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whose efforts have been attended with the widest results; and the obscure manner in which most of their operations have been brought before the public has prevented us from judging of their error or truth. Consequently, my attention has been occupied for several days past in performing that task trigonometrically, not, however, as an object of mere curiosity, but as being essentially connected with my physical labors.

The ground in the Valley of Orotava being uneven and intersected by ravines, it was impossible to find a base extensive enough to determine the distance of the Peak by a single triangle, consequently I employed two. I measured on the plain between the Botanic Garden and La Paz, my first basis a b of 100 toises, or 639 English feet. See the following figure.

b

By means of this, I calculated a second a c of 1430-06 toises, and afterwards a third ap of 9953-4 toises, which was the first grand base required. The point c was in Mr. Cologan's garden in La Villa de la Orotava, near the great dragon-tree spoken of in a former letter; and the point p was the summit of the Peak. The base a b was measured by Mr. Hurst of London, and myself, on three occasions, each of the measurements terminating with nearly the same results. The following were the angles of the two triangles taken with minute attention.

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At the point a, the Peak subtended an angle of 10° 35′, by means of which, I found that its summit is elevated 1859-73 toises above the point a.

My next object was to determine the height of the point a above the ocean. In order to do this, I employed the same basis a b of 100 toises as in the preceding triangle, from which I calculated another a o of 1339-46 toises, which was the second grand base required. The point o was a vessel riding at anchor in the quarantine of this port. The following were the angles of the triangle a bo, taken in the same manner as those of the other triangles.

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The angle of depression from the point a to the point o, was 19° 49′, and of course, the angle of elevation from the point o to the point a, was the same. From these data, I ascertained that the point a was elevated 48.26 toises above the ocean. The height of the eye above the point a, in taking the angles of elevation and depression, was 1.5 toises; and the state of the atmosphere at the time that the angles were taken, was perfectly serene, on account of which, I only deducted, for the effect of refraction, 2·34 toises. Hence we may infer from the foregoing operations, that the absolute height of the Peak of Teneriffe, above the level of the ocean, is 1905 65 toises,* or 12,177 English feet.

From the action of the elements, and the numerous lateral eruptions to which this mountain has been subject these last two centuries, its elevation has been considerably diminished. I am informed that the appearance of its

My first basis was divided into toiges of 6.39 English feet each, and of course, all the distances calculated from it, were of the same proportion; but more accu rately the French toise contains 6-3957 feet; hence the Peak has an elevation of about 1904 toises.

summit was sensibly altered after the deluge of 1826, and to compare the present outline of its summit with the ancient drawings of it, there is but a very faint resemblance.

It has been asserted, that volcanoes always increase in height, until they are extinguished, when they begin to fall, and, by degrees, sink into the caverns below. This, undoubtedly, has been the case in the present instance, the lateral eruptions having exhausted a great quantity of the bowels of the mountain, and the portions above, being too heavy for their hollow foundations, have given way and settled down into the mountain. Some are of an opinion, however, that the crater of this volcano has never been totally extinguished, and that another grand eruption is approaching, from the fact that a hot vapor issues from its nostrils, which is said to have gradually increased in temperature within these last thirty years. This may be the case, but it is a matter of uncertainty; for the first time that I visited this volcano, the vapor had a temperature of more than 220°, and about two weeks afterwards, I found that it had a temperature of only 1600; but one of the probable causes of this change was, that the summit of the mountain existed under very different circumstances, at one time a tremendous hurricane, and the other, scarcely a breath of wind.

For many evenings past, my attention has been particularly arrested by an extraordinary brilliancy of the zodiacal light, and the sudden departure of the twilight. The former is a beautiful phenomenon, constantly existing at the equator, and presents itself just before sunrise or after sunset, under the appearance of a serene whitish clearness, resembling the galaxy. It has the form of a pyramid, with its base turned towards the sun, and its axis in the zodiac. As we approach the poles, it appears towards the end of winter, and in the spring, after sunset; and in autumn, or the beginning of winter, we observe it before sunrise. Many theories have been advanced with regard to its cause, but none of them satisfactory; it must be referred, however, either to the nature of the terrestrial atmosphere, or to the position of the globe with its relation to the sun. The delightful spectacle of the dawn and of twilight, is

almost entirely denied to those who live in the regions of the equator, where the sun rises in a direction nearly vertical; the light or darkness comes on very near the time that the sun approaches or recedes from the horizon. It is towards the poles that these reflected splendors are the longest visible. As we pass northward, or southward from the equator, they become brighter and brighter, until they change the whole of the night into a magic day.

Early on the morning of the 26th of September, I pursued my way nearly a league, at the northward, to El Baranco de Herque, where I visited one of the sepulchral caverns of the Guanches. It is entered by two comparatively small openings of the rocks, leading to a large, dark and gloomy vault, formed by nature, which formerly contained an immense number of mummies.

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The history of the antiques of these islands is involved in great obscurity, and their existence is best proved by the remains of their dead; for their posterity is nearly, if not entirely extinct. "The manner of embalming their dead is not explicitly illustrated, but apparently the brain and intestines were completely removed, after which it is said the body was washed with an infusion of pine bark. Next, it was anointed with butter or warm grease, which had been boiled with such penetrating and odoriferous herbs as were peculiar to the islands, and then it was exposed to the sun. Being well dried, the same operations were re

peated, and also subsequent drying, until the body was completely impregnated with the aromatic unguent. When reduced to very inconsiderable weight, the process was deemed complete, and the deceased was wrapped in an envelope, consisting of three successive layers of bandages of tanned goat-skin, about three inches broad." Bodies thus embalmed were carried to caves in the mountains, and then placed upright in niches, or laid out on square tables of stone. They appear to have selected for this purpose, the most precipitous and inaccessible places that they could find, many of which exist on the islands where man dares not enter his foot.

I visited several other caverns in the vicinity of this baranco, which contained immense quantities of bones that had not been embalmed. Many of them were in a fine state of preservation, but they were thrown together in so confused a manner that an entire skeleton could not be obtained. I had an opportunity, however, of comparing the crania with those of the aborigines of the other islands, and found a striking similarity to exist among them, proving in a degree that they all originated from the same race. But we are informed that the natives of some of these islands were unknown to those of others, and that the natives of one island had but very little intercourse with those of another at any rate.

In reviewing the vocabularies of the languages of the antiques of these islands, I find a wide difference to exist among them. However, those of Lanzarote and Fuerteventura very nearly agree, and also that of Hierro nearly coincides with that of Gomera, but the others, with the exception of a few words, have not the least analogy. The word ganigo, a kind of earthen ware, signified the same on all the islands but Palma; and the word gofio was common to all the islands except Teneriffe, Hierro and Gomera. These two words are used throughout all the islands by the lower classes of the natives at the present day, and have the same signification as formerly.

It was formerly supposed that the languages of the aborigines of these islands had no analogy with the living tongues; but since Africa has been more thoroughly in

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