Page:Africa by Élisée Reclus, Volume 3.djvu/107

 ADMINISTRATION OF THE CANARIES. 81 The eastern plateau, still partly covered with forests, presents a somewhat analogous crescent formation, but with a much smaller diameter. Near it is the site of Los Letrcros, where were found inscriptions and raised stones resembling the menhirs of Brittany. Numerous craters and thermal springs are scattered over various parts of the island. One of the central craters is said to have emitted vapours during the first half of the present century ; but Fritsch explored the ground in vain for some traces of this phenomenon. The famous laurel has also disappeared, which grew to the north-west of Yalverde, and which was credited by the popular fancy with the faculty of sucking up and condensing the marine vapours, thus supplying enough water for the wants of eight thousand persons and a hundred thousand head of cattle. Vakerde, capital of the island, lies near the northern extremity, at an altitude of 2,180 feet above the sea. It communicates by zigzag paths with its port, the Puerto de Hierro, formed by a small creek on the east coast. In the neighbouring grottoes have been found numerous mummies of the ancient Bimbashas, or Ben-Bashirs. Hierro has become famous as the point through which runs the line long accepted by some nations as their first meridian. Knowing no land beyond the Canaries, the Greeks naturally regarded them as the end of the world, and necessarily calculated the meridians from this extreme region of the known world. But after the discovery of western lands lying farther west, some geographers fixed their zero of longitude in the Azores, Mercator selecting Corvo, at that time crossed by the magnetic meridian. Nevertheless the Greek tradition long survived, and most cartographers drew their initial Ime through Teneriife. But in consequence of a decision taken in 1634 on the advice of the most distinguished mathematicians, France ofiicially adopted Hierro, which was supposed to lie exactly 20 degrees we«t of Paris. Fouille in 1724 and others subsequently endeavoured to fix its position more accurately, but their determinations were not of accord. Now, however, it is known that Hierro does not lie 20 degrees west of Paris, and consequently that the meridian bearing its name does not touch the island, running in fact 12 miles farther east. Hierro is now no longer taken as the first meridian by any country. Administration of the Canaries. The Canaries constitute a province of Spain, sending six deputies to the Cortes, and represented by two or three notables in the Senate. Santa-Cruz de Teneriffe is the residence of the civil governor and of the Captain-General of the archipelago, while Las Palmas is the seat of the High Courts. Trade is exempt from all customs dues beyond an impost of one-thousandth on imports and a slight tax on wines and tobacco. Each island contributes a small contingent to the army. The archipelago is divided into ninety-three ayimtamientos, or communes, of which twenty take the title of cities or towns. The reader is referred to the Appen- dix for a table of the population of the islands and the chief urban communes.