Page:Voyage in search of La Perouse, volume 1 (Stockdale).djvu/56

46 The inhabitants of the iland are beet with religious prejudices from their earliet infancy. The children came running out of their habitations to enquire if we were of their religion; and we contented ourelves with commierating the unfortunate beings, upon whom monkih bigotry and intolerance exert with unbounded rigour their pernicious way.

Mot of the garden-walls in the country beyond Laguna, are ornamented with the beautiful plant called trichomanes canariene.

As we approached Orotava, our road led us down a very gentle declivity. We aw no more uch barren mountains as in the vicinity of St. Croix, where the luxuriance of the vegetable kingdom is only an indication of the terility of the oil; but verdant banks covered with vineyards, the produce of which contitutes the chief wealth of the iland. The hrub termed boca yervamora grows here in low ituations.

At five o'clock in the evening we arrived at Orotava, where we were received by M. de Cologant, in the mot hopitable manner.

Two veels, an Englih and a Dutch, were then at anchor in the road-tead, in order to take in a cargo of wine. The landing-place here is much more difficult of acces than that at St. Croix,