Page:Africa by Élisée Reclus, Volume 3.djvu/84



Lying farther south than Madeira and nearer to the African continent, the Canaries have a warmer and somewhat less equable climate than that group. The annual extremes of temperature are greater not only in the eastern islands, which are naturally influenced by the neighbouring Sahara, but also in the western group, _ of which Teneriffe is the centre. Here the glass falls at Santa Cruz to 64° F. in winter, rising to 77° in summer, with a mean of 70° F., and a difference of 14° between the hottest and coldest months. There is no winter in the European

sense of the word, the heat being greater at this season than the average of southern Italy. Nevertheless, the coldest day has a temperature of 46° F., while summer is at times too hot for Europeans, especially in the eastern group, where the Saharian blasts prevail much more frequently than in Madeira. With them come dust-charged clouds, blighting the vegetation, causing the ground to crack, men and animals to pine, and at times bringing swarms of locusts, which in 1588 were carried as far as Teneriffe.