Diagram
SHOWING HEIGHT OF LOCKS AND PROPORTIONS OF CONDUITS OF GATUN LOCKS, PANAMA CANAL CANARY ISLANDS, a group of islands belonging to Spain in the Atlantic Ocean, off the N. W. coast of Africa, forming a Spanish province. The group consists of seven large and several small islets, with a joint area of about 2,850 square miles, and a population of about 500,000. The principal islands , proceeding from E. to W., are Lanzarote, Fuerteventura, Gran Canaria, Teneriffe, Gomera, Palma, and Hierro or Ferro. The distance from Fuerteventura to the African coast is about 62½ geographical miles. The coasts are steep and rocky, and the surface is diversified with high mountains, narrow gorges, and deep valleys. All the islands are volcanic, and everywhere show plain marks of their origin, in the shape of cones, craters, beds of tuff and pumice, and streams of lava; but eruptions have taken place within the historical period only in Teneriffe, Palma, and Lanzarote. There are no rivers, and on several of the islands water is very scarce. The springs on those better supplied are diverted by long group, has an area of 782 square miles, with a population of 185,000. The chief town and port is Santa Cruz de Santiago, de Santiago , on the S. E. coast. It is the seat of the officials of the general government. other towns are Laguna, a few miles from Santa Cruz, on a plain 1,800 feet above the sea; Puerto Orotava, on the N. coast; Villa Orotava, 1,060 feet higher; and Icod de los Vinos, near which the largest existing dragon-tree grows. The famous Peak of Teneriffe is in the N. W. of the island.
GRAN CANARIA, which is next in importance, has an area of 531 square miles, with a population of 135,000. Its culminating peak is El Cumbre, with a height of 6,648 feet. The capital, Las Palmas, on the E. coast, is the largest town of the archipelago. The surface of this island is so broken that only a small part is under cultivation. At Artinara, at a height of 3,850 feet, there is a village of caves, with a population of 1,100 persons. A few miles from Las Palmas is the cone of Vandama, 1,800 feet high, feet high , CANCAN with an extinct crater, circular and perfect, 800 feet deep. PALMA, a classic spot for geologists, has an area of 280 square miles, and a population of 60,000. Its highest peak, Pico de los Muchachos, has an elevation of more than 7,600 feet. The ancient crater of the Caldera is of enormous size, though open to the sea on one side. Capital, Santa Cruz de las Palmas, on the E. coast.
The area and population of the other islands are as follows: LANZAROTE is 323 square miles, pop. 30,000; FUERTE VENTURA, 665 square miles, pop. 25,000; GOMERA, 144 square miles, pop. 20,000; HIERRO, 107 square miles, pop. 8,000.
In former times the first meridian of longitude was commonly drawn through Hierro. Most of the towns of these islands are small.
The Canaries are supposed to have been the Fortunate Islands of the ancients. The geographers of Greece and Rome were acquainted with their po- Kuainted with their the has been preserved by the elder Pliny. sition, and King Juba's account of them For many centuries they were lost sight of, and not rediscovered until 1334, when a French vessel was driven among them by a storm. In 1402 the Norman Jean de Bethencourt fitted out an expedition for the purpose of subduing the islands, and in 1404, having obtained assistance from Spain, he succeeded in mastering four of them. His successor having sold his rights in Spain, they were afterward acquired by the King, who sent a large force in 1477 to conquer the Guanches, a brave and intelligent race of large stature, and comparatively fair.
Their origin is unknown, but they are assumed by many to have been of Berber or of Libyan stock. Their resistance was so stubborn that it was not until 1495 that the last of the islands was mastered, They have been ever since the property of Spain. The Guanches suffered terribly from their conquerors, and have long ceased to exist as a separate people; but in the local museums may be seen specimens of their mummies, skeletons, weapons, and pottery works. On Teneriffe is a wireless station for communication with Spain.