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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In These Respects The Canary Islands
Have No Great Resemblance To The Other Spanish Colonies, Excepting
The Havannah.
We were present on the eve of St. John at a pastoral fete in the
garden of Mr. Little.
This gentleman, who rendered great service to
the Canarians during the last famine, has cultivated a hill covered
with volcanic substances. He has formed in this delicious site an
English garden, whence there is a magnificent view of the Peak, of
the villages along the coast, and the isle of Palma, which is
bounded by the vast expanse of the Atlantic. I cannot compare this
prospect with any, except the views of the bays of Genoa and
Naples; but Orotava is greatly superior to both in the magnitude of
the masses and in the richness of vegetation. In the beginning of
the evening the slope of the volcano exhibited on a sudden a most
extraordinary spectacle. The shepherds, in conformity to a custom,
no doubt introduced by the Spaniards, though it dates from the
highest antiquity, had lighted the fires of St. John. The scattered
masses of fire and the columns of smoke driven by the wind, formed
a fine contrast with the deep verdure of the forests which covered
the sides of the Peak. Shouts of joy resounding from afar were the
only sounds that broke the silence of nature in these solitary
regions.
Don Cologan's family has a country-house nearer the coast than that
I have just mentioned. This house, called La Paz, is connected with
a circumstance that rendered it peculiarly interesting to us.
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