goo miles from the city of Seville ; but that reckoning
from what now is called Cape St Vincent, the islands
were much nearer to the continent, and that the first
of those which they discovered ( most probably Fuerte-ventura)
was 150 miles in circumference ; it was ene
mass of uncultivated, stony land, but ful1 of goats
and other beasts, and inhabited by naked men and
DISCOVERY AND EAKLY HISTORY 7
women, who mere like savages in their appearance and
demeanour. He added that. he and his companions
obtained in this island the greater part of their cargo
of skins and fat, but they did nnt dare to penetrate
far into the country. Passing thence into another
island ( Great Canary), somewhat larger than the first,
a great number of natives of both sexes, all nearly
naked, came down to the shore to meet them. Some
of them, who seemed superior to the rest, were covered
with goats’ skins, coloured yellow and red, and, as
far as coulci be seen from a distance, the skins were
fine and soft, and tolerably well sewn together with
the intestines of animals. To judge from their gestures
they seemed to have a prince, to whom they showed
much respect and obediente. The islanders showed
a wish to communicate with the people in the ship,
but when the bonts drew near the shore, the sailors,
n- 110 dicl not understand a word that they said, did
not r1; lt- e to land. Their language, however, was soft,
and their pronunciation rapid and animated, like Italian.
Some of the islanders then swam to the boats and four
of them werc taken on board and afterwards carried
away. On the northern coasts of the island, which
were much better cultivated than the southern, there
were a great number of little houses, fig- trees and other
trees, palm- trees which bore no fruit, and gardens with
cabbages ancl other vegetables. Here twenty- five of
the sailors landed, and found nearly thirty men ‘ quite
naked, who took to flight when they saw their arms.
Thc builclillgs mere made with much skill, of square
stones, covered with large and handsome pieces of
wood. Fincling severa1 of thcm closcd, the sailors broke
open the doors n- ith stones, which enraged the fugitives,
who fillecl the air with their cries. The houses were
found to contain nothing beyond some excellent dried
a THE CANARY ISLANDS
figs, preserved in palm baskets, like those made at
Cesena, corn of a much finer quality than the 1 talian,
not only in the length and thickness of its grain but
its extreme whiteness, snme harley, and other grains.
The houses were al1 very handsome and covered with
very fine wood,. and as clean inside as if they had been
whitewashed. The sailors also carne upon a chape1
or temple, in which there were no pictures or ornament,
but only a stone statue representing a man with a ball
in his hand. This idol, otherwise naked, wore an apron
of palm- leaves. They took it away and carried it to
Lisbon. The island seemed to be thickly populated
and well cultivated ; producing, not only corn and other
grain, but fruits, principally figs. The natives either
ate the grain like birds, or else made it into flour,
and ate it & th water without kneacling. On leaving
this island they saw scvcral others, at the distance of
five, ten, twenty or forty miles, and made for a third,
in which they remarked nothing but an immense number
of beautiful trees shooting straight up to the skies
( most probably Ferro, remarkable for its magnificent
pines). Thence to another, which abounded in streams
of escellent water and wood ( Gomera). They found
also many wild pigeons, which they killed with sticks
and stones. They were larger and of better flavour
than those in Italy. Falcons and birds of prey were
numerous. The sailors ventured but a very little way
into Ihe country. At length they discovered another
island, . the rocky mountains of which were of immense
height and alrnost always covered with clouds, but
what they could see during the clear weather seemed
very ag- reeable, and it appeared to be inhabitcd ( Palma).
They afterwards saw other islands, making ín al1
thirteen, some & f them inhabited and some not, qnd
the farther they went the more they saw. They
DISCOVERY AND EARLY HISTORY 9
remarked the smoothness of the sea which separates
these islands, and found good anchorage, although
there were but few harbours, but all the islands were
well provided with water. Of the thirteen islands five
were inhabited, but some were much more populous
than others. The languages of these people were said
to be so different that those of one island did not
understand those of another, and they had no means
of communication except by swimming. A phenomenon
which they witnessed on one of these islands ( Tenerife)
deterred them from landing. On the summit of a
mountain, which they reckoned to be more than thirty
thousand feet high, they observed what from its white-ness
looked like a fortress. It was, hobever, nothing
but a Sharp point of rock, on the top of which was
a mast, as large as a ship’s mast, with a yard and a
lateen snil set upon it. The sail when blown out by
the wind took the form of a shield, and soon afterwards
it woulrl seem to he lowered, together with the mast,
as if on board a vessel, then again it was raised and
E
8
abain would sink, and so alternately. zI
‘< They sailed round the island, but on all sides they !
saw the same phenomenon, and thinking it the effect
d
of some enchantment, they did not dare to land. They
i
5
saw many other things also, which Nicoloso refused
to relate, At any rate the islands do not seem to have
been very rich, for the sailors hardly covered the expense
of the voyage.
” The four men whom they carried away were young
arid beardless, arid had haridsorne faces. They wore
nothing but a sort of apron made of cord, from which
thcy hung a number of palm or recd fibres of a hair’s
breadth ancl a half or two hairs’ breadth, which formed
an effectual covering. They were uncircumcised.
‘ I’heir long light hair veiled their bodies down to the
10 THE CANARY ISLANDS
waist, and they went barefooted. The island whence
they were taken was called Canary, and was more
populous than the others. These men were spoken
to in severa1 languages, but they understood none of
them. They did not exceed their captors in stature,
but they were robust of limb, courageous, and very
intelligent. When spoken to by signs they replied
in the same manner, like mutes. There were marks
of deferente shown from one to another ; but one of
them appeared more honoured than the rest. The
apron of this chief was of palm- leaves, while the others
wore reeds, painted in yellow and red. They sang
very sweetly, and danced almost as well as Frenchmen. i
They were gay and merry, and much more civilised
tha. n many Spaniards. When they were brought on
1
1
board, they ate some bread and figs, and seemed to
like the bread, though they had never txsted it before.
They absolutely refused wine, and only drank water.
Wheat and barley they ate in plenty, as well as cheese
and meat, which was abundant in the islands and of
good quality, for although there were no oxen, camels,
or asses, there were plenty of goats, sheep, and wild
hogs. They were shown some gold and silver money,
but they were quite ignorant of the use of it ; and
they knew as little of any kind of spice. Rings of ’
gold and vases of carved work, swords, and sabres
were shown to them ; but they seemed never to have
seen such things, and did not know how to use them.
They showed remarkable faithfulness and honesty, for
if one of them received anything good to eat, bcforc
tasting it he divided it into portions which he shared
with the rest. Marriage was observed among them,
and the married women wore aprons like the men, but
the nmidens went quite naked, without consciousness
of shame.”
DISCOVERT AND EARLY HISTORY 11
In 13S2 Gran Canaria was visited by one Francisco
Lopez, who had sailed from Seville and took refuge
from a tempest “ at the mouth of the Guineguada.”
This man with his twelve companions lived peacefully
on the island for seven years, but al1 were eventually
murdered by the inhabitants, who had heretofore treated
the castaways kindly.
During the thirteenth century the Canaries were
visited by numerous adventurers and navigators in
search of plunder and personal gain, but none attempted ;
seriously the conquest of the Archipelago. It was not $
until 1442 that what is known as the French Conquest i
oí” the Canary Islands took place. The chief of this i
expedition has hitherto been supposed to be Jean de
Bethencourt, Lord of Granville la Teinturi& e, in the
1
1
Pais de Caux in Normandy, the account of whose i
conquest of certain of the islands was drawn up by- B
the two chaplains of the expedition, Brother Pierre ;
Boutier ( spelt ” Bontier ” in this MS.), a monk,. and Jean
le 1’ errier. This was carefully translated from the
1
8
R1on. t Ruffet manuscript of 1482 by Mr Major for
the Hakluyt Society, and was published by that society
i
!
in 1872. Boutier and le Verrier were the official $
historians of this expedition- le Verrier the spiritual i
attendant of Bethencourt, Boutier of Gadifer de ’
la Salle.
1 shall revert to Major’s translation, which contains
a masterly introduction, and to the story set forth by
the priest and the monk later ; the date when this
translation appeared ( 1872) is important, and it may
here be remarked that the volutne in question has been
considerecl the standard work on the Canaries. for al1
scholars of the nineteenth century. Since this publica-tion
appeared, however, Professor Reazley has drawn
attention in the Gcogra~/ ticaZJournaZ to a much earlier
12 THE CANARY ISLAND3
manuscript, now in the British Museum, known as the
Egerton manuscript, to which Major had not access.
From this manuscript it seems clear that the honours
of the expedition to the Canaries helong rather to
Gadifer de la Salle, who accompanied Bethencourt,
than to the latter, as has hitherto been generally
inferred. Instead of Bethencourt - being the leader, it
is obviously Gadifer to whom the chief credit was due,
but in other respects the narratives are much the same.
Gadifer and Bethencourt, with their retinues, set
out from La Rochelle on the 1st of May 1402 with
a view to conquering the Canary Islands, calling at
Vivero, Corunna, and Cadiz HZ. rozlte. At length, after
eight days, they arrived at Graciosa- a small island
which is only inhabited at the present day during part
of the year by fishermen and their families, and which
was probably quite uninhabitcd in the days of which
we, are writing. Gadifer was the first to land in
Lanzarote- the large island separated from Graciosa
by a narrow strait- and at length he and Bethencourt,
by arrangement with the natives who had come down
to meet them, held a council with the king of Lanzarote.
The result of this meeting seems to have. been that
the native king submitted to the explorers without
more ado, and for a time friendly relations existed
between them, which w- ere only upset eventually by
the treachery of one of Gadifer’s and Bethencourt’s
subordinates. A castle was then built by the new-comers
on the coast at a place named Rubicon, and
was used as the headquarters of the expedition, where
stores and arms were kept.
At the suggestion of Gadifer an cxpcdition was
then taken to the island of Fuerteventura by the two
leaders, but Bethencourt was soon compelled to return
to Lanzarote, leaving Gadifer and his company to
DISCOVERY XND EARLY HISTORY 13
continue alone. In the meantime, the natives of
Fuerteventura had retired to the South of the island,
and Gadifer, being unable to get into touch with them,
returned n- ith his men to Lobos- a tiny island lying
between Fuerteventura and Lanzarote. Owing to the
refusal of the master of his ship to carry out his
commands, Gadifer was himself compelled to return to
Lanzarote, where he again joined Bethencourt at Rubicon.
Disaffection amongst the seamen caused Bethencourt at
this point to return to Spain in order that he might ;
obtain fresh men, arms, and provisions, so that the f
conquest of the other islands might be completed. d
During Berhencourt’s absence on this quest at’ the i8
Court of Henry III., King of Castille, Gadifer had i
returned to Lobos in search of seals ( which are still 1
found there at the present day) and was then the i
victim of the treachery of one Berthin de Berneval, B
who during his absence pillaged the castle of Rubicon, :
stole the stores, captured the king of Tdanzarote ( who 6
ho\\- ever succeeded in escaping), and having won over the 8
E
master of a Spanish ship which had put in to Lanzarote, zI
set sail for Spain, carrying with him a number of the ! d
Canarians as captives. Gadifer, left on Lobos, was in i
complete ignorance of what was taking place in Lanzarote, 5
and eventually became in great distress from hunger and ’
thirst, as Lobos is a barren islet without even a single
spring. At length he was rescued by a Spaniard whose
ship \~ as lying in Graciosa, and who with four men from
Rubicon who had remained faithful to Gadifer, crossed
in a little cockboat to Lobos. On theil- al- l- ival, Gadifer
was greatly astonished to hear of the treachery of
Eerthin, whom he had trusted and placed in command
during his absence from Lanzarote,
hIeanwhile Bethencourt had been - well received at
the Court of Castille, and the King of Spain, having
14 THE CANARY ISLANI%
accepted Bethencourt’s homage, had granted to him
the Lordship of the Canaries- of which, it is said, the
King had never even heard. When Gadifer received
the news that Bethencourt had not supported his own
claims at the Spanish Court he was greatly distressed,
and this was the first seed of dissension sown b& ween
the two leaders of the expedition. Gadifer felt that
Bethencourt had not taken proper measures for his
relief when hearing of the straits he was in, and further
he accused him of posing as “ Lord of the Canaries ”
and of turning everything to his own account.
After De Berneval’s treachery, the natives of
Lanzarote became hostile to Gadifer and to those who
remained with him, and the mariners found their life.
on the island increasingly difficult. The vessel which
had brought news of Bethencourt was then used by
Gadifer for sailing to the other islands.
Fuerteventura was visited first, and the explorers
set out for the River Vien de Palmes in search of the
natives ; a certain valley which they encountered w. as
describe4 by the historians as “ lovely and unbroken
and very pleasant : it was shaded by about eight
hundred palm- trees . . . with streams running between
them.” In this island only four women were captured
and taken back to the boat. From Fuerteventura they
proceeded to Gran Canaria, entering a large harbour
between Feldes ( Telde) and Argonnez ( ? Aguïmes), and
here they conversed and traded with the natives but did
not land. It was whilst in this anchorage that Gadifer
received news of the murder of the thirteen Christians,
of whom mention has already been ma$ e.
