thorns. In six months after planting the cactus, the
harvest begins. The insect, which has secreted a purple fluid, is swept
off the plant on to a board, and then baked to death in an oven. This
constitutes the cochineal as imported. A single acre of land planted
with cactus will produce from three hundred pounds to five hundred
pounds of cochineal, worth 75 pounds to the grower.

Teneriffe produces the dragon-tree--_Dracena draco_--which gives forth
in the form of gum a splendid scarlet, known of old as dragon's blood;
but as they take a century or more to grow into trees, and several
centuries before they attain any size, he would be a daring man who
would attempt their cultivation for the sake of profit.

In strong contrast to the luxurious habitations of the upper classes
were the abodes of many of the poorer orders. When the now silent peak
sent forth streams of lava, it flowed down towards the sea, covering the
sandy shore, where, cooled by the water, it stopped short. In many
places, in process of time, the sand has been washed away, leaving rows
of caverns, with flat lava roofs. Numbers of poor people have taken up
their abode in these nature-formed recesses; and if they have no
windows, they have plenty of sea air, and pay no taxes.

I had an opportunity of seeing something of the fish of these regions.
A net, as we passed near the beach, was being drawn on to it. There was
a shout, and a rush towards it. A huge monster of a ray, with the
sharpest of stings, was seen floundering amid a number of other
creatures, the most numerous being hammer-headed dog-fish, which were
quickly knocked on the head to be turned into oil, while the ray
(_Pteroplatea Canariensis_) was set on by a host of enemies, and
speedily despatched.

Now, dinner being over, mounted on horses, Lumsden and I, with his uncle
and three other friends, trotted off along a not bad road, lately
constructed by the Government, for Orotava, a town standing high above
the sea, not far from the base of the peak. The cross is the great
symbol, not only in Santa Cruz, but throughout the island; and in front
of nearly every house and on every height it is seen conspicuous. We
slept that night at that very sedate town of Orotava. We started at a
very early hour, having exchanged our horses for sure-footed, active
mules. As we ascended, the botanical changes were remarkable. The
gardens on either side of us were for some way filled with orange