CHAP. CXIII.

CONl'FERiE. Pl'NUS.

2263

lies Canaries, Geog. Bot., p.

21.) The forests of pines,in Grand Canary Island,extend from Oratava, nearDoma jito, 3198 ft. above thelevel of the sea, to Portillo dela Villa, at an altitude of near-ly 6000 ft. The volcanic na-ture of the soil, the brokenrocks, evidently torn asun-der by some tremendous con-vulsion of nature, the ter-rific precipices, the yawningchasms, and immense massesof lava, which are found indifferent directions throughthis region, convey a mostappalling image of desolation ;and trees of P. canariensis,which appear in some casesmerely spreading their rootsover the loose rocks, are theonly signs of life or vegeta-tion that can be perceived.

The island is exposed to fearful storms, particularly one from the south-east,called there the wind of Africa, which tears up the pines by the roots. Inthe Voyage aux lies Canaries, by Father Feuillee, made in 1721, it is statedthat the mountain was then entirely covered with pines; and one tree is parti-cularly mentioned, which was called the Pino de la Caravela. This pine,which had been previously seen and described by J. Edens (Phil. Trans. Soc.Hoy. Land., 1714-16), received its name from the extension of its branches,which, at a distance, gave it the appearance of a ship. The same travellermentions another remarkable tree, Pino de la Meri-enda, which is still standing, though most of the otherpine trees described by these travellers have disap-peared. “ The Pino de la Caravela no longer exists,but it has bequeathed its name to the rock whichserved as its base. The Pin du Domajito has sharedthe same fate: the storm of 1826 having torn it upby the roots. The trunk of this tree, which was co-vered with a species of U'snea, had acquired an

enormous thickness, and was seen from every part ofthe valley. Viera, in his Notidas, mentions anotherenormous pine which grew in the Canaries, in thedistrict of Teror, at an altitude of about 1600 ft. Thetrunk of this tree was nearly 30 ft. French (32 ft. 6 in.

English) in circumference at the base; closely united toit was the chapel of Neustra Senora del Pino, and oneof its arms served as a buttress to support the belfry;but repeated earthquakes in time destroyed thissingular chapel and, on April the 3d, 1684, the pino santo fell, and crushedthe chapel, of which it had so long formed part. Viera adds that thereason of the chapel being placed so near this tree was, that, in 1483, anextraordinary light was perceived to hover round, or rather issue from, thepine. Don Juan de Frios, who was both a bishop and a warrior, aloneventured to ascend the tree, and there found, reposing in a sort of cradleformed by the interlacement of the branches, and lined with the softestand purest moss, an image of the Holy Virgin, in honour of whom the chapelwas afterwards built. The fruit of this holy tree is said to have been useful