Leaving Gran Canaria, thcy coasted along Hierro,
but did not land there, proceeding to Gomera, where
they arrived at night- time and found the natives making
fires on the shore. Some of the crew thereupon landed
DISCO\ íERY AKD EARLY HISTORY 15
ancl captured a man and three women, whom they
brought back to the ship, but on landing next morning
to take in water they were attacked by the assembled
natives and forced to return to their ships.
They nest attempted to make for Palma, but a great
storm arose anù they were driven to Hierro, where they
landed and remained twenty- two days, taking captive
four women and a Child. “ They found great numbers
of pigs, goats, and sheep, though the country is very
barren al1 round for a league from the shore ; but in the ;
centre of the island, which is very high, the country is 6
E
fertile and pleasant, and ful1 of large groves, which are 0d
green in al1 seasons ; it contains more than a hundred õ”
thousand pine- trees, most of which are so thick that f
tuvo men can hardly make their arms meet round them ; . E
the water is good and plentiful, for it often rains in these 5t
parts ; and quails abound in astonishing quantities.” I
From Hierro the navigators sailed to Palma, (‘ where E
they anchored to the right of a river which fe11 into the s
sea, and having supplied themselves with water for their g
d
return again set sail,” shaping their course for Rubicon zE
in Lanzarote. Here they discovered that their com- ! d
panions had during their absence taken many native ;
prisoners, ancl the remainder were coming from day 5
to day to throw themselves upon their mercy. 0
Shortly after Gadifer’s return from his voyage to
the other islands, Bethencourt himself arrived from
C; pain, SOOII afterwards going- to Fuerteventura, where
he remained some time, and thoroughly explored the
country. It was about this time that the two leaders
quarrelled, Gadifer severely reproaching Bethencourt
\\ ith bis conduct towards him. At this point, however,
Gadifer proceeded to Gran Canaria with a number of
companions, and having been driven out of his course,
anchored eventually off Telde, from whence he sailed
16 THE CANARY ISLANDS
down the coast to Argygneguy (? Arguineguin), where
a fight took place between his crew and the islanders,
which ended in the rout of Gadifer’s men. This took
place soon after the 25th of June 1404.
- After his return to Erbania ( Fuerteventura), Gadifer
cLnd Bethencourt rcncwed thcir dispute, which ended in
both sailing for Spain, but in different ships. On their
x- rival in . Spain the King was infnrmerl nf the qllarrel,
and Gadifer de la Salle, seeing that Bethencourt had
more influente at Court than he could ever hope to ;
obtain, accordingly left Spain and returned to France.
Bethencourt was then solemnly proclaimed “ Lord of
sd
the Islands ” and returned to the Canaries, later saifing
to France to obtain the necessities for forming a colony.
These he obtained, and once again set out for the j
Isiands, bringing with him his nephew, Maciot de 5t
unsuccessfu. 1 attempt on the island of Gran Canaria,
but su ¿ ceeded in forming colonies in Palma and Hierro.
Finally, in 1406, he Ieft the Islands under the Governor-ship
of Macint, and retnrning once more to France, died
at Grainville in 1425. Many years afterwards a
memorial was placed to Jean de Bethencourt, “ Roi des
Canaries,” in the Grainville Church, where his body lies
buried.
The regency of De Bethencourt’s nephew was
anything but successful. Maciot seems to have had
very little of bis uncle’s aptitude for government, and
soon commenced to make his tyranny felt. Having
ceded the Islands, of w- hich he was only regent, to Pedro
Barba de Campos, who had been sent to’ intervene . by
Queen Catherine of castille, he actually resold them to
Prince Henry of Portugal, subsequently selling them
again to the Count de Niebla, each of these in turn
selling them to others ! At the death of Jean de
DISCO\- EKY ASD EAARLï HISTORY 17
Eethencourt, thc lslands w- ere bequeathed by the right-ful
on- ner to Re)- nard de Bethencourt, Jean’s brother.
But still Gr; ln Canaria, Tenerife, and Palma were
unconquered.
In 1413 a successful raid under the direction of
Prince I lenrx the SaI- igator w- as made on Palma, and
from this date onn- ards the Canaries passed through
man! hands. X dispute then arose between the
Spankh and thc Portuguese as to their claims on the
lslands. This ~ vczs not finally settled until 1479, when ;
; t treaty was signed between , Wfonso V. of Portugal $
and Ferdinancl and lsabella of Castille, declaring the !
Canaries to belong to Spain. i
11- e have still to treat of the conquest of the three 1
largest islands of the \ 17estern Group- Gran Canaria, 1
Tenerife, and Palma- the inhabitants oi which had i
hitherto n- ithstood all attempts to bring them under B
subjection.
,4nother circumstantial account of the history of i
the Canary lslands, written by Juan de Abreu de 8
Galindo, a Franciscan friar n- ho lived in Palma, is I
hantled down to us by thc Englishman, George Glas,
z
! d
who published Galindo’s manuscript in I 764. ;
Galindo, having given an account of Jean de 5g
lkthencourt’s esploits md of the unsatisfactory dis- ’
pos; d of the Isla~ nds by Illaciot, names the various
claimants to the Lordship of the Islands immediately
succeedin~ AIaciot’s departure. The chief of these
seems to have been one Diego de Herrera of Seville,
m- h0 inhcritcd thc Islnnds by marrying Igncs Paraza,
the daughter of Guillen Paraza, who had himself received
them as a gift from the Count de Niebla. Herrera,
by virtuc of his rnarriage, became Lord of the Canary
Islands in 1~ 11, and imtnediatcly settled in Lanzarote
lvith his rife, Uonna Ibncs. From the time of their
R
18 THE CANART ISI, ANlX
arrival in the Eastern Islands, it seems to have been
their chief desire to reduce the islanders of Gran
Canaria and to claim this unconquered island as their
own. In this they were like their predecessors- un-successful.
Complaints having been made of their
conduct in the Islands, they were summoned to Seville
to answer the charges brought against them. In
consequence of this the King and Queen of Spain-
Ferdinand and Isabella- agreed to pay Herrera a large
sum of money in return for his abandonment of his g
claims to Gran . Canaria, Palma, and Tenerife ; and 1
although they were at the time engaged in a war with ;
Portugal, fitted out an expedition under Don Juan åB
Rejon, which set sail on the 23rd of May 1477, anchar- 1
ing jusc a month later off the Isleta. The ~ rtiüps, on FI
landing, set out for Gando, but finally camped where 5
the town of Las Palmas now stands. While there the Y
i
Spaniards were attacked by a number of Portuguese, 1E
who put into Agaëte with the intention of assisting 8
the islanders ; but owing to the heavy seas, they were d
i
prevented from landing al1 their men, and finally, having i
lost most of their boats, drew away from the island and d
sailed home. : ;
An attack was afterwards made on the Canarians at 4
kfoya, they being under the leadership of a chief named ’
Doramas, but from this little success resulted. As
usual, dissensions arose amongst the Spaniards them-selves,
and probably owing to this cause the Spaniards
were severely defeated by the islanders at Tirajana and
compelled to re- embark in th, cir ships at Guiniguada,
from whence they returned to Spain.
On the return to Canaria of Juan Rejon, who had
avenged himself on his enemies, plans were made for
a raid on Tamaraceite, but before this. couId be carried
out, on the 18th of August 1480 a ship arrived from
I) IXDT- ERY - 1SD Ei1RLY HISTORY 19
Spain carrying Pedro de Vera. This man had been
sent by Fcrclinand and Isabella to supersede Rejon, and
\\. hen he had taken over the command of the Spanish
forces Rcjon was ilnjIlrtly returned tn Spain as a
prisoner. Here he vindicated his character, and having
$ ven a goocl account of his stewardship in Gran
Canaria, was given command of the forces which
mere so011 to be despatched ag- ainst Tenerife and
Palma.
In the meantime Pedro de Vera had slain, single- i
l~ andetl, the Canarian chief, Doramas, and soon held g
all the plains- thc Canarians having retreated to the !
Cumbres, n- here they held al1 the passes. An attack i8
was made by the Spaniards in the neighbourhood of 2f
Tirajana ; ancl later, the Canarians, under the leadership i
of Ventagoya, made a night attack on the invaders at 5t
Las Palm: Fs, where a fierce battle ensued. B
Pedro de Vera kept harrying the natives at such i
\\- idely seprated spots as Galdar and Fata, aa, but at s
length bis men suffered a severe defeat at Ajodar, the
E
8
Canarians catching them in a narrow ba~~ nnco and zI
rolling big stones down upon them. It is surprising ! d
to learn that after this victory the Canarians, who ;
mere IIOW al1 gathered together at :% nsite, voluntarily g
5
surrenderetl tc, Pedro de Vera on the 29th of April ’
14s;. Pedro then became Governor of the island
under Ferdinand ancl Isabella of Spain, but, according
to Glas, Gran Canaria was not incorporated into the
Crown of Castille until the 20th of February 1487.
,\ t this tiIIle Diego de Herrera was still Lord of
I,: mzarote, Fuerte\- entura, Gomera, and Hierro, but he
died on the zcncl of June 1485. It has already been
notecl that Juan Rejon hacl been entrusted with the
conquest of Palma and Tenerife, but this unfortunate
man, on his way to Palma, was driven ashore on
20 THE CANARP ISLANDS
Gomera, where he was killed in a scuffle with Hernando
Peraza, the son of Diego de Herrera, who had inherited
the island from his father.
The conquest of Palma was then undertaken by
Alonzo de Lugo, who had been one of Pedro de
Vera’s lieutenants in Gran Canaria. Having raised
the necessary money and fleet, he sailed for the Canaries
and landed at Tazacorta in Palma on the 29th of
September 1490. The conquest of part of the island
was made easy by reason of the natives on the south- ;
west being already on good terms with the Spaniards i
in Hierro ; and Alonzo de Lugo wisely won over these d
islanders by making them presents instead of by forte õ8”
of arms. 2:
The natives of che north- eastern part refused to be i
pacified so easily, and they were attacked by the 5
Spaniards, who took a ilumber of prisoners, and on i
seeing that the invaders treated their captives well, E
the remaining natives no longer opp~ sed the Spaníards s
g
in their progress. The only natives remaining hostile ;
had taken up their position in the Caldera, and these $
were finally vanquished and the ‘ island won for the d
Spanish Crown on the 3rd of May 1491. Alonzo de F
Lugo captured the Palman chief, TanaEse, and se’nt 5o
him to Spain, but. there, however, he starved himseIf
to death.
From Palma the conquerors next proceeded to
Tenerife, where, accur- ding to Galilldo, they larldecl al
Santa Cruz on the 3rd of May 1493. Friendly relatiois
were soon established between Alonzo de Lugo and the
kings of Guimar, Anaga, Adeje, and Abona- four. of
the districts into which the island was divided for
the purpose of administration. The powerful king of
Taora, however, scornfully rejected the proposal made
to him by Alonzo that he should become a vassal of the
l) ISC’OT- ER 1’ ANl> EARLY HISTORY 21
King of SpaiI1, and the Spaniards thereupon passed
ol- er the plain of Laguna, past Tacoronte to Orotava,
n- here they seized many flocks belonging to king
T: loro’s subjects. The Guanches closely pursued the
marauders ant1 fell upon them at Centejo, in a narrow
p- L”“, almost annihilating the entire force ; whereupon
, Alonzo de Lugo repaired to Gran Canaria in order to
collect fresh troops, leaving the few who had survived
the slaughter of Centejo in the tower which he had built
at Santa Cruz.
~-~ lonzo de Lugo soon collected a large forte from
Spain and frorn those islands which had already been
conquered, and anchorecl off Santa Cruz for the second
time, on the 2nd of November 1494. The Guanches
had by this time gathered in great forte and a skirmish
took place near Laguna, after which the Spaniards
continuccl their march apinsl their former conquerors.
11- e are told by Friar Juan de Abreu de Galindo, whose
manuscript, lvritten in 163 2, was published by Glas, that
the subjugation of the inhabitants of Tenerife by the
. SIw. niards caIl?, e very shortly after the skirmish at
I, quna mentioned ‘ above ; for the Guanches saw that
the Spaniards n- ere in considerable forte, and therefore
made an agreement with them without further blood-shed,
consenti: lg to become Christians and to become
~ nssals of the King of Spain. Alonzo de Lugo was
thcreupon in\- ested with the Governorship of this island
and laid the foundations of St Christobal de la Laguna
011 the 25th day of JUIY 1495.
