The peak of Teneriffe has
been often seen at the distance of 36, 38, and even at 40 leagues.
Moreover, in the vicinity of the Sandwich Islands, the summit of
Mowna-Roa, at a season when it was without snows, has been seen on
the skirt of the horizon, at the distance of 53 leagues. This is
the most striking example we have hitherto known of the visibility
of a mountain; and it is the more remarkable, that an object seen
negatively furnishes this example.
The volcanoes of Teneriffe, and of the Azores, the Sierra Nevada of
Santa Martha, the peak of Orizaba, the Silla of Caracas, Mowna-Roa,
and Mount St. Elias, insulated in the vast extent of the seas, or
placed on the coasts of continents, serve as sea-marks to direct
the pilot, when he has no means of determining the position of the
vessel by the observation of the stars; everything which has a
relation to the visibility of these natural seamarks, is
interesting to the safety of navigation.
CHAPTER 1.2.
STAY AT TENERIFE.
JOURNEY FROM SANTA CRUZ TO OROTAVA.
EXCURSION TO THE SUMMIT OF THE PEAK OF TEYDE.
From the time of our departure from Graciosa, the horizon continued
so hazy, that, notwithstanding the considerable height of the
mountains of Canary,* (* Isla de la Gran Canaria.) we did not
discover that island till the evening of the 18th of June.
