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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Tufts Of Befaria And Andromedas Appear As If Suspended
From The Rock.
The little valley which separates the domes towards
the south, stretches in the direction of the sea.
Alpine plants
fill this hollow; and, not confined to the ridge of the mountain,
they follow the sinuosities of the ravine. It would seem as if
torrents were concealed under that fresh foliage; and the
disposition of the plants, the grouping of so many inanimate
objects, give the landscape all the charm of motion and of life.
Seven months had now elapsed since we had been on the summit of the
peak of Teneriffe, whence we surveyed a space of the globe equal to
a fourth part of France. The apparent horizon of the sea is there
six leagues farther distant than at the top of the Silla, and yet
we saw that horizon, at least for some time, very distinctly. It
was strongly marked, and not confounded with the adjacent strata of
air. At the Silla, which is five hundred and fifty toises lower
than the peak of Teneriffe, the horizon, though nearer, continued
invisible towards the north and north-north-east. Following with
the eye the surface of the sea, which was smooth as glass, we were
struck with the progressive diminution of the reflected light.
Where the visual ray touched the last limit of that surface, the
water was lost among the superposed strata of air. This appearance
has something in it very extraordinary. We expect to see the
horizon level with the eye; but, instead of distinguishing at this
height a marked limit between the two elements, the more distant
strata of water seem to be transformed into vapour, and mingled
with the aerial ocean.
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