I‘ here is, however, another account of the conquest
of Tenerife which is possibly more accurate than that
biveri iIi the rnanuscript published by Glas. This
second manuscript is of an earlier date than that of the
1: ranciscan friar, thc author bcing Alonzo dc Espinosa,
\ vho \ vrote in 1 jSo- c> o. The manuscript was translated
22 THE CANARY ISLANDS
by Sir Clements Markham, and was published by the
Hakluyt Society under the title of í’% e Guanc/ ze. s of
Tenerzjre. E sp inosa agrees with Galindo in his account
of the conquest by Alonzo de Lugo up to the point
where the battle of Centejo was fought and won by the
Guanches, after which, it will be remembered, Alonzo de
Lugo went to Gran Canaria to collect a larger army
with which he returned to Tenerife. From Espinosa’s
manuscript we learn that the Guanches fought most
valiantly against the Spaniards during the second i.
invasion of their island. The Spaniards having advanced i
to Laguna, a great battle was fought on the 14th of ;
November 149- b both sides fighting with great bravery. õE”
At length, however, the invaders prevailed, and the i
plucky Guanches were driven from the field.
After this victory the Spaniards returned to Santa 8
Cruz until the spring of 1495, but in the meantime, f
owing to the large number of dead lying about without E
burial, a great pestilente broke out amongst the s
g
Guanches, and the Spaniards again advanced to d
Laguna, making raids upon Tegueste and Tacoronte. i
At length Alonzo de Lugo advanced to Orotava, d
meeting with Iittle resistance. ;
According to this story, the Guanches, seeing that 05
the Spaniards were overrunning their land, determined
to cal1 together al1 their rernaining men and to offer
battIe once again. On Christmas Day 1495 a desperate
encounter took place, and at che end of the day the
victory lay with the Spaniards and a great many of the
Cuanchcs wcrc killcd, including most of thc chicfs.
Thus the Spaniards were able to overrun the island
without meeting further resistance.
The Spaniards undoubtedly owed their victory over
the natives to the terrible pestilente which had swept
over the island rather than to their own prowess,
I) ISCO\‘ ERY ASIl EARLY HISTORT 23
thoqh it must be acknowledged that they had fought
bravely. The conquerors chose Laguna as the seat
of Go\ rernment, and with the subjugation of Tenerife
- JJonzo de I, ugo became Governor- General of the Islands
on the 5th of November 1496. Thus ended the con-quest
of the ; Irchipelago by Spain, in whose possession
it has remained ever since.
,\ word ma)- here be said of the ancient inhabitants
of the Canary Islands, who held the Spaniards at bay ;
for so many years before they were finally subjugated. f
In his introduction to the Coq~ est of il’ze Cafzaries 0d
-\ Idjor \\ role : ‘ L ; 111 eLhrlolugica1 examination of the i
inhabitants of the Canaries at the time of Bethencourt’s
conquest, as based upon the descriptions of their persons
i
and manners, the peculiarities of their languages and 5t
the charxteristics of the mummies which have been B
founcl, leaves little reason to doubt that the Archipelago
uxs peoplecl b,- tn- o distinct races, viz., Berbers and
i
s
- 1rabs, and that the tribes of the latter, which were E
8
in the minority in the \\‘ estern Islands, had maintained I
the superiority in numbers and gained politica! supre-z
!
nixy in the Eastern.”
d
;
‘ I‘ he real home of the Guanches was undoubtedly 5g
‘ Tenerife- in fact Sir Clements hlarkham has shown
that they tnok their name from this island, Chenerfe
being thc name of Tenerife, while Guan meant a son ;
Gjt~~ rltr being a contraction of the words Guan C& xerfe,
I. L.., son of ‘ I’enerife.
,\ lntonio Viana, a Spanish writcr who published
in 1604 a n- ork on the antiquities of the Canary Islands,
spcaks of the Guanches as ” virtuous, honest, and brave,
and the finest qualities of humanity were found united
in them : to \ vit, magnanimity, skill, courage, athletic
po\ vers, strength of soul and body, pride of character,
24 THIS CAXARY ISLANDS
nobleness of demeanour, a smiling physiognomv. an
intelligent mind, and patriotic devotedness.”
Indced, the more one studies the history of this
remarkable race, the more is one struck by the exact-ness
of this description, extravagant though it might
at first sight appear to be. In all their dealings,
especially with their enemies, the Guanches stand out
as brave, straightforward men, incapable of meanness
or of infidelity. Although Tenerife was their strong-hold,
the same race peopled tbe neighbouring islands i
of Gran Canaria and Palma, though from all accounts f
the inhabitants of these islands were of middle stature, d
while the natives of Gomera and Hierro were described i8
by Abreu de Galindo in 1632 as small; Nevcrtheless, i
the mummies of the Guanches of Tenerife are said 1
to be very little larger than mummies of the natives of i
Gomera and Hierro. I lean rather to thc vicw that B
the Canary Islanders carne, as Sir Clements ‘ hlarkham i
suggested, from the neighbouring African coast of i
Mauretania, but long before that country was overrun 8
by the Arabs : “ Mauretania was then inhabited by i
the same ancient Iberian race which once covered al1 ! d
Western Europe.” ;
Undoubtedly the best history of these remarkable i
people has been handed down to us by Alonzo de ’
Espinosa, who, writing in I jSo- 90, has left the earliest
account of the Guanches. His manuscript has been
taken as the text for Sir Clements Markham’s Czn; tzc~ es
of Te7rertjG, which, with Glas’s translation of Gafindo’s
manuscript ( 1632), should be consulted by everyone
studying the history of these extraordinarily interesting
islanders.
The student of anthropology will still find the islands
of the Canary group rich in material ; many ancient
burial- places of thc Guanches are known and numbers
I> ISC’OVERY AXD E, ARLY HISTORY 25
of mummies have already been brought to light during
the cscavations which have taken place. There remains,
however, a great deal to be done and many fields of
research are still open. The unique collection of
mumrnies, skulls, ancient pottery, and other relics of
the Guanches preserved in the Las Palmas IIluseum,
is one n- hich should be much more widely known and
consulted.
Turning from the history of the Canary Islands to
the geological formation of the group, we come face to
face with one of the most engrossing problems which
has ever attracted the attention of the scientific world.
CHAPTER II
THE ORIGIN OF THE CANARY ARCHIPELAGO AND ITS
F’OSSIBLE RELATION TO TIIE SUNKEN CONTINENT
OF ATLAXTIS. ;
IN the following chapter referente is made to the i
various periods of the earth’s history, and 1 have i
thought it advisable therefore to include a short classifi-cation
of geological time into which the history of
1
1
the earth has been divided. Thc reader who has no
knowledge of geology will then be ablct to form some
i
B
idea of the Eras, Epochs, or- Periocls, and Ages, into ;
which geologists have split up the various phascs 6
through which the earth has passed. “ In studying E
geology, you must always bear in mind the imperfection
8
of the record, whether stratigraphical or pakeontological,
;
!
etc., and things cannot be dated like historical events.” d
;
‘ I’his excellent advicc was given me some time ago
when 1 first turned my attention to geology, and is
the best advice which a beginner can receive. Man y
statemcnts are bound, from the nature of the case,
to be more or less hypothetical and theoretical ; hard
and fast rules cannot be Iaid down, and further, the
correlation of deposits in different parts of the world is
often a matter on which it is difficult to come to any
definite conclusions.
With this warning, 1 append a short classification
of geological time as generally split up at the present
day. Referente will be made in the following pages
26
OIUGIN OF ‘ L‘ HE CANARY ARCHIYELAGO 27
particularly to the Miocene epoch, since it was in this
epoch th: tt the Atlantic Tslands were prohahly fnrme. d.
The geological time scale follows in general the geologic
chronoIogy for North America as set out by Professor
Lu11 in his test- book of Oryganic Ez~ odzdio( nr gI7), and
\\- hich is reproduced on p. 28.
Xlthough our countrymen have devoted themselves
studiously to unravelling the ioological and botanical
problems of- the Canary ArchipeIago, investigation of
the gcology of the Islands has not been seriously ;
attempted by a single British geologist since the days
of Lyell, and of recent years we have left the field i
open alrnost entirely to Germany. õ”
Various theories have been advanced to explain 1
the origin of the Isl: mds, to wit :- 0
g
( 1) That they are simply of volcanic origin ; or g
( 3) That they are tht: remaining; peaks of a sunken ; Y
continent of Atlantis ; or again i
( 3) That they were formerly joincd to thc main- 0
E
land of Africa. d
I
1Ve will begin by examining the otean bed west z
!
of Morocco, as it is at the present day, and see what d
;
facts Ive can deduce to substantiate any of these f
theories. 05
Th; Ltll; s to the famous voyage of the GXle+ zgeu,
ancl more recently to the cruise of the Michaed . Sars---
tn name perhaps the two most important oceanographical
especlitions- the North Atlantic is the best sounded
of al1 the oceans, and we are thus, to a large extent,
able to map the bottom of the sea in this vast region
as it is at the present day, at any rate as regards its
main features.
Let US glance at the excellent map published in
Sir John ;\ lurray’s book, T/ Ze Depth of the Oceam.
Geologic Time- Sede, after PYOI Lu II.
-
auarternary
rerti: lry
Glacial .
Líltc I
Tertiary
1
Early
Tertiary
i Eocene
Periodic glacia-
Pleistocene
tion. Extinc-
I
tion of grent
mammals.
Transformation
Pliocene . , of man- ape
into man.
Miocene . Culmination of
mammals.
( Rise of higher
Okocene. t mammals.
Jurassic . .
Triassic . .
l’re- Cambrian . . .
I Permian . .
. Carboniferous .
Devonian . .
Silurian . .
Cambrian . .
\
JI Vanishing of
. ti
archaic mam-mals.
Rise of archa?
* 1, mammals.
’ Extinction of
~
l
great reptiles.
‘ Extreme special-isntion
of rep
tilec.
/
Rise of flower-
{
R;; py; irds
. ~ and flyingrep
i tiles.
. . . . .
Agr of Man.
Age of
Mnmmals
and Modem
Floras.
Age of
Reptiles.
Age of
Amphibinn;.
Age of
Fishes.
Age of
Higher Shelled
Inverte~ rates.
Age of Primitiv
Marine Inrerte
brates and of
Unicellular Liff
( Protozoa,
iti.).
!
ORIGIS OF THE CANARY ARCHIPELAGO 29
This chart was compiled from the latest sources as
recently as Igr 1, ancl is therefore comparatively up to
date. The first thing that strikes us is the remarkable
clcvated ridge extencling frnm northern latitudes and
stretching almost to the parallel of Cape Horn. This
central ridge lies almost equidistant from the shores
of ;\ frica and of America, and roughly may be said
to follow the trend of the West African coast - line ;
thc northern part of the ridge from lat. 40’ to the Equator
forming a half- circle, while South of the Equator, where ;
the only gap in thc ridge takes place, it runs almost f
due north ancl South. The northern portion was d
inclicatcd in Lieut. 1Iaury’s Chart of the North Atlantic i
published in ISjq, but its continuation southwards has 1
only becn rnade known more recently. On either side ;
of this JIid-; Ztlantic Shelf, two colossal submarine i
valleys run prallel n- ith one another, and these in B
their turn are parallcl n- ith the respective shores of ;
.-\ í- I- iGL : lncl AAnim- ic: l, thc: n- estern trough descending 6
in ~~ 1xe. s to a depth of 3zSo fathoms. The otean E
8
trough I!- ing bet\ veen this median ridge and Africa i
is as dcep as the submarine valley Iying on the western ! d
sicle, and here al50 \ ve find the sounding line sinks ;
t0 ; 111 : tlmost increclible tlepth- IIonaco Deep, Chun g
5
1 ) Wl’ ( ;; 1 s f~ d~ oIlls) : 1Ioscly Deep ( 3309 fathoms) ; ’
Krech I ) eep and Uuchanan Uecp ( 2063 fathoms), are
met \\- ith in the arder namcd if we sail down the middle
of this trouxh from the north to the South.
‘\: ow, as Ke approxh the African land, the otean
clept11 IICLLLIl~‘ LlI\~ clcxIc< l5c~, ¿ ill d we remark that thc
Coiitinent; J S’lope bcyoncl the Ioo- fathom line is
rclatil- eI!- steep in compar; son with the Continental
Shelf \\- hich ascends in gentle g- radients to the
shore- line.
