Having
Taken In Refreshments There, For Which He Had Much Occasion, As All His
Liquors Were In The Speedwell, Clipperton
Cruized on that station for
ten days, as directed by his instructions, but not meeting his consort,
he resolved to
Proceed to the next place appointed for that purpose, the
Cape de Verd islands.
The Canary Islands, or Islands of Dogs, so named by the Spaniards when
discovered by them in 1402, because they found here a great number of
these animals, were known to the ancients by the name of the Fortunate
Islands, because of their fertility and the excellent temperature of
their air. They are seven in number, Lancerota, Fuerteventura, Grand
Canary, Teneriffe, Geomero, Hiero or Ferro, and Palma. Grand Canary is
far distant from the others, and contains 9000 inhabitants, being the
seat of the bishop, the inquisition, and the royal council which governs
all the seven islands. In Teneriffe is the famous mountain called
Terraira, or the Peak of Teneriff, supposed to be the highest in the
world, and which may be distinctly seen at the distance of sixty
leagues. There is no reaching the top of this mountain except in July
and August, because covered at all other times with snow, which is never
to be seen at other places of that island, nor in the other six, at any
season of the year. It requires three days journey to reach the summit
of the peak, whence all the Canary islands may be seen, though some of
them are sixty leagues distant.
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