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Article DESCRIPTION OF THE PEAK OF TENERIFFE. ← Page 2 of 3 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Description Of The Peak Of Teneriffe.
'They then began to ascend the Sugar Loaf . This was by much : the most fatiguing part , it being exceedingly steep , and wholly consisting of small pumice-stones , so that the foot at every step sinks and slides back . They were obliged to take breath repeatedly . It was little more than six o ' clock when they got upon the summit of the Sugar-Loaf . At this time the clouds had gathered about a mile and a half perpendicular below . They were thickand had a very
, striking effect , appearing like an immense extent of frozen sea , covered with immeasurable hillocks of snow , above which the islands of Grand Canary , Pal ma , Gomera , and Hierro , or Ferro , raised their heads . On the sun ' s getting a little higher , the clouds dispersed , and opened to the view the coast around . The colours hoisted on the Peak were distinctly seen by gentlemen in Orotavathrough their
, telescopes . ' The prospect from the Peak is romantic and extensive : no other hill being of a height to interrupt the view , the coast is perceived all around , and a distinct idea of the island formed . The north-west coast appears to be well cultivated ; but the south-east seems dreary and barren . Within the summit is an excavationor cauldronnot
, , less than eighty feet in depth , into which the gentlemen descended , and gathered some sulphur , with which the surface is ' mostly covered . In many parts the foot cannot rest upon the same spot above a minute , the heat quickly penetrating through the shoe . Smoke issues frequently from the earth . Just under the surface is a soft
reddish chry , so hot that the hand introduced into it must instantly be withdrawn . In the cauldron the sulphureous odour is very offensive ; but on the ridge it may be easily endured . ' From this place they saw the town of Santa Cruz , and the shipping in the road , which is a distance , in a direct line , of about twenty-five miles . A second barometer was here received , to supply the place of another broken in the ascent ; but it . was found that
some of the quick-silver had escaped ; and , therefore ,. no dependance was to be placed on any observations by it . They continued two hours and a halfupon tlie summit of the Peak , without feeling any inconvenience from heat or cold . Soon after sun-rise the therniometer , in the shade , was at fifty-one degrees . They descended the Sugar Loaf in a few minutesrunning the whole way , which was found to
, be the best mode . ' At the foot of the Peak there were several caverns in the midst of the lava , some filled with fine water , extremely cold , and frozen at the edges of the cave . rns . Others , in the winter , are filled with snow , over which the sun never shines ; and thus snow continues in them throughout the year . Here they remained till night .
'Mr . Johnstone , recollecting a difference of about six miles in the calculation of the latitude , as given by Captain Cook , and as it is laid down in the collection of requisite tables for the Nautical EphenTeris , was willing to ascertain the same ; and taking an observation of a fixed star , found that the latitude was within a mile of what Captain Cook had asserted it to be . Some time before , Mr . Johnstone , when
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Description Of The Peak Of Teneriffe.
'They then began to ascend the Sugar Loaf . This was by much : the most fatiguing part , it being exceedingly steep , and wholly consisting of small pumice-stones , so that the foot at every step sinks and slides back . They were obliged to take breath repeatedly . It was little more than six o ' clock when they got upon the summit of the Sugar-Loaf . At this time the clouds had gathered about a mile and a half perpendicular below . They were thickand had a very
, striking effect , appearing like an immense extent of frozen sea , covered with immeasurable hillocks of snow , above which the islands of Grand Canary , Pal ma , Gomera , and Hierro , or Ferro , raised their heads . On the sun ' s getting a little higher , the clouds dispersed , and opened to the view the coast around . The colours hoisted on the Peak were distinctly seen by gentlemen in Orotavathrough their
, telescopes . ' The prospect from the Peak is romantic and extensive : no other hill being of a height to interrupt the view , the coast is perceived all around , and a distinct idea of the island formed . The north-west coast appears to be well cultivated ; but the south-east seems dreary and barren . Within the summit is an excavationor cauldronnot
, , less than eighty feet in depth , into which the gentlemen descended , and gathered some sulphur , with which the surface is ' mostly covered . In many parts the foot cannot rest upon the same spot above a minute , the heat quickly penetrating through the shoe . Smoke issues frequently from the earth . Just under the surface is a soft
reddish chry , so hot that the hand introduced into it must instantly be withdrawn . In the cauldron the sulphureous odour is very offensive ; but on the ridge it may be easily endured . ' From this place they saw the town of Santa Cruz , and the shipping in the road , which is a distance , in a direct line , of about twenty-five miles . A second barometer was here received , to supply the place of another broken in the ascent ; but it . was found that
some of the quick-silver had escaped ; and , therefore ,. no dependance was to be placed on any observations by it . They continued two hours and a halfupon tlie summit of the Peak , without feeling any inconvenience from heat or cold . Soon after sun-rise the therniometer , in the shade , was at fifty-one degrees . They descended the Sugar Loaf in a few minutesrunning the whole way , which was found to
, be the best mode . ' At the foot of the Peak there were several caverns in the midst of the lava , some filled with fine water , extremely cold , and frozen at the edges of the cave . rns . Others , in the winter , are filled with snow , over which the sun never shines ; and thus snow continues in them throughout the year . Here they remained till night .
'Mr . Johnstone , recollecting a difference of about six miles in the calculation of the latitude , as given by Captain Cook , and as it is laid down in the collection of requisite tables for the Nautical EphenTeris , was willing to ascertain the same ; and taking an observation of a fixed star , found that the latitude was within a mile of what Captain Cook had asserted it to be . Some time before , Mr . Johnstone , when