Turning now to thc Admiralty chart of the Atlantic
30 l’I1E CANARY ISLANI%
Ocean, onc primary feature claims our attention, viz.,
the long line of islands situated on the median submarine
ridge or lying between it and Africa. First in order,
proceeding from north to South, we come to the Azores,
which have becn already alluded to as forming part
of the median ridge ; next, to Porto Santo, Baizo Island,
Madeira and the Desertas, al1 in a little group close
together, and lying much nearer to the mainland than
the Azores. Continuing South, we pass the Salvages
and the Pitons lying ou the 30th parallel north, and i
then come to the large group of islands which is the f
subject of this book- the Canary Archipelago. 0d
Furthcr South again another íarge group is met i 8
with- the Cape Verde Islands ; then again the two i
truly oceanic islands- St Helena and Ascension ; bcyond 1
these the Tristan da Cunha group ; and finally, the 5
most interesting of all, Gough Island, practically situated B
on the 40th parallel South, among the most remotc i
of all the oceanic islands in the world. s
With the exception of Santa Maria Island ( in thc
E
8
Azores group) and Majo’ ( in the Cape Verde Archi- i
pelago) ald t8ese isZmd. s, f~ oaz the Azores to Goq, c, h ! d
Is ¿ n7~ d, are mainly built up of volcanic rock, the
lnndmarks of a great volcanic zone. Severa1 of thcse
i
havc been in active eruption within very reccnt tirncs ;
2
ene island in this long chain--- Sabrit; a Island in the
Azores- was formed as the rcsult of a submarine
volcanic eruption, in I S I I, disappearing shortly after-wards.
In the Canary Islands the terrible eruptions
which occurred in Lanzarote from 1730 to 1736, and
more recently in 1824, together with the small eruption
which took place OJI the Peak of Tenerife as recently
1 Drelter hns shown that Majo is fornwd to 3. great exrent r. ot of
volcanic rocks, bu1 of slate and lirncstonc-: hc relnnnl: t of an encient
1ar. d.
OliIGIS OlI’ ‘ I’III: CASARY AiZCIIIl’k: IAGO 31
xs thc r Sth of November rgog,’ show th: lt this region
is still very much the centre of volcanic action. Speaking
of t’rlesc islztntls, Suess 2 remarks : “ As regards a very
l; lrl;:: ra nIlmlwr r, f the vnlc; lnic isTancls of thc eastcrn half
of the A\ tl; lntic, there is good rcason to suppose th: tt
the volcanoes starìd on 3 common foundation. This
is the \. ien- of L. von 13uch and Hartung, and has
becm supportcd by Calderon in a recent rcvicw of the
( lucstion. . . . \\‘ e may affirm that the visible volcanic
isinnd. 5 represcnt only a small par- t of the extensive ;
\- olc; tnic qions covered by the sea.”
\\- ith rq; u71 to the geological structure of the Canary !
Islaníls th(: tnselves, it k\- as early realisecl by L. von i8
I~ UCh in lS? j that the reccnt volcanocs werc seatecl 2f
0:~ ; 1 found; ltion of older volcanic rocks. In a valuable 1
rreatise ( 311 thc Alid- Atlantic Volcanoes, publishecl in 5
thc // tz~ ribccc/ r dL~ 7R~~ qio7tnZ~ G~~ o Zogr’c( B d. vii., 10, 19 x0), B
l’rofcssor C; a~ el has givcn somc clescription of the s
rocks of tl,(, sc Tsl:~ nds and has summarisecl the work of 6
1 I; irtung, I,)- ell, and other geologists. E
8
01: Fuerte\- entura, Gomera, and La Palma, there zI
is evidente of a foundation of tnuch altered effusive ! d
roclis ( di: zb;~ se), together with some coarsely crystalline ;
plutonic roc’ns ( tliorite and syenitc, etc.). In Fuerte- 5g
ve: ltur: t thcre occur, conncctecl with these old volcanic
0
rock5, hartl slatcs, clay slates, and limestones, (& whereby,”
says Gqcl. “ thc nature of thesc old bascment rocks as
part 0. ’ x greater land mass is placed bcyond any doubt.”
011 thece c) ltlcr rocks are built UJI the recent volcanoes,
theil- Ill- u~ lucts (;~ shcs, Luff5, :~ r~ cl I; iväs) forrning tlie bulk
ot the \- kible rock. The lavas are largely basalts with
some tlon- s of I> l: oIlolitic trachytcs. Von Fritsch clividcd
tl: e \- olcal: ic rocks of Gran Canaria into four stages
’ Gn;$ / orfw:.. val. sxsv., 19 10, pp. 59- 61.
’ 7X:, fi: rt- c q, lefL~ d Lnrfh, Enghh Edition, val. ii., p, lj2,
32 THE CANARY ISLANDS
correspcnding to four periods of vulcanicity- the last
having taken place within the memory of man.
The only sedimentary rocks associated with these
lavas are stratified tuffs and conglomerates containing a
marine fauna which shows them to be of Upper Miocene
Age. These rocks are particularly well developed as a
marine terrace near Las Palmas, where, according to
Lyell, l they are intercalated with lavas ( trachytes).
They appear to be about the same age as the most
ancient volcanic rock of the island. ;
Of still more recent date is the formation of the $
sand- dunes which lie between Confita1 Bay and Alcara- d
vancras. Professor Gagel suggests the following ex- !
planation of the origin of the sand- dunes : “ Resting %
UPO the ConglorneI~ ate of the Miocene terrace is a $
thick marly limestone ( Steppenkalk). Where the lime- g
stone dust ( which on firm land forms the Steppenkalk) i
ís blown into the shallow shore- water it cements the i
fine calcareous sand of the plllverised mollusc- shells to o
a porous limestone. The sand which is not cemented g
by calcareous dust, is blown together to form large i
sand- hills . . . and such dunes connect, for instance, the !
Isleta with the main Island ( Puerto de la Luz, Isthmus i
of Guanarteme). The Isleta is formed of young basalt :
eruptive masses,
0
which partially rest on the marine
terrace.”
Gagel’s theory of the origin of the sand- dunes struck
me as very probable, buc wishiug LU investigate the
matter further, 1 procured, through the kindness of Rr
Head of Las Palmas, various samples of sand which that
gentleman collected most scientifically and forwarded at
my request to the British Museum of Natural History.
There the samples were examined by Mr Campbell
Smith of the Department of Minerals, who has kindly
1 St~ hzt’s Elemvzfs of Geologv, 2nd Edition, p. 537. London, 1874.
ORIGIK OF THE CAXARY ARCHIPELAGO 33
prepared the following report on their composition and
on the formation of the dunes :-
“ There seems to be a popular idea, at least among
visitors to the Canary Islands, that the sand which
covers the Eastern Tslands of the group and forms
dunes at the eastern end of Gran Canaria, is brought
b)- wind from the deserts of Africa. This idea may
have received some support from the fact that Humboldt
described the white sand of Graciosa as quartzose, while
as reccntly as rgos Taquin spoke of the Eastern Islands
as covered with w- hite siliceous sand which must be of
f oreign origin. 011 the other hand, Gagel has described
thcse sands as calcareous sands formed by the rolling
of shell fragments in the shallow water near the shore
accumulatecl more or less in situ, and finally blown
landwards and formed into extensive dunes. Similar
accumulations of calcareolls sands occur in the Bermudas
and on man)- coral islands.
(’ The only sample of sand from Graciosa in the
Eritish JIuseum collection is a shell- sand with a certain
admixture of volcanic material. 1 t certainly con tains
no quartz.
‘* So other samples from the Eastcrn Islands of the
õcï roul) are avaiiable, but four samples of the sand from
the peninsula of the Isleta in Gran Canaria have been
collectecl bu- ‘\ Ir S. H. 11. Head of Las Palmas, at the
recluest of 1Ir D. ; i. Bannerman. These samples were
taken from various parts oi‘ the dunes which occur
bet\ veen Puerta de la Luz and Las Palmas. They were
\. er>- carefull>- collected and the followinb obscrvations
on their composition ma)- be uorth recording,
‘ 1 Samplc 2, taken from the side of one of the big
dunas, was esamined very carefully as being probably
typical of the deposit. The largest grains are 0.6 mm.
in diameter, the average grain size being about 0.4 mm.
C
94 THE CANARY IST, ANT) S
88 per cent. of the sand consists of grains exceeding
0.2 mm. in diameter ; the remainder consists of slightly
smaller grains. Sample 4, from the top of the same
dune, gavc closely similar figures. In sample 1, from
the crest of an advancing dune, 24 per cent. of the
material consists of grains slightly less than 0.2 mm. in
diameter, the remaining 76 per cent. of the grains being
between 0.2 and 0.6 mm.
“ In mineral composition these three samples are
closely similar. Sample 3, which was examined quantita- i
tively, was found to contain :-
“ 65 per cent. carbonates soluble in dilute hydro- 5
chloric acid but leaving a residue of íinely divided clayey
;
õ8”
material. This is made up of rolled fragments of shells 2f
and limestone. It forms the bulk uf the coarser grained
material.
j
5t
“ 1.4 per cent. magnetite. B
B
“ 18.2 per cent. of minerals with specific gravity
greater than that of calcite, consisting chiefiy of augite
i
s
with olivine, and ilmenite (?), some biotite and occasional
grains of a$ rine- augite and hypersthene.
i
i
15.4 per cent. of material less dense than calcite, d
composed of sanidine ( about 3 per cent.), with black and ; L”
brown fragments of the grouad- mass of basalt and other 5t
volcanic rocks. Quartz is absent.
0
“ Sample 2 was taken from the middle of wind-furrows
in the sand, and represents the top layer of
coarser material left after the finer sand has blown
away. It differs in appearance from the three other
samples, being darker in colour and coarser in grain.
50 per cent. of this sample consists of grains between
0.5 mm. and I mm. in diameter, and is composed of
carbonates with a little sanidine and abundant dark
grains formed of the ground- mass of basalt and of
other volcanic rocks. The dark grains predominate ín
ORIGIS OF ‘ I’HE C; lSXRY ARCHIPELAGO 35
this coarser. grained portion. The proportion of the
heavier constituents, augite, magnetite, and olivine, is
quite lon-. The tiner material is the same in mineral
composition as sample . q, and shows exactly the same
proportion of grains of diameter greater and less than
o. 2 mm- viz., 44 per cent. betI\- een 0.5 mm. and 0.2 mm.
diameter, ancl 6 per cent. less than 0.2 mm,
“ - All the materials found in these samples of sand
from the Isleta are such as can be derived fi- om the island
of Gran Canaria itself. There is abundance of limestone ;
mld shells to supply the carbonates. The residue left [
after the carbonates llave been removed from the sand d
is ; t black smcl which recalls at once such volcanic sands õ”
as occur, for instance, on 1Iontana Grande near Guimar f
(~~ rnl) les of \ r. hich Itere :~ Iso collected by RIr Bannerman), . E
anci which contain all the minerals mentioned above in 5t
about the same proportions and in , arains of between I
0.3 mm. ant1 0. j mm. diameter.” E
Mr Campbell Smith: in his analyses, confirms Professor s
Gagel’s hypothesis that the dunes are formed locally, g
d
and tinally refutes the old theory that the sand was zE
blown o\- er from tlie African Continent. The remarkable ! d
sancl- storms n- hich r( l) occur from time to time form a ;
sl) cci: tl article in another place, and it will be seen that 5
the b* dust ” broux- ht b)- thcsc storms is of very different
0
cumpositiun from thc s,\ ncl 1x- hich is analys~ I - above.
The part oi Gran Canaria from which the sand here
referred to \ vas obtainecl, must be well known to al1
those tra\. ellers n- 110 have visitecl the island. The
IsIPt; t rntlsists of thrert conir: hillq at the extreme
north- east point of Gran Canaria, rising to 817 feet,
and scparated from the rest of the islancl by the long
isthmus of Guanarteme, thc geological formation of
\ vhich is here tliscussecl. As the Puerto de la Luz-
\ vhere al1 shipping calling at Gran Canaria lies- is
36 THF. CANARY ISLhNllS
undcr the shelter of the eastern slopes of the Isleta,
thc ground in question can ‘ easily be visited by any
geologist who may happen to call at the island. on board
ship. Those more fortunate individuals who havc
leisure to remain in the island will find a host of
gcological problems awaiting invcstigation.
Now let us consider the theory that the Islands
are the. remaining pt- xks of a sunkcn Continent of
AtIantis.
The origin of the Icgcnd of Atlantis is too well
known to necd much attention here. The story appears
in two of Plnto’s Dinl~ gztrs, the Tz& mus and the
Crztias, the latter of which RXS never completed, and
in fact breaks off in the midtlle of a sentence.
In the Tin ¿ nm thc principal spcaker is Critias,
and hc is addressing himsclf to Socrates, the other
listcners being Timzus ancl Hermocrates. Critias
is telling Socrates what the aged Critias ( the narrator’s
grandfather) hearcl from SoIon, “ the wiscst of thc
Seven Sagcs.” How Solon first heard of the Atlantis
from the nld Egyptixn priest in the city of Sais, who
described to him how the Athenians delivered Europe
and Libya from the power of the Atlanteans, and
finally told of the destruction of Atlantis itself.
In the C~ i~ ias, Critias returns to bis story of the
war between the Athenians and Atlanteans, which had
takcn pIace gcoo years ago, and gives a minute
description of the island of Atlantis, professing only to
repent what Solon was toId by the Egyptian priest.
