Narrative of the surveying voyages of his majesty's ships Adventure and Beagle (vol.2): between the years 1826 and 1836 : describing their examination of the southern shores of South America, and the Beagles's circumnavigation of the globe

1832. DECEPTION — SQUALL — TENERIFKF.. 47 the vessel's distance from the shore, and not taking time to sound accurately. Closing the land quickly after passing some time at sea approaching high cliffs, or hilly shores, after being, for a time, accustomed to low coasts — or nearing a flat shore, after the eye has been used to precipices and mountains — almost always is a cause of error in estimating distance, however experienced a seaman may be. While passing at a few leagues from the land, a violent squall came from the west, which was near doing damage after one puff there was a short calm, with heavy rain, and then a sudden blast struck the ship so violently that we were obliged to take in all sail and run before it during the few minutes it lasted. This squall was one of very many which have reminded me of the old doggrel lines When rain comes before the wind, Halyards, sheets, and braces mind : But if wind comes before rain, Set and trim your sails again. At daylight the next morning we saw the Salvages, and at sun- set thought we could distinguish the Peak of Teneriffe. Early on the 6th we saw part of the island, and soon after- wards the upper clouds dispersed, and we enjoyed a magni- ficent view of the monarch of the Atlantic : the snow-covered peak glittering in the rays of the morning sun. Yet as our ideas are very dependent upon comparison, 1 suppose that persons who have seen the Himalaya Mountains, or the Andes, in all their grandeur, would not dwell much upon the view of Teneriffe, had it not become classical by its historical asso- ciations, and by the descriptions of Humboldt and many dis- tinguished travellers. Although some geographers adopted the Peak of Teneriffe as a zero point from which to reckon longitude, I am free to say, that a less satisfactory one could hardly have been selected ; because there are no means of connecting the position of the peak with that of the observer, whether on the shore of the