Personal Narrative Of Travels To The Equinoctial Regions Of America During The Years 1799-1804 - Volume 1 - By Alexander Von Humboldt And Aime Bonpland.
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This last, which is so common in the basaltic lavas of
the island of Ischia, does not begin to appear at Teneriffe, till
we approach the volcano.
The rock of Laguna is not columnar, but is
divided into ledges, of small thickness, and inclined to the east
at an angle of 30 or 40 degrees. It has nowhere the appearance of a
current of lava flowing from the sides of the peak. If the present
volcano has given birth to these basalts, we must suppose, that,
like the substances which compose the Somma, at the back of
Vesuvius, they are the effect of a submarine effusion, in which the
liquid mass has formed strata. A few arborescent Euphorbias, the
Cacalia Kleinia, and Indian figs (Cactus), which have become wild
in the Canary Islands, as well as in the south of Europe and the
whole continent of Africa, are the only plants we see on these arid
rocks. The feet of our mules were slipping every moment on beds of
stone, which were very steep. We nevertheless recognized the
remains of an ancient pavement. In these colonies we discover at
every step some traces of that activity which characterized the
Spanish nation in the 16th century.
As we approached Laguna, we felt the temperature of the atmosphere
gradually become lower. This sensation was so much the more
agreeable, as we found the air of Santa Cruz very oppressive. As
our organs are more affected by disagreeable impressions, the
change of temperature becomes still more sensible when we return
from Laguna to the port:
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