The Republican journal., 1896-03-26

riffians is the purchase of a new cloak,
which requires days of deliberation and
the combined wisdom of the purchasers
family and friends Certain qualities
must enter into its composition, lacking
which it would be no use to offer one over
any counter in Tenerffe. In the first
place the blanket must be white as snow.
though the wearer will soon convert it to
a muddy brown, and never think of wash
ing it, should it last life time. 1t must
also have two stripes OF sky blue, one
vide and the other narrow, all around
the edges; there must be no thin places in
it, and the nap must run downwards, in
order to make it shed rain properly. A
running string at the top fastens this
not another thing needs to be worn above
or below it. The primitive cloak is as
old as the Guanches, the aboriginal in
habitants of the island as old as the first
attempt at general clothing made by any
nation IN its infancy 1t corresponds to
the abba worn by the; Arab and the
Bedouin in the sandy deserts of Arabia;
to the cothamoTe of the ancient Irish the
burnoose of the Algerian; the plaid of the
Highlander; the blanket of the American
Indian; the toga of the Roman; the flow
ing garment of the Druid; the zarapo of
the Mexican, the poncho of the South
American. The people of the Canaries
are decidedly better looking than any
other islanders | have seen since in Mar
Unique, the men tall, strong and swarthy,
the women with the blacklist eyes, the
whitest teeth and the finest figures. The
ladies OF the aristocracy universally wear
the lace mantilla, black or white, in all
their walks abroad; but they sometimes
spoil its becoming effect by perching on
top of it a hideous high crowned hat,
trimmed with parti- colored ribbons, in
shape much like those the Welsh women
wear.
On the road between Santa Cruz and
Orotaya we passed many women trudging
along ON foot, with boxes of live eochi-
neal bugs on their heads, which they were
carrying over to the north side of the
island to 'plant," as it is called. 1t
seems that the bug mothers prefer to de-
post their young on the leaves of the
prickly pear cactus; and in order to in
crease the supply of marketable cochineal
tba manila i.apaf,I)1V mic ,,H Io
females at the proper season, lay them,
one by one, i'll thin camblic bags and
wrap them around fresh plants in new
place, The plan works we'll but it must
be confessed that it does not add to the
beauty of the landscape to see miles upon
miles of cacti fields wrapped up in rags.
After the bugs have reached maturity all
but a few females are picked off and
dried, either i'll the sun or in ovens. and
are then ready for shipment Two crops of
the ugly wood-lice are gathered every year,
and form an important article of export
from Teneriffe. The cochineal was orig
inally introduced into the Canaries from
Mexico, by priest, who is now almost
worshipped as saint, though during his
life the islanders prosecuted the poor man
in every possible way, believing in their
ignorance that his bugs were running the
prickly pear, upon the fruit of which thew
depended for one of their staple articles of
food. In time cochineal culture became
a great source of profit to the people, and
tided them over the distress that would
otherwise have ensued when the wine
crop failed because of the destruction of
the vines by oideum Tuckeri Nova DAYS
since the discovery of aniline dyes has so
largely reduced the demand for cochineal,
the loss to the commerce of the islands
has been partially made up by the pro-
duction of onions and potatoes, which are
exported to the West Indies The climate
of the Canaries allows three crops of DO
tatoes in year, and such potatoes as we
cannot raise in the United States, not even
in Utah; while the mammoth onions are
like those of the Bermudas, only larger
and whittier. The wine industry, too, which
languished for number of years and al
most died out, is looking up again, al
though it has not yet attained it's old pro-
portions Canary wine, though always
inferior to old port and Madeira, has a
rich golden hue and fine fruity flavor:
but like that of most hot climates it is
too strong and ''heady'' for general use
Leaving the Laguna plains we followed
gentle ascent for several miles, amid
copses of daphne, yellow St. Johns wort
and ferns of every variety. Happily, the
long stretches of rag festooned cacti
bushes had ceased at this altitude, but
the vine still crept over the walls of every
cottage, and its pendant clusters, now
nearly ripe, hung around the balconies
and jalousies. The glorious Pco de Teyde
was in full view, glistening snow white in
the sun, its venerable head enwrapped in
mist. The fig tree fourishes to perfec-
ton in Teneritfe, producing several excel
lent varieties Of fruit During the fruit
season the trees are frequented by that
beautiful songster which rivals the night