A Narrative of the Expedition to Botany Bay | Page 6

the morning of the 30th of May we saw the rocks
named the Deserters, which lie off the south-east end of Madeira; and
found the south-east extremity of the most southerly of them, to be in
the latitude of 32 deg 28 min north, longitude 16 deg 17 1/2 min west
of Greenwich. The following day we saw the Salvages, a cluster of
rocks which are placed between the Madeiras and Canary Islands, and
determined the latitude of the middle of the Great Salvage to be 30 deg
12 min north, and the longitude of its eastern side to be 15 deg 39 min
west. It is no less extraordinary than unpardonable, that in some very
modern charts of the Atlantic, published in London, the Salvages are
totally omitted.
We made the island of Teneriffe on the 3d of June, and in the evening
anchored in the road of Santa Cruz, after an excellent passage of three
weeks from the day we left England.

CHAPTER III

.

From the Fleet's Arrival at Teneriffe, to its Departure for Rio de Janeiro,
in the Brazils.
There is little to please a traveller at Teneriffe. He has heard wonders of
its celebrated Peak, but he may remain for weeks together at the town
of Santa Cruz without having a glimpse of it, and when its
cloud-topped head emerges, the chance is, that he feels disappointed,
for, from the point of view in which he sees it, the neighbouring
mountains lessen its effect very considerably. Excepting the Peak, the
eye receives little pleasure from the general face of the country, which
is sterile and uninviting to the last degree. The town, however, from its
cheerful white appearance, contrasted with the dreary brownness of the
back ground, makes not an unpleasing coup d'oeil. It is neither irregular
in its plan, nor despicable in its style of building; and the churches and
religious houses are numerous, sumptuous, and highly ornamented.
The morning of our arrival, as many officers as could be spared from
the different ships were introduced to the Marquis de Brancifort,
Governor of the Canary Islands, whose reception was highly flattering
and polite. His Excellency is a Sicilian by birth, and is most deservedly
popular in his government. He prefers residing at Teneriffe, for the
conveniency of frequent communication with Europe, to the Grand
Canary, which is properly the seat of power; and though not long fixed
here, has already found means to establish a manufactory in cotton, silk,
and thread, under excellent regulations, which employs more than sixty
persons, and is of infinite service to the common people. During our
short stay we had every day some fresh proof of his Excellency's
esteem and attention, and had the honour of dining with him, in a style
of equal elegance and splendor. At this entertainment the profusion of
ices which appeared in the desert was surprising, considering that we
were enjoying them under a sun nearly vertical. But it seems the
caverns of the Peak, very far below its summit, afford, at all seasons,
ice in abundance.
The restless importunity of the beggars, and the immodesty of the
lowest class of women, are highly disgusting. From the number of his
countrymen to be found, an Englishman is at no loss for society. In the
mercantile houses established here, it is from gentlemen of this

description that any information is derived, for the taciturnity of the
Spaniards is not to be overcome in a short acquaintance, especially by
Englishmen, whose reserve falls little short of their own. The inland
country is described as fertile, and highly romantic; and the environs of
the small town of Laguza mentioned as particularly pleasant. Some of
our officers who made an excursion to it confirmed the account amply.
It should seem that the power of the Church, which has been so long on
the decline in Europe, is at length beginning to be shaken in the
colonies of the Catholic powers: some recent instances which have
taken place at Teneriffe, evince it very fully. Were not a stranger,
however, to be apprized of this, he would hardly draw the conclusion
from his own observations. The Bishop of these islands, which
conjunctively form a See, resides on the Grand Canary. He is
represented as a man in years, and of a character as amiable as exalted,
extremely beloved both by foreigners and those of his own church. The
bishopric is valued at ten thousand pounds per annum; the government
at somewhat less than two.
In spite of every precaution, while we lay at anchor in the road, a
convict had the address, one night, to secrete himself on the deck, when
the rest were turned below; and after remaining quiet for some hours,
let himself down over the bow of