First, then, in the T& WZZ~ S, we read the fullowing
account ’ of the words spoken by the old Egyptian
priest to Solon :-
“ Alany great and wonderful decds are recorded of
1 Translation talen from lowctt’s D~ k~~ gues o/ Plufo, translated into
English, vol. iii., pp. 445,446.
ORIGIX OF THE CASARY ARCHIPELAGO 37
your State in our histories. But one of them exceeds
al1 the rest in greatness and valour. For these histories
tell of a mighty power which, unprovoked, made an
erpedition against the whole of Europe and Asia, and
to which your cit)- put an end. This power carne forth
out of the , Itlantic Otean, for in those days the Atlantic
n2s nal- igable ; and there was an island situated in
front of the Straits which are by you called the pillars
of Heracles ; the island was larger than Libya and Asia
put together, and was the way to other islancls, and
from these you might pass to the whole of the opposite
continent which surrounded the true otean ; for this
sea which is \\- ithin the Straits of Hercules is only a
i
8
harbour, havinq a narrow entrance, but that other is 2f
a real sea, and the surrounding land may be most truly gL ”
callecl n boundless continent. Now in this island of $
.\ tlantis there was a great and wonder- ful empire which B
had rule over the whole islancl and severa1 others,
and over parts of the continent, and furthermore, thc
i
R
men of ;\ tl: lntis had subjected the parts of Libya within 8E
the columns of Heracles as far 2s E; ypt, and of Europe zI
CLS far as T!, rrhenia. Th is vast poner, gathered into ! :
one. encleavoured to subdue- at a blow our country and ;
yours ant1 the \~ hole of the region nithin the Straits ;
g
5o
and then. Solon, your countr\. , shone forth, in the
escellence of hcr virtue and strength, among al1 man-kind.
Shc was pre- eminent in courage and military
skill, and was the leacler of the Hellenes ; and when
the rest fell off from her, being compelled to stand
alone, after lialving undergone the very extremity of
clanger, she clefeatecl ancl triumphecl over the invaders,
ant1 prcser\- ecl from slavery those ~ 110 were not yet
subjugnted, and generously liberatecl al1 the rest of
us ~ ho dwell Lvithin the pillar- s. But’afterwards therc
occurred violent earthquakes and floods ; and in a single
38 TIIE CANARY ISLANDS
day and night of misfortune, al1 your warlike men
in a body sank into the earth, and the island of Atlantis
in like manner disappeared in the depths of the sea.
For which reason the sea in those parts is impassable
and impenetrable, because there is a shoal of mud
in the way ; and this was caused by the subsidence
of the island.”
A more detailed account of Atlantis is given by
Plato, vol. xii., p. 247, when Critias thus describes
the mythical island : “ A plain located near the sea
and opening in the central part of the island, and the
most fertile of plains ; about it a circle of mountains
stretching to the sea, a circle open at the centre and
protecting the plain from the icy blasts of the north ;
in these superb rnountains, numerous villages, rich and
popuIous ; in the plain a magnificent City, the palaces
and temples of which are constructed from stones of
three colours- white, black, and red- drawn from the
very bosom of the island ; here and there mines yielding
al1 the metals useful to man ; finally the shores of the
island cut pcrpcndicularly, and commanding from abovc
the tumultuous sea.” ’
Ever since the above immortal lines were written
by Plato, men of science have discussed the existence
of a great sunken continent in this region, and although
many ridicule the theory, yet there are those who still
believe that the Atlantides are the remaining peaks
of a gigantic island, the main body of which has long
since sunk beneath the waves.
The legend has recently been revived by Dr Pierre
Termier, a French scientist, member of the Academy
of Science and Director of the Geological Survey of
France. In a lecture given in November 1912 before
1 Translation taken from Antmal Rejort, Smithsonian Institute,
1915, p. 222.
ORIGIS OF THE CAXARY ARCHIPELAGO 3b
the Zzs~ 2t~ t Ocbanogm@ 5ipe of Paris, Dr Termier
re\- iewed the evidente in support of the existence of
a sunken continent. The views which he holds may
be summed up in a translation of his own words,
as f- ollo~\ s :-
‘( To reconstruct even approximately the map of
Xtlantis will alivays remain a difficult proposition.
At present we must not even think of it. But it is
entirely reasonable to believe that, long after the opening
of the Strait of Gibraltar, certain of these submerged i
lands still existecl, and anlong them a rnarvellous island, f
separated from the ; Ifrican Continent by a chain of other d
smaller islands. Une thing alone remains to be proved i 8
- that the cataclysm which cnused this island to dis- i
appcar was subsequent to the appearance of man in i
\\‘ estern Europe. The cataclysm is undoubted. . . . $
‘\ Iean\\- hile, not only will Science, most modern Science, B
not rnake it a crime for al1 lovers of beautiful legends to E
believe in Plato’s story of Xtlantis, but Science herself,
through my voice, calls their attention to it.”
1;
8
It will hc seen from bis referente to the opening of i
the Strait of Gibraltar, that Termicr places the date of ! d
thc c; ttacl!- sm n- liich sn- allon- ecl up Atlantis, in or since
the ‘\ Iiocene period at latest ; for 1 do not think there
i
5
0
are an!- geolo,$ sts ~ ho place the opening of the Strait
of Gibraltar earlier than the 1Iiocene ; while most agree
tlixt it occurred earl)- in the Pliocene.
In the course of his xgument Dr Termier notes one
sdient point which was brought to light by a cable ship
operatin, q betlveen Cape Cod and Brest, about soo miles
north of the Azores. The grappling iron which was
1 xzinh clra~~ ecl 0~ tx- the uneven surfdce, nearly 1700
fitthoms below the lvaves, broke off some chips from
thc rocks, which \ vere brought to the surface and secured.
Esamination of these fragments, which are preserved in
40 THE CANARY ISLA! VDS
thc &? z& e rte ¿ ‘ E’coZe rZes Mines in’ I’aris, revea1 the
fact that they are uf a vitreous lava wbich, according to
Termier, could solidify into this condition only under
atntos. Ae~ ic @- essure. His deduction is that these
submarine mountains were at one time exposed to the
air, and the conclusion to which he points is that
this region ( including perhaps the Azores) was sub-merged
“ probably during the epoch which geologists
cal1 the present day, because it is so recent” ; and he
belicves that detailed dredging to the soufh of the Azores
would prove that a colossal buried region has here been
abrup tly engulfcd. In his own words, “ the bottom
of the sea in thesc parts presents the characteristics of
a mountainous country, with high summits, steep slopcs
and decp vallcys, The summits are rocky, and there
are oozes only in the hollows of the valley~.“~
In the late Oligoccnc and carly hfioccnc pcriods
bcgan the physical disturbances which gave rise to
the elevation of the Alps, and it was in the middle
and latter part of the Miocene that probably the whole
Alpine system of mountain folds from Morocco to the
Far East ( Indo- China) took place. Termier asks :
‘< How far did this Alpine chain extend in the Atlantic
rcgion ? ” - and shows that in the westcrn Atlas
Mountains the folds of thc Tertiary chain have bcen
followed by a Frcnch gcologist ( RI. Gentil) to the shore
of thc otean, where these folds , gradually diminishing,
“ drowning themselves, ” descend into the waves. They
there take such a course on this coast of Agadir and
of Cape Ghir, that if WC could follow them under the
sea we should find they would bring us to the
Canaries.
Summing up this evidcnce, Termier strongly believcs
’ Translation in English published by the Smithsoninn Ins: ituto of
Washington ( Amctml Re& rf, 1915, pp. 219- 234).
OIIIGIY OF THE CAKART ARCHIPELAGO 41
in the ; Itlantic prolongation of the Tertiary folds, “ those
of the ; itlas ILIountains towards the Canaries, those of
the Xlps towards the Southern Islands of the Azores.“ l
It rnust not be forgotten that this entire chain of islands
lies in one continuous volcanic zone, and that further
research in the neibhbourhood of the Canary Islands
may substantiate new facts which will throw considerable
light on thc whole problem. Termier believes we have
learnt al1 that gcolog)- and zoology can te11 us about
L4tlantis, and he 1001; s to anthropology, ethnography,
and oceanography for the answer to the problems still
unexplained.
For a scholarlp criticism of the truth of Platu’s
legend, w- e must turn to the translator Joweq2 who
clcarly espresses his views when he remarks : “ 1s it
not a n- onderful thing that a few pages of one of Plato’s
Dr’aZqz/ cs 1mx. e grown into a grent legend, not confined
to Greece only, but spreading far and wide over the
nations of Europe and rexrhing even to Egypt and
; isia! , . . It mnttered little whether the description
in Plato qreecl with the locality assibned to it or not.
It was a le~ end so adapted to the human mind that it
maclc ; L habitation for itself in any country. . . . The
tale of A1tlantic; is the fabric of a vision, but it has never
ceased to interest mankind.”
Jon. ctt, in his introduction to the C~ Ztias, remarks
that n- e may safely conclude that the entire narrative is
due to the inqination of Plato, who has used the name
of Solon and introduced the Egyptian priest to give
verisimilitude to his story, and truly notes ~ hat as many
attempts have been made to find the great island of
, qtlantis as to discover thc country of thc lost tribcs.
Plato uncloubtedly wove a romantic tale round this
1 The Azores lie I I+ J btdtute Ales west of Gibralta.
2 2112 IIi~ rk~~ w~~ of f’ltrfo, trnnslated into English, vol. iii.
42 THE CANARY ISLANDS
legend of an ancient land to suit his imaginative brain,
and adorned his “ Atlantic isle” with fabulous wealth
and beauty ; he even peopled it with a warlike race,
the Atlanteans, whom he asserted to have been
vanquished at the hands of the Athenians, his own
countrymen, gooo years before he wrote, at the same
time as Atlantis was swallowed up.
Now let us for a moment look at the other side of
the question. Foremost among those who entirely
disbelieved in Atlantis was Alfred Russel Wallace, who
considered that the legend received its death- blow from
the chapter on Oceanic Islands in Darwin’s O~ igin of
Species. Certainly Darwin’s remarks on oceanic islands
helped finally to dispel the theory that the Atlantic
islands are the remaining peaks of a sunken continent.
Sir Charles Lyell once visited the Canary Islands,
and in the second volume of bis Pr& cz~ Zes of Geodogy
devoted a whole chapter to Madeira and the Canaries
as typcs of oceanic archipelagoes. The main conclusions
at which he arrived were that the Canaries were formed
in mid- otean by volcanic action and that they had never zI
been joined to the mainland. Examination of the fossil ! d
remains tended to prove that the Islands were formed ;
in that part of the Middle Tertiary Age known as the
5og
Upper Miocene Period. The elevation of the Islands
was very gradual, and Lyell was unable to find any
signs of subsidence, c. ontinual outpourings of lava
having helped to pile up the volcanic accumulations
to a considerable height. Evidente of tliis was present
in Gran Canaria at a height of 6000 feet.
Lyell was a great opponent of the theory that the
Canary Archipelago had once been joined to the main-land
of Africa, affirming that this would involve a much
greater change of leve1 of the otean- bed, since the close
of the Miocene period, than we are justified in thinking
ORI(; TS OF THE CANARY ARCHIPELAGO 43
cver took place. In support of this he remarked on the
clepth of water which surrounds the Atlantic Islands.
Geikic, to a great extent, held the same views as
Lyell on thc formation of the Atlantides, believing e? ch
island to be the site of a volcanic COIIC gradually built
frotn the sea bottom by successive outpourings of
material. Tenerife, by reason of its world- famecl Peak,
rising to the majestic height of 12,180 feet, has, from
a geological point of view undoubtedly bee. n more
thoroughly explored than the remaining islands. If i
the sea could be drained from the region of the Canaries, f
then indeed should we be able to form some idea of the d
triwntic disturbanck which must have occurred before i
h 23 8
such an island as Tenerife was thrown up from the i
floor of the ocean. As it is, we have to do the best we i
cm \ vith sounding line and . dredge and fil1 in the gaps $
w- ith our imagination. B
I< riefly, then, to sum up our conclusions :-
Geological evidente points to the fact that, with
two csccptions, the islands of the Azores, Madeiras,
1;
8
Canaries, ancl Cape Verde group, are not the remaining i
pc; tk~ of cither the mythical Atlantis of Plato or of ! d
; L fornw contimnt which has sunk beneath the waves ;
since the Tertiary days, but that they were formed g
l) y \- olcmic action sometime in the late Tertiary period,
2
~ xob: lbly in thc Upper Miocene. We have no reason
to clisbeliere that a sunken land & Xexist in this region
ix the enrly stagcs of the earth’s history, long before
tl: c appenrnnce of man in his prcscnt form ; indeed there
is strong cvictence to support it. Professor Gregory
r(: lk LIS in bis little volume, TL,+ AAzcfiin, o af t/ te Earth,
t11< 1t I’ the frequerlt inter- change between iand and sea is
OIIC: of the best- established of geological facts.” In Iate
I’; ll; eozoic ant1 enrly RIesozoic times there seems little
cioubt that part of the eastern half of South America,
44 THE CANARY ISLANDS
Africa, Arabia, India, and Australia were part of a big
continental mass which ( according to Gregory) was
called Gondwanaland, and this was separated from
Arctis land, comprising eastern North America, Green-land,
Norway, and Sweden by a broad otean known as
the Tethys, l of which the Mediterranean is the relic.
