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Article DESCRIPTION OF THE PEAK OF TENERIFFE. Page 1 of 3 →
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Description Of The Peak Of Teneriffe.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PEAK OF TENERIFFE .
V . 10 M SIK . GEORGE STAUNTON'S ACCOUNT OF LOUD MACARTNEY ' S EMBASSY TO CHINA .
[ CONCLUDED FROM OUR LAST- ]
T TNDER all these circumstances , the difficulty of getting farther on V to persons now exhausted , was found to be unsurmountable ; and having done all that was possible for them , no alternative remained . They went back to the p lace where they left their cattle , whose faces were no sooner turned down the hill , than they scampered away at a rate as difficult to restrain , as it was before to push them forward . . The party presently got into the midst of very dense cloudswhose
, contents were , discharged upon them in'torrents of heavy rain , which fell without intermission during the remainder of the descent , for about three hours . Soon afterwards the weather cleared up , and the upper part of the Peak appeared covered with sn ; w . They scarcely had arrived at Orotava , when Dr . Gillan was obliged to take to his bed with a fever , occasioned by the fatigues he had
undergone ; but care and rest , in the hospitable house of Mr . Little , soon restored him . The other gentlemen lost the memory of their sufferings , in the morning , by partaking of a ball with some agreeable English and Spanish ladies , the same evening , in Orotava . The next day the travellers returned to Santa Cruz . The excursion to the Peak , which was at this season so fatiguing in the attempt , and so impracticable in the execution , occasions much less difficulty or hardship in another . In a manuscript account of a visit to that place , by Mr . Johnstone , lately a merchant at Madeira ,
it is mentioned that , being at Teneriffe in the summer time , and having the opportunity of providing tents and other necessaries for such an undertaking , as well as leisure to go through it without hurry , little was suffered in accomplishing it . His party slept , the night before they attained the summit of the Peak , about the spot which terminated the labours of the succeeding travellers . ' There' it is said' they encamped on ground covered with
pumice-, , stone , a stream of lava on each side ; in front , a barren plain ; the island of Grand Canary bearing south-east , as if arising out of an immense field of ice , formed by the clouds below them . About four o ' clock next morning , the ist of August , the moon shining bright and the weather clear , they began to ascend a kind of path , along the first great frustrum , leading to the smaller and hi gher
Sugar-Loaf . The passage was steep and disagreeable , being covered with pumice-stone , which gave way at every step . In about an'hour they got to the Alta Vista , where it was necessary to climb over the lava , leaping from one large stone to another , till their arrival at the foot of the Sugar Loaf . It was now about half past five . The horizon , to the south-east , was very dear , and tbe rising sun a beautiful object . Here they rested , on a small flat , about five minutes ; but did not allow themselves to cool , tbe air being so penetrating , VOL , ix . eg
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Description Of The Peak Of Teneriffe.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PEAK OF TENERIFFE .
V . 10 M SIK . GEORGE STAUNTON'S ACCOUNT OF LOUD MACARTNEY ' S EMBASSY TO CHINA .
[ CONCLUDED FROM OUR LAST- ]
T TNDER all these circumstances , the difficulty of getting farther on V to persons now exhausted , was found to be unsurmountable ; and having done all that was possible for them , no alternative remained . They went back to the p lace where they left their cattle , whose faces were no sooner turned down the hill , than they scampered away at a rate as difficult to restrain , as it was before to push them forward . . The party presently got into the midst of very dense cloudswhose
, contents were , discharged upon them in'torrents of heavy rain , which fell without intermission during the remainder of the descent , for about three hours . Soon afterwards the weather cleared up , and the upper part of the Peak appeared covered with sn ; w . They scarcely had arrived at Orotava , when Dr . Gillan was obliged to take to his bed with a fever , occasioned by the fatigues he had
undergone ; but care and rest , in the hospitable house of Mr . Little , soon restored him . The other gentlemen lost the memory of their sufferings , in the morning , by partaking of a ball with some agreeable English and Spanish ladies , the same evening , in Orotava . The next day the travellers returned to Santa Cruz . The excursion to the Peak , which was at this season so fatiguing in the attempt , and so impracticable in the execution , occasions much less difficulty or hardship in another . In a manuscript account of a visit to that place , by Mr . Johnstone , lately a merchant at Madeira ,
it is mentioned that , being at Teneriffe in the summer time , and having the opportunity of providing tents and other necessaries for such an undertaking , as well as leisure to go through it without hurry , little was suffered in accomplishing it . His party slept , the night before they attained the summit of the Peak , about the spot which terminated the labours of the succeeding travellers . ' There' it is said' they encamped on ground covered with
pumice-, , stone , a stream of lava on each side ; in front , a barren plain ; the island of Grand Canary bearing south-east , as if arising out of an immense field of ice , formed by the clouds below them . About four o ' clock next morning , the ist of August , the moon shining bright and the weather clear , they began to ascend a kind of path , along the first great frustrum , leading to the smaller and hi gher
Sugar-Loaf . The passage was steep and disagreeable , being covered with pumice-stone , which gave way at every step . In about an'hour they got to the Alta Vista , where it was necessary to climb over the lava , leaping from one large stone to another , till their arrival at the foot of the Sugar Loaf . It was now about half past five . The horizon , to the south-east , was very dear , and tbe rising sun a beautiful object . Here they rested , on a small flat , about five minutes ; but did not allow themselves to cool , tbe air being so penetrating , VOL , ix . eg