Norwich bulletin., 1922-04-22
IN THE DAYS NEWS
THE cANARIEs

"Airplane travel is causing a tre- mendous boom in oceanic real estate Mid-ocean islands became more i'm portant with their use as coaling sta tions, then cable lines rescued other land dots, such as Tap, from obscuri- ty. The Azores figured as a halfway station in the first transatlantic flight. Now the Cansries, where Co., lumbus halted on his voyage of dis covery, end the first leg Of the Liz bon -to-Rio de Janeiro trip of Portu- guese airmen."
 With this introduction the National Geographic Society issues from it's Washington, D. c. headquarters ths following bulletin on the Canaries:
 If you will picture seven articles a juggler has just thrown intc the air, and imagine these seven articles to be a pear, a Shoulder of mutton two golf balls, the broken off end of putting iron, and a lady's spring | hat with the visor down and a feath- CT in the back-you will have a fair idea of one of the most interesting island groups in the world.
 Interesting, that is, whether you are looking for the people with a wh.stling language or the srboreal curiosity known as the dragon-tree. whether you choose to hunt for the archaeological traces of aborigines who worshipped in caves or to mingle with ! the vivaeious crowds in the Calie del Castillo of an evening when the band plays.
 ''The highest mountain rising from ! the Atlantic Ocean is to be found on l Teneriffe; a volcano crater on Pal ma is so large that its weather con ditfons vary from those of the sur rounding country. This crater. Gran Caldera, is four miles in diameter and in much of it's area is between 12 and 1S times as deep as the Wash
 ington Monument. The natives will tell you that a mighty upheaval in Palma pitched the mountain mass over to Teneriffe and in proof point to the
 mighty cavity left on Palma.
 "Pluoarch's gec ( aphical commekt
 about the Canar.es need not be re- vised. He said, Rain seldom falls
 there, and then falls moder ately; while
 they have usually soft breezes which scatter such rich dews that the soil
 is not only good for sowing and plant 1 ing, but spontaneously produces the
 most excellent fruits; and those in sAch abundance that the inhabitants have only to indulge Themselves In the enjoyment of ease and leisure. The air is always pleasant and salubri-
 ous, through the happy temperature
 of the seasons, and their insensibls l transition into each other.
 'TThe most remarkable and least
 studied phenomenon of the Canaries
 is the whistling language of the na- : tives of Gomera. The townsfolk do g not know the whistling vocabulary, f and their reports of the range of eL-
 t,Fr Fnl Ar-
 using four or five notes of varying
 intensity and length may readily be r exaggerated. That such a language T does exist, developed beyond the stage
 of signals, Is attested by travellers. q r l is extremely useful in this little Island of big distances and high mountains
 where cattle raising Is the principal industry. Here, too, some of the na- Q tives dwell in caves. as did the Guam s ches, whose blood still flows In veins
 of the natives. through the pure type h