Europe must then have been connected with North
America, by way of Iceland and Greenland- Hull 2 has
strongly defended the theory of a vanished Palaeozoic
Atlantis in this region, while Suess’ believed that this i
northern continent persisted as such up to a more g
recent epoch in the history of the earth. Later, it is !
supposed that the two gulfs from the Tethys stretched i8
north and South and eventually developed into the i
Atlantic Otean, leaving a ridge with deep water on i
either side. On the wreck of this former land mass $
- 1ong since vanished below the waves submarine B
volcanic activity has built up the Atlantic Isles.
’ So named by Professor Suess. s
E
2 Trnns. Zi’oy. DubZz’~ a Sor., 1885, New Ser. iii., pp. 305- 320. 8
3 Suess, Eng. Trans., val. ii., p. 220. I
* For further information on this subject the reader is rccommended to z
read Th Mcz,~ z~ z~ o~ the Eurth, by Professor J. W. Gregory, F. R. S., D. Sc., !
d
from whose little book 1 have leamt much that is quoted in the last ;
paragraph. g
05
CHAPTER III
A BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS
OF THE CANARY ARCHIPELAGO
STRICTLY speaking, the Canary Archipelago is made up
of twelve islands which fa11 conveniently into two main
groups- the Western Islands and the Eastern Islands.
The Western Islands are al1 large, and include Gran 2f
Canaria, Tenerife, Palma, Gomera, and Hierro. The 1
Eastern Islands consist of two large islands- Fuerteven- i
tura and Lanzarote, with their six satellitcs- Lobos, B
Graciosa, Allegranza, hIontaíía Clara, the Roque del
Este and the Roque del Oueste. This natural division
i
into two distinct groups is based as much on the
1;
8
physical characteristics which the islands exhibit as on zI
the position in which they lie. It is difficult at first !
sight to believe that the islands in the Eastern Group
d
;
belong to the same Archipelago as those in the Western 5g
Group, so different do they appear from almost every
0
point of view. Roughly speaking, Fuerteventura and
Lanzarote are merely outlying parts of the Sahara
Desert, and in fact are only separated from the West
African coast by fifty- seven ( statute) miles of sea.’
I~ lcleed, at firsL glmce u11e might easily believe that they
had once been joined to the mainland, but a closer
inspection of the islands and a survey of the otean- bed
between them and Cape Juby would soon prove this
surmise to be unfounded.
For the most part, the two main isfands of the
45
46 THE CANARY ISLANDS
Eastern Group are low- lying, and are made up of large
plains and low barren hills which only attain to any
height in the north of Lanzarote ( Monte Famara, 2198
feet) and in the extreme South of Fuerteventura ( Las
Orejas de Asno, 2770 feet). Their volcanic origin is
at once apparent, and the evidente of terrible upheavals
is to be seen on al1 sides, particularly in Lanzarote,
where a long chain of craters gives this island a
much more mountainous appearance than its neighbour
Fuerteventura.
The Eastern Islands, then, are for the most part
composed of deserts and extinct volcanoes, and are
described in more detail in a later chapter. A short
account may, however, be given here :-
Fuerteventura, viewed from tht. sea, appears to be
more mountainous than is really the case- the highest
ground; a basaltic mass rising to 2770 feet, lying at the
southern extremity of an isthmus of shifting sand- dunes.
The first impression is soon dispelled as one rides
through the island- the hills on closer acquaintance are
found to be low and undulating and bound great plains
which stretch mile upon mile almost the entire length
of the island. When 1 first set eyes upon these plains
in the month of May, they were purple with the bloom
of Suc& a f&& cosa, but otherwise, apart from a meagre
desert vegetation, they are exceedingly bare and stony.
Certainly in the neighbourhood of villages many acres
are sown with wheat, but the corn is usually so poor
in quality that it hardly serves to ameliorate the parched
appearance of thc country. Hcre and there rugged,
cone- shaped volcanoes stand out conspicuously, rising
from 1500 to 2200 feet, and viewed from a distance
appear almost beautiful in colour, the weathered lava,
pumice, and scori= vaiying ín tone from a deep terra-cotta
to dull black. As the traveller looks down upon
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THE PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS 47
the plains from the central ridge, which forms a brok. en
backbone to the island, severa1 villages are spread out
‘ before his gaze- the little white houses scattered without
plan over the desert waste. Perchance a cluster of
date- palms indicates the homestead of one of the richer
landowners, while only a few fig- trees or, maybe, a
solitary pomegranate, mark some poor farmer’s dwelling.
Should the track lead near the sea the traveller will
have to. cross severa1 deep barraacos- dry “ nullahs,”
often as not lined with dark green tamarisks, upon ;
which thc cye rests with pleasure after the scorching
plains. Otherwise not a sign of water ; not a vestige 01
of forest land nor even a wood, in the humblest cense a
of the Word, breaks the monotony of the scene. It E
seems perfectly natural to have exchanged the mules i8
of the Western Islands for camels- the only beasts of t
burden in the Eastern Group. 5
B
Lanzarote is more mountainous than Fuerteventura,
but the highest ground attains to only 2198 feet. 6
Nevertheless, its surface contains much more evidente E
of former volcanic activity- in the shape of many 8
I
extinct volcanoes, from the rent craters of which great z
!
lava- flows wind their way to the sea. A ride from i
north to South of Lanzarote is much more instructive [
of the terrible visitations through which the island has 0
passed than would be a similar journey through
Fuerteventura.
The outlying islets embrace the same general
characters- flat plains, upon which miniature volcanoes
stand up in vivid contrast, as typified by Graciosa ; or
else the half- buried lip of a giant crater- Wall, so
strikingly shown in the Roque del Este, rearing its
crest above the waves.
The vegetation on these Eastern Islands is in keeping
with their geological character- of engrossing interest
48 THE CANARY ISLANDS
to the student of desert flora- the shrubs and plants
are many nf them peculiar to the islands upon which
they grow. Apart from date- palms, figs, and pome-granates
already noted, trees are conspicuous by their
absence. Oranges, bananas, and almond - trees are
decidedly rare.
As previously indicated, man): of the barrancos are
lined with tamarisks, and in al1 the islands Euphorbias
of severa1 varieties are perhaps the commonest form of
vegetation. Wheat and beans, vines and tomatoes, are ;
cultivated in certain districts, while quantities of onions t
are exported annually from Lanzarote. Through lack i
of water thousands of acres lie uncultivated in any way õ”
and may be classed as desert waste.
i Such, then, are the Eastern Canary Islands. Owing g
to their having the same geological formation and j
uniform climate, added to the similarity in their altitude ;
and consequent absence of variety as regards vegetation
zgnes, these barren outliers of the Sahara are best i
considered as one distinct fauna1 area. g
When we turn to the Western Islands we find a very i
different state of things : without exception they are !
al1 mountainous, their summits varying from 4400 feet i
ín the small island of Gomera, to 12,180 feet in the g
snow- ciad peak of Tenerife. The islands in this group ’
are fairly prolilic, in direct contrast to the arid waste
which covers the greater part of the Eastern Islands.
Save in Hierro water is fairly abundant, and in con-sequence
cultivation has taken, place over a considerable
area. Certainly in parts of Tenerife and Gran Canaria,
in what we will cal1 the Maritime Zone, we meet with
very much the same type of country as we found in
Fuerteventura, where desert- loving plants such as
Lamma sp& zosa, Ptocanza & mhZa, and various species
of Euphorbia eke out a waterless existence, but in
THE PHYSICAL CHARACTERIS’I’ICS 49
the higher altitudes a very different state of things
exists.
In dealing with the Western Islands of the Archi-pelago,
1 have attempted to give a brief account of the
Zones of Vegetation in Gran Canaria and ( in the next
chapter) Tenerife, as, although the other islands-especially
Palma- have been visited by botanists and
1 have myself ridden over Gomera, their vegetation
belts have never been systematically studied ; their
physical characteristics will therefore only be alluded ;
to 1 ery shurll~~.
The first island of the Western Group encountered i
when sailing westwards from Fuertcvcntura is Gran i
Canaria. It is a large island covering an area of 635 1
square miles, and in shape is almost round. It is 34; 1
miles in length from north to South and 29 miles broad i
from east to west, but, owing to the mountainous nature B
of the interior, a journey across the island is not to
be lightly undertaken. For beauty of scenery there is 6
nothing in the other islands ( excepting perhaps in E
Palma) to compare with Gran Canaria; but, un- i
fortunately, the casual visitor to the island too ‘ often !
judges Gran Canaria from its unattractive port- Las $
Palmas- and from the miserable desert aspect of the g
5
scenery as seen from the ” port road” ! ‘ The island ’
is not inapcly libcned iI the guide- book to ira basin
ful1 of mud turned upside down, with the sides furrowed
by long and deep ravines,” but the writer should have
adcled that the simile applies to the shape only, aS
the “ hasin ful1 of mud ” is now largely covered with
vegetation which has transformed the once bare slopes.
Th e ra\- ines, or bnwnzcos as they are termed in
the Islands, are often of immense size ; particularly
fine are those of La Virgen, Aldea, Tirajana, and
Fa taba. The vegetation in the first named is
D
50 THE CANARY ISLANDS
1uxuriant. l In the South of the island a great stretch of
country is given over to barren waste, whilst in dircct
contrast the mountains rise to 6400 feet, some clothed with
pines, others bare as the desert, while the northern slopes
are closely cultivated. Gran Canaria was the subject of
an ornithological review which 1 published in the / bis in
IgIs. 1 then divided up the island into six fauna1
divisions *.- ( 1) The Monte and Vega ; ( 2) the Cumbres ;
( 3) the Pinar ; ( 4) the desert- Iike Plains ; ( 5) the
*‘ Charco ” ; ( 6) the Western Division, wild mountainous ;
coun try. These are perfectly natural divisions, and t
still of course hold good. They are shown on the 0d
accompanying map, and their general features will be
summarised in the following pages.
During subsequent visits to the island in 1913 and
1920, 1 attempted to work out the zones of vegetation.
The conclusions which 1 formed are as follows :-
ZONE I.--- Maritime or African Zane, sea- leve1 to
1000 feet.
ZONE n.-- The Monte Verde or District of Cultiva-tion,
rooo to 3000 feet ( including remnants of
chestnut and laurel forest between 1400 and d
2700 feet). ;
t In using the word “ luxuriant” in this connection, the writer does not
wish to convey an erroneous idea of the vegetation in the Canary Xrchipelago.
Such qualifying adjectives when used in this book refer only to the subject
in the islands under discussion. Comparison of the Canarian vegetation
and scenery cannot be made with that to be found in such places as, for
instance, the majority of the West Indian Islands. A traveller acquainted
with both archípelagoes might thirkthe word “ luxuriaut,~ when applied to
Canarian vegetation, highly extravagant, and according to his value of the
word he would doubtless be perfectly correct. Similarly, when mountain
scenery is described in the following pages, the terms used must not be
thought equally applicablc to the great mountain ranges of the earth.
Those who are familiar with Canarian scenery will at once grasp my
meaning ; those who are not, will, 1 trust, be able to picture the scenes which
1 have attempted to describe the more accurately for the euplanntion
here given.
l- HE: YHYSICAL. CHARAC’I’ERISTICS 51
% osE 3.--” Pinar ” ( Pine Forest), 3000 to 4000 feet
( on the sou. th and South- n. est of the island
only). - The country betwecn thcse altitudes
on the northern slnpcs rnay ? w includcd in-
LOSE 4.- l’ Cumbres “- mountainous, unforcsted
. zre: t, 4000 to 6400 feet.
% one T, thc African or ‘\ laritime Zane, includes two
of my former fauna1 di\, isions- thc tlescrt- like Plains
md the ” Charco ” of ‘\ l2spalomas and Arguineguin. ;
‘ I‘ his zone in Gran Canaria is characterised by f
semi- descrt \. qqctntion, which is bcst developecl in the d
South- east uf the isl;~ ncl. l; rom Telclc to Sardina and i
ft- om S: lrclinn to :\ r; quineguin thc sun- baked plains
( vaclually ascenci from sca- levcl to IOOO feet, and in
i
.5 ;
this belt the characteristic plants of the African Zone
I) rwlominntc. The barren plains Lu- c: not Ly any means
5
B
COIifilld tc, thc south- east coast ; a particularly arid
lwlt lies t, f: tn- w1t (; alclar and Agaëtc in the extreme
north- wcst. nn( l i5 given o\- er to E~~ js~ 0~~ 61a1n7d Ilju7dt’a.
