A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels — Volume 15: Forming A Complete History Of The Origin And Progress Of Navigation, Discovery, And Commerce, By Sea And Land, From The Earliest Ages To The Present TimeKerr, Robert
History
A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels — Volume 15: Forming A Complete History Of The Origin And Progress Of Navigation, Discovery, And Commerce, By Sea And Land, From The Earliest Ages To The Present Time
Kerr, Robert
Voyages and travels
[Footnote 77: Glas, p. 342, says, that they annually export no less than
fifteen thousand pipes of wine and brandy. In another place, p. 252, he
tells us, that the number of the inhabitants of Teneriffe, when the last
account was taken, was no less than 96,000. We may reasonably suppose
that there has been a considerable increase of population since Glas
visited the island, which is above thirty years ago. The quantity of
wine annually consumed, as the common beverage of at least one hundred
thousand persons, must amount to several thousand pipes. There must be a
vast expenditure of it, by conversion into brandy; to produce one pipe
of which, five or six pipes of wine must be distilled. An attention to
these particulars will enable every one to judge, that the account given
to Mr Anderson, of an annual produce of 40,000 pipes of wine, has a
foundation in truth.--D.]
"They make a little silk; but unless we reckon the filtering-stones,
brought in great numbers from Grand Canary, the wine is the only
considerable article of the foreign commerce of Teneriffe.'
"None of the race of inhabitants found here when the Spaniards
discovered the Canaries, now remain a distinct people;[78] having
intermarried with the Spanish settlers; but their descendants are known,
from their being remarkably tall, large-boned, and strong. The men are,
in general, of a tawny colour, and the women have a pale complexion,
entirely destitute of that bloom which distinguishes our northern
beauties. The Spanish custom of wearing black clothes continues amongst
them; but the men seem more indifferent about this, and in some measure
dress like the French. In other respects, we found the inhabitants of
Teneriffe to be a decent and very civil people, retaining that grave
cast which distinguishes those of their country from other European
nations. Although we do not think that there is a great similarity
between our manners and those of the Spaniards, it is worth observing,
that Omai did not think there was much difference. He only said, 'that
they seemed not so friendly as the English; and that, in their persons,
they approached those of his countrymen.'"
[Footnote 78: It was otherwise in Glas's time, when a few families of
the _Guanches_ (as they are called) remained still in Teneriffe, not
blended with the Spaniards. Glas, p. 240.--D.]
SECTION III.
_Departure from Teneriffe.--Danger of the Ship near Bonavista.--Isle of
Mayo.--Port Praya.--Precautions against the Rain and sultry Weather in
the Neighbourhood of the Equator.--Position of the Coast of
Brazil.--Arrival at the Cape of Good Hope.--Transactions
there.--Junction of the Discovery.--Mr Anderson's Journey up the
Country.--Astronomical Observations,--Nautical Remarks on the Passage
from England to the Cape, with regard to the Currents and the
Variation_.
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