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Article DESCRIPTION OF THE PEAK OF TENERIFFE. ← Page 2 of 5 →
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Description Of The Peak Of Teneriffe.
till they arrived at a watering place , in the hollow of a huge rock , under the-shade of a solitary pine . Notwithstanding the real and apparent perils of this road , one of the attendants of the party , an artificer belonging to the embass 3 ' , deserves to have his name ( Thibaut , a native of Turin ) recorded , for the instance he afforded of inflexible constanc ] - - , in adhering to the instructions he received , though
excessively difficult to execute , in such a situation . As a mathematical instrument maker , and acquainted with the nature of barometers , he was charged with the care of carrying one , intended for the purpose of observing , by the degree of descent of the quick-silver in the tube freed from air , how much the height of the column of the atmosphere , over such part of Ihe same fluid as was exposed to its pressure , was diminished by the elevation of the mountain above the horizon , and consequently , ascertaining the exact measure of such elevation ,
or the mountains height . It was necessary , in order to preserve , for this purpose , the barometer from injury , to hold it in a steady , uniform manner . Thibaut , with his attention entirety- to this object , holdingthe instrument with one hand against his breast , and the bridle Joosety with the other , suffered his mule to follow her own pace , without changing his postureor moving the barometer , ( whatever were
, ¦ his fears or dangers ) on any alarm or accident that occurred . In an account that is given of a preceding journey up these hills , with a philosophical apparatus , mention is made of two barometers , which had successively been provided , having" been broken before the 3 ' could be used . The present party , by Thibaut ' s steadiness , were enabled to find that they had ascended , late in the afternoon ,
near six thousand feet above the town the 3 quitted in the morning . Even such an elevation , though the weather then was hazy , enlarged considerabty their prospect , and gave them , as it were , a greater command of land and sea . Some little time before , when the sun was bright , and already behind the Peak , the shadow of the latter , perfectly formed on the ocean , and gradually lengthened , and extending to the horizon , formed a picture , not more uncommon than grand and striking to the beholders . -But now the mountain began to be overcast with clouds . From the hollows which intervened between
the basis of the great cone and the second mountain , on wdiich the travellers then stood , arose , rapidly , as if bursting from deep and vast boiling cauldrons , various impetuous gusts of wind , forcing and combating with each other , and seeming to forbid any approach towards them . On this part of the mountain the ascent was by no means steep , but the ground was strewed with volcanic matter ; not , however , of that spongy nature on which vegetation , in the form of a
lichen , in so few years appears on the side of Mount Vesuvius . Throughout ( his second mountain were excavations resembling small craters of extinct voicanos . It became now more difficult to trace out the usual path , as the evening was set in ; The cold began to be unpleasant , the thermometer having fallen twenty-six degrees . The guides and mulateers proposed to rest here for that night at least , deeming it dangerous to move on . Promises and menaces
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Description Of The Peak Of Teneriffe.
till they arrived at a watering place , in the hollow of a huge rock , under the-shade of a solitary pine . Notwithstanding the real and apparent perils of this road , one of the attendants of the party , an artificer belonging to the embass 3 ' , deserves to have his name ( Thibaut , a native of Turin ) recorded , for the instance he afforded of inflexible constanc ] - - , in adhering to the instructions he received , though
excessively difficult to execute , in such a situation . As a mathematical instrument maker , and acquainted with the nature of barometers , he was charged with the care of carrying one , intended for the purpose of observing , by the degree of descent of the quick-silver in the tube freed from air , how much the height of the column of the atmosphere , over such part of Ihe same fluid as was exposed to its pressure , was diminished by the elevation of the mountain above the horizon , and consequently , ascertaining the exact measure of such elevation ,
or the mountains height . It was necessary , in order to preserve , for this purpose , the barometer from injury , to hold it in a steady , uniform manner . Thibaut , with his attention entirety- to this object , holdingthe instrument with one hand against his breast , and the bridle Joosety with the other , suffered his mule to follow her own pace , without changing his postureor moving the barometer , ( whatever were
, ¦ his fears or dangers ) on any alarm or accident that occurred . In an account that is given of a preceding journey up these hills , with a philosophical apparatus , mention is made of two barometers , which had successively been provided , having" been broken before the 3 ' could be used . The present party , by Thibaut ' s steadiness , were enabled to find that they had ascended , late in the afternoon ,
near six thousand feet above the town the 3 quitted in the morning . Even such an elevation , though the weather then was hazy , enlarged considerabty their prospect , and gave them , as it were , a greater command of land and sea . Some little time before , when the sun was bright , and already behind the Peak , the shadow of the latter , perfectly formed on the ocean , and gradually lengthened , and extending to the horizon , formed a picture , not more uncommon than grand and striking to the beholders . -But now the mountain began to be overcast with clouds . From the hollows which intervened between
the basis of the great cone and the second mountain , on wdiich the travellers then stood , arose , rapidly , as if bursting from deep and vast boiling cauldrons , various impetuous gusts of wind , forcing and combating with each other , and seeming to forbid any approach towards them . On this part of the mountain the ascent was by no means steep , but the ground was strewed with volcanic matter ; not , however , of that spongy nature on which vegetation , in the form of a
lichen , in so few years appears on the side of Mount Vesuvius . Throughout ( his second mountain were excavations resembling small craters of extinct voicanos . It became now more difficult to trace out the usual path , as the evening was set in ; The cold began to be unpleasant , the thermometer having fallen twenty-six degrees . The guides and mulateers proposed to rest here for that night at least , deeming it dangerous to move on . Promises and menaces