\ Vherever practic; 1ble. as iti thu neihhbourhoocl of
‘ I’clclc, .! rucns, Guia, Galdar, etc., the earth has been
turncd to protitabk use, anct (.) r; ln; cs and bananas are
d
;
cstensivcly cuIti\. ated. ‘ I‘ he orarlgcs from ‘ I’eldc are g
5
the 5ncst ohtainnblc anyn- here in the Cxnnry Islands,
ancl must hc hnrd to txxt for pcrlcction : inywherc in
thc \ vorlc!, bvhile Gcia xncl G;;; dar are famous centres
0i the 11an~ tn; t tracle. Tl IC \+ xsterii coast of Gran
Canaria is prxticnll)- del- oid of desert land, the
moL! lit; tiris suulli I~ II :‘ ig, li! tc 1- ising prccipitíttely from
thc coast, wliilc in the soutll-\ vcst from .- Jldea to hIogat1
it is o: IIjT i11 thc l; iz1a7* L2111.0.~. thnt culti\ vation ( principally
tomatoes) can talx l) lxc. ;\ lthough the western coast
frtlm se: t- Ie!- c- 1 to looo f<~. t tnllst be included in Zane I,
it is a very dit& rent courltry from that of the desert- like
52 THE CANARY ISLANDS
plains, and was thus placed in a separate division when
dealing with the strictly fauna1 areas.
It is not the cultivated area of the Maritime Zone
which gives charactcr to the desert wastes, but rather
the endemic flora which arrests attention.
We find a shrub, or rather group of shrubs, which
cal1 for special remark, in the Euphorbias, of which
Gran Canaria alone can boast of some eleven species,
the commonest forms being E. regis- Jubcz, E. a$ hyZLa,
E. o6tuszj% a, and E. baZsamz> ra, whilst the most ;
remarkable is undoubtedly the cactoid Euphorbia ( E. i
canaviensis), of which various illustrations are given d
in the following pages. Of the twenty- five species of õE”
Euphorbia known to exist in the Archipelago, nine are i
peculiar to these islands, while the other forms are i
for the most part found also in North Africa and the 8
Mediterranean Basin ; two species are found only in f
Madeira and the Canaries, and one form, E. sudcafa, ;
is recorded from France and Spain as well as North s
g
Africa. The shrubs belonging to the family Euphor- ;
biaciz thrive in the most barren- looking places, and $
it is most surprising to come across huge clumps of d
Eu# zorbia cazariensis growing in profusion on the F
forbidding lava- flow, which is such a landmark on the 5o
Telde road. This shrub is often accompanied by the
very different ,! z’, bdsanzzje~~ a, and the miniature Dragon-tree,
Kdeizin ne4jrZia; whilst another well- known plant
found growing ín lava- streams and dried- up barrama
beds, is the much more elegant P,‘ ocama penrdda, common
on qany of thc barren hill- sides which fa11 stccply to the
sea coast. In fact the desert flora of the Canary Islands
is a most engrossing study in itself, and one to which
1 should like to give much more time, the Coast Belt
with al1 its strange African plants holding a great
fascination for me.
1’ HE PIIYSIC,\ I, CHAR~ 1CTl? RISTICS 53
Charactcristic birds of this division in Gran Canaria
tue thc Thick- knee ( known in the island as the
“:~ Zcn7* n~~ r72 “), the Courser ( confined to a very small
:~ re: t), the Trumpeter Bullfinch, the Short- tocd La&,
the Sarclinian Warbler, the Spectacled MTarbler, and
the Rock Sparrow, thnugh the last two are not by any
mcans entirely confined to this semi- desert belt.
Included in this Maritime Zone is a small district
knonn as thc “ Charco ‘!- -- one of the few remaining’
spots in the Cannries where frcsh- water birds and plants ;
mny fincl 3 hornc. It is in reality a little swamp, of 1
1vl: ich 21 ful1 description is given later. It is the haven i
of such birds as the Coot, -\ Ioorhen, Alarbled Duck, ;
and Snipe. i
Aboye this -\ lnritime Zane we pass into the Zane of gL ”
Cultivation- the AIonte l’erde- extcnding roughly from 5t
B
1000 tu ; ooo ket, and embracing the clivision which
1 termed the 1Ionte ancl the ITega. ‘ This includes the 8
hI:, rhly cultiv; ìted districts in thc north of the island, S
taking ir: the villngcs of Tafirn, Sant, î. Rrigicla, San 8
~ Tati’o. Teror, Firg-( r; Ls! : lnd JIoya. zI
IHcre every conceivable fruit t- lok: rishcs, and the ! :
vegetation, both indi;;(: nocs and introduccd, is lux~ lri:~ nt ;
g
i; l the extreme. \‘ ines clothc thc hill- sides, growing 5o
in profusion ; tntl t: lriving Ive in the loose volcanic soil,
lvllile lcr( lL~; ttc;, I) ome~ ranatcs. xu; Lvas, mangoes, peaches,
oranges, : lnd b:~ t~~ n;~ ! )- iclcl Iieav): crops of fruit. Sugar-c;
ille is I; rc)\ vIl c: stC!! lSiVCl~, ant1 in e\- ery respect this
is the nlost lusuriarit pnrt Ol” tllcz islancl.
It is ; I \ vell- krlo\ vn fitct thnt soil formcd by the
cieconipositior1 () f volc; lnic rocks is highly favourable
to the grolvtil of l) lalitS ,. almost anything put into the
gr” un( l thrives n* ro\ idcd it c; In obtain sufficient water,
l ‘ l‘ he 1xlnnr. ap ” inclp: lll~$ r « n- n m th(: (. anary lslancls is the small
\- nrkty ~ l::>\~ n; 15. I/ fts‘ ¿ C’h- ntii. rhii.
54 THE CANARY ISLAND! 3
and in the zone of which we are writing endless pains
have been taken to ensure as constant a water- supply
as is possible under the difficult circumstances. The
amount of trouble entailed in watering the young corn
is astonishing. I- n al1 parts of the RIonte, the water
is carried in cleverly- built qequl’as, sometimes along
the side of a precipite, under roads and through tunnels,
oftcn for long distances, to the water- tanks, where the
water is stored up until such a time as it is most
urgently needed.
Many of the houses and cottages in the Canaries
are a perfect joy to behold for the wealth of glorious
creepers which climb in profusion over the roofs and
balconies - gorgeous Bz& onia vemmta, orange and i s
scarlet ; red and lilac Boz~ gaimddea, and the delicate a
blue T,&& e@ a grandzjfoora make a wealth of colour
g
5
beyond the power of words to describe. The main ;
roads are lined with fine Eucalyptus trees, and often E
the hedges are formed of the highly ornamental aloes,
Agave anzericana. A wild geranium, which attains
g
;
a great size, grows cxtcnsively in thc volcanic carth, ;
while fuchsias become large trees in the Canaries, d
growing, of course, entirely in the open. It is in this
zone, too, that we find occasional spots of brilliant colour
1
O
in the private gardens of the few English residents.
Beautiful palms grow here, and in severa] of the better-cared-
for gardens the air is heavy with the sweet scent
of the RIimosa trees. A visitor from England will
be at once struck, not only with the profusion of growth
and wealth of colour, but by the abnormal size to
which almost al1 one’s old English favourites attain.
Carnations, stocks, cinerarias, hollyhocks, begonias,
giant sunflowers, nasturtiums, and many others- most
of which have been brought out from England-- al1
appear three or four times their ordinary size ;- while
THE PHYSICXI, CHXRACTERISTICS 55
roses of many varieties help to remind one of one’s
garden at home.
But there is still another side to the picture which
n- e ha; ye not yet seen, nnd this is to be found in the
same zone which 1 ha\- e termed the Monte Verde or
the Zonc of Cllltivation. It is rather a sad side of
the picture too, ancl must be sought between 1400
and 2700 feet. ; ilthough w- e cannot strictly cal1 this
a woodecl belt, )- et, between these altitudes we find
the wreck of what were once magnificent chestnut and i
laurel forests. In Gran Canaria there are only five [
places where an>- trace of these forests can be found : ;
at LIoramas, 1600 feet ( laurel) ; San RIatéo, 2680 feet ;
( chestnut) ; Teror, 1750 feet ( chestnut) ; and at Los i
Osorios, 24So feet ( chestnut); while there remains one i
small patch of laurels at a lower altitude- Las Laureles, ; t
near Santa Brigida x- illage, 1398 feet above the sea. Of B
these, the forest at Doramas was undoubtedly the finest; i
a good idea of the grandeur of this forest in bygone 1E5
da)- s can be obtained from the description given by RIiss ;
Florence L~ LI Cane in her bonl~, ThIE Gmsy / sla~ lds. ;
hIiss Du Cane, who is a botanist and deals ! d
charmin, « ly with the trees and shrubs of the Islands, i
has consulted and translated various passages from 5
the norks of Viera and Don Christobal de la Camara,
0
Bishop of Gran Canaria.
These two Spaniards, shortly after 1581, we are
told. n- rote of “ the ‘\ Iountain of d’oramas as one
of the marvels of Spain, the different trees growing
to such a height that it is impossible to see their
summit : the hand of God only could have planted
tl1em, isulated d. rnong precipites and in the rnidst of
masscs of rock. The forest is traversed by streams
of water, and so dense are its woods, that even in
the days of greatest heat the sun can never pierce
56 THE CANARY ISLANDS
them. Al1 1 had been told beforehand of its beauties
appeared fabulous, but when 1 had visited it myself
1 was convinced that 1 had not been told enough.”
Thc dcsccration of the forest appenrs to have
commenced between 1820 and 1830, for, according to
Miss Du Cane, “ At the former date some part of the
woods remained in al1 their pristine beauty on the
Moya side, and the great til- trees ( Lazirus f? zfezs)
round Las Madres were still standing, but ten years
later, when Barker Webb’ and his companion visited F.
this spot again, these splendid trees were shorn of i
their finest branches and the devastation of the woods :
had begun.” The Spaniards seem to have done their i 8
work well, for at the present day very little remains 2f
to show that one hundred years ago such a fine forest j
as Viera and Don Christobal described clothed the $
slopes of Doramas. B
Canon Tristram, who visited this part of the island g
in 1888, gave the following bricf dcscription of the 6
district : “ After working up the glen for three hours i
we clambered out on the opposite side, and emerged ;
on what is certainly the richest piece of Gran Canaria- ! d
Doramas- not a village, but a district of scattered i
houses and farms with lovely pathways shaded by laurel 2
trees, Indian fig, and various other non- European trees,
to me then unknown. At the further end of Doramas
is a fragment of primeva1 forest of laurel- trees, and
here we hoped to find the “ PaZorna Z%~ r( uesn.” We
gradually ascended ti11 we reached a height of 4000
feet on the side of the Pico de la Virgen. In the
wood 1 had a glimpse of two pigeons 2 which passed
* Webb and Berthelot worked in the Canary Islands from September
1828 to April 1830.
2 ( Though not identified, these were probably the last examples of
CoLvtlllrzba6 oZZei ever seen in Gran Canaria, The species is still found in the
laurel forests of Tenerife, Palma, and Gomera.- D, A. B.)
‘ L’HE I.‘ HYSIC~ iL CITARACTERISTICS 57
over ~ is, and which the guide exclaimed were the
cc Tu J~ plrstr.”
This is the zone in which the ordinary bird- life of
thc island nmy hest hc ohsPrved- Sparrows, Canarian
Chnffinches, Gold! inches, Linnets, Canaries, Blackbirds,
Redbreasts, Coru Uuntings, I) lue Tits, Blackcaps, Chiff-chaffs,
Kestrels, Kites, Uuzzards, and Quails come to
mind as the species most usually seen and heard,
though this short list does not by any means exhaust
the forms ivhich may commonly be met with. It may ;
here be stated that the ; IIonte district of Gran Canaria f
is by far the best centre in either that island or in d
Tenerife in lvhich to observe the commoner forms of i
Canarian bird- life. 2f
Between 3000 and 4000 feet lies the Zone of Pine ;
Forest, known as the ” Pinar,” although the actual i
forest is now confined to the western and southern Bo
part of the island which lies between these altitudes ; g
the more northern portion of Gran Canaria between S
3000 and 4000 feet, although included in this zone for 8
E
purposes of conveniente, is in reality extremely barren i
and has not a single pine- tree growing upon it. !
Unfortunately the natives hal- e not been content i
with despoiling the island of its laurel and chestnut 5
woods, but in like wanton manner have wrought terrible ’
havoc amongst the pine woods, which must once have
been very fine, although 1 do not for a moment believe
that the pine forests covered the island to the extent
generally supposed. , At the present day most of the
mountainous country in the South and west of Gran
Canaria, Iying betiveen 3000 and 4000 feet, consisting for
the most part of successive rid, aes, is sparingly covered
w\; lth ~~ IL/ IS rnrlaî+ Jlsis. The two upper illustrations
facing pnges 194 and 196 give a fair idea of this type
of country. The trees have been sadly thinned by the
68 THE CANARY ISLANDS
charcoal burners, and ahhough there- is now a fine
inflicted upon anyone felling the trees with this object,
the sum to be paid is a small one, the chance of
detection smaller still, and the ways of evasion many.
The trees cover a large extent of country, but are
nowhere thick, and very little of the old timber
remains.
A visitor to Las Palmas and the Monte, even
should he chance to reach San Matéo ( 2680 feet)-
the highest point usually attained by those making ; B
a stay in the island- would probably be surprised 0i
to learn what a large extent of country is under pine d
forest, for on the northern slopes of the Cumbres not õE”
a single pine is visible. North of a line drawn from i
Agaëte in the north- west to the Roque Nublo ( one %
of the highest points in the Cumbres, 61 IO feet above 5
the sea) and continued from the Roque to Tirajana, ;
hardly a pine is to be seen. Once having crossed this E
iniabiuary line, tht: ridges and spurs are covered with g
pine forest of the type seen in the illustration facing ;
page 194. On th e ridges above the Ardennes de Agaëtc ;
the pinés come lower down the mountain slopes than i
1 have secn them anywhere else in the island. In Gran E
Canaria, much of the country covered with Pzizus o
cannriensi. s is devoid of undergrowth, and as a result
the seedlings which spring up are immediately destroyed
by the all- devouring herds of goats which everywhere
roam the countryside. No attempt has been made at
re- afforestation, and if the destruction continues at
the present rate, the day will come when the beautiful
Pims cazariemis can only be considered a rarity,
clinging to the uppermost crags in a last effort to avoid
total extinction. It is not too late to save the Canary
pine, but the Forestry Dcpartment of the Canary Islands
will need a strong and vigorous chief if the islands-
THk: PHYSICAT, CHXRACTERISTICS 59
particularly Gran Canaria and Tenerife-- are to be
forested in the future as they have been in the
happier past.
Tn- 0 bircls in particular chararteriw this Zane nf
the Pine, and these are confined absolutely to the area
under discussiorl- the n- onderful Blue Chaffinch ( see
Colourecl Frontispiece), and the Canarian Great Spotted
\ Voodpecker. 1 Iow few are the visitors to Gran
Canaria who have ever seen, or perhaps even heard
of, these beautiful denizens of the Canarian highlands. i
Both are discussed at lcngth in a later chapter, so f
further description is here unnecessary. 0d
The last zone, lying between 4000 and 6400 feet, i8
embraces the “ Cumbres “- the unclothed mountains i
scored with deep ravines, with towering precipites and 1
jagged crests. Vegetation is here very poor, there is i
no well- clefined bclt of “ fodder- plants,” such as thc B
Escobón ( Cl’/ 15zfs~, 1. o(!; f7a’) n, d the Codéso ( A& nocarpz~ g
-,~ zY~ rosz~ ssu) c, h conspicuous features of the higher lev& i
in Tenerife immediately above the Pine belt. At about 8
3650 feet, a flat tableland is reached covered with i
loose stones and boulders, and bearing a very scanty d
vegetation. Xbove this the highest peaks of the i
island rise another IOOO feet, capped by Los Pechos 5
( 6~ 00 feet).
0
The only bircls which can truthfully be called at
heme in these lonely mountains, are the Raven,
Egyptian \- ulture, Kite, buzzard, Kestrel, and
Rock Pibeon. , Another somewhat unexpected in-habitant
of the highest crags, is the Red- legged
Partriclge, while the only Passerine bird noted up to
6000 fect was the wiclcly- distributed Berthclot’s Pipit.
The fact must be emphasised that what holds good
as re, q, ards the Zones of 1: ebetation in Gran Canaria
does not necessarily apply to the other islands in the
60 THE CANARY ISLANDS
Western Group. The islands of Palma and Gomera
are much richer in forest land than either Tenerife
or Gran Canaria, and the trees and giant heaths have
suffcrcd lcss from the ravages of the short- sighted
islanders.
CHAPTER IV
TEKI: RII~ I~: : ITS 1) 11YSICAL FIIATCKES AND TIIE REGIONAL
DISTRIL3CTIOS OF TIIC ORKIS ASD FLORA.
;
‘ I‘ HE island of Tenerife embraces a much larger area Z
than Gran Canaria. 1 t is 5 24 miles long by 3 I* broad, . d
ancl covers an area of grg square miles. Ey reason of i
its shape it has three distinct coast- lines ; the longest,
stretching from the Anaga rocks to Punta Teño, faces
1
1
north and north- west ; another long stretch from Punta
Anaga to Punta R; LSCA faces mainly South- east ; while
i
B
the shortest stretch from Punta Rasca to Punta Teño
faces South- west. A long continuous ranbe of mountains 6
runs from Esperanza above Xgua Garcia to Guia and
forms the main backbone of the island, culminating in
d
i
the Pico de Teide ( 12,180 feet). This central ridge, :
commencing in the north at about 3000 feet, gradually $
rises to Sooo feet, w- hile this altitude must be exceeded i
by man)- of the highest ridges. 0
, At Pedro Gil- the pass between Guimar and
Orotava ( 6600 feet by aneroicl- the mountain chain
divides to encircle the Peal; and to form the depression
kno\\- n as the Canadas- a desolate region of undulating
ridges composed for the most part of volcanic débris-pumice,
cinders, lava, ancl scoriz- lying between 7000
2nd 9000 feet aboye sea- level, and enclosed by walls of
basalt and trach)- te ; while in the north- west a group of
volcanoes lies between the Peak and the promontory of
Teño. In the extreme north- east, a smaller detached
61
62 THE CANART ISLANDS
range of razor- backed hílls, peculíarly jagged ín outlíne,
attaining to a height of over 3000 feet, extends from
behind Santa Cruz to Punta Anaga, and ís separated
from the main central ridge by the Laguna plateau
2000 feet above sea- level. Those who have examíned
the geologícal structure of Tenerife, are of opinion that
the extremítíes of the ísland in the north- east and
north- West- ne., the Anaga and Teño peninsulas-are
of much more ancíent origin than the remaínder
of the ísland, and are composed of rocks belonging to ;
an earlíer geologícal period- a statement whích 1 can g
neíther substantiate nor refute. The sides of the i
central backbone, from end to end of the ísland, are õ8”
furrowed by 6avvafzcosw hich cut deep into the mountain 2:
chain. IIere and there a more than usualIy elevated i
spur falls diagonally from the central ridge to the coast, 5t
entírely shutting off a wide valley from the country I
beyond- such ís the Ladera de Guímar, over which the i
road passes at a height of 1500 feet. s
The entire surface of the ísland ís composed of d
g
basaltíc and trachytíc rocks, lava and scori=, cínders, zE
ash, volcaníc mud, and ín certaín places a fine mould, !~
which, as on the rich Laguna plateau, ís of a deep i
reddish- brown colour, and consídering the generous 5t
supply of stones with which ít ís mixed, is wonderfully ’
productive. Such, then, are the main structural features
of Tenerife.
In an island rising to over I 2,000 feet, every varicty
of temperature may be met with, but Tenerife is
wonderfully blessed in this way. At Santa Cruz and
Puerto Orotava, at sea- leve1 the traveller may experíence
very much warmer weather than he will if he chooses
to ascend to VilaRpr, the híghest víllage ín Tenerífe-
4543 feet. It may here be noted that there ís a dístínct
varíation in the clímate on eíther side of the central
range, the atmosphere in the southern portion of the
island being drier ; the climate of Guimar on the
South- east coast- a charmingly situated village on the
South- eastern slopes- is hard to beat for perfection
anywhere in the world.
The best centres from which to explore the island
are Laguna, Orotava, Guimar, and Vilaflor. The last
village is delightfully situated in the Zane of the Pine,
n- here some of the finest specimens of Pzlrz~ cnznrz~ ezsz’s
are to be found. It is, however, difficult to reach, ;
ncccssitating a long ride on a mule, either across the g
Cumbres, or from the town of Adeje, which can be 0~
reached by boat. The other places mentioned are all a
situatecl on main roads and are easily accessible by 1
motor.
The writer spent part of the spring of 1920 at i
Guimar, and from a naturalist’s point of view no better :
centre from which to stucly the flora and ornis of
Tenerife can be found. It has the advantage of lying 6
1200 feet above the sea, overlooking a wide valley, on 8E
the lower slopes of which the remarkable semi- desert :
flora of the i\ Iaritime Zone is esceptionally well- z
!
developed. The \- illage itself is highly picturesque, $
built, as it is, uncler the sl~~ lom of the mountains i
which completely encircle the valley and which rise ’
irnmecliatcly abo\ c GuirIlar tu close upon ôouo feet.
In thc month of April, snow was still lying on the
highest ridges, n- hich acltled to the beauty of the scene.
In Guimar absolute peace rcigned ; day after day the
sun rosc in a clo~~ rllrss slcy, throwing the white houses
into strong relief, and accentuating the blueness of the
sea ; the l- illage folk were courteous and apparently
perfectly contentecl with their lot, going about their
daily work in the fields with smiling faces and with that
entire lacl; of “ hustle,” which in itself is so restful to
64 THE CANARY ISLANDS
one born in a colder climate. The most animated
scenes were to be witnessed in the early morning at
the water- fountain. From sunrise onwards the feminine
population, including the children, wended their way to
the fountain, filled their earthenware jars or paraffin-tins
and strolled back to their cottages, balancing their
now heavy burden on their heads. Occasionally a man
would arrive from some distant part of the village,
leading a mule well laden with wooden kegs, which
he would fil1 with the precious fluid. Not a drop of
water is wasted in Guimar. From the fountains it is
guided in a cement channel to a wide trough, where
tbe washerwomen are always at work, beating thc
clothes on the stone walls and hanging the garments
on the nearest bush for the sun to complete the
process. The accompanying illustrations give some
idea of the village life of Guimar. Unfortunately the
colouring, which added so much to the picture as the
writer saw it, can not be reproduced by the camera.
An artist wouId find plenty of work, for his or her brush
in this charming village. Much of the architecture is
very quaint, and as one climbs the steep village Street,
delightful peeps into shady pa& s are obtained. The
villagers surround their homes, however humble, with
a variety of flowers, and, as often as not, the palz0s are
a mass of variously coloured fuchsias, ferns, and brightly,
coloured creepers.
The Vegetation Zones of this coast of Tenerife are
described at length in the foliowing pages, and it was
from Guimar that much of thc work was done. From
our bungalow above the village, we could gaze down
upon the red roofs of the houses and upon the laurel-shaded
pdaza and gardens, to the semi- desert country
beyond, conspicuous upon which is the Montañeta de
Guimar- still a perfect cone, harbouring some of the
‘ l’E‘; ERIFE 6.5
most interesting plants anù shrubs in the island. Two
black snak,- c- like streams of hideous lava wind their
way from the volcano of :\ ráfo domn the mountain- side,
through the corn terraces above Guimar over the desert
countr)- almost to the sea, reminding us that this now
peaceful viilage w- as once the scene of a terrible eruption.
The volcano from which the lava poured could just be
seen from the bungalow, and appeared as a tiny pyramid,
lying in the middle of the l’ass of Pedro Gil- the great
rift in the mountains which surround the Guimar Valley.
In the early mornings, and again in the evenings, the
clouds would often sweep over the central backbone
from the Orotava side of the range, descending at times
below the lowest patches of pine forest, remnants of
which lie on either side of the lava- flow and dso fringe
the neighbouring ridges. Whether the clouds were
down the mountains, or whether, as was nften the
case, the hills were outlined clear against the sky, the
views from Guimar were always fascinating, and but
a poor idea of the beauty and serenity of this locality
can be gained from the accompanying illustrations.
Perhaps the evening hour, when the sun had dipped
behind the mountains, was the most attractive in the
whole day; the glare would suddenly vanish and the
farthest objects would then stand out twice as clearly
in Illt: suILcr lighr. Over the tranquil sea the
” Cumbres ” of Gran Canaria seemed but half their
actual distance away, and thc immense Barranco de
Aldea could be clearly seen, though in reality some
forty miles distant.
When darkness fell, a wonderful stillness fell on the
village, broken occasionally by the weird cry of the
“ Pav& Za “- the great sea- bird which comes ashore to
breed in the crevices of the lonely bnrrn; lxos. Often, as
we lingered on the verandah of the bungalow in the
E
66 THE CANARY ISLANDS
brilliant moonlight, the strange nasal cry would wake
us from our reverie, as the Shearwater passed unseen
just over the garden, gliding noiselessly out to sea like
some restless spirit of the night.
It is not only the naturalist who finds scope for his
energies in Tenerife and the other islands of the Canary
Archipelago. There is still much to be learnt, by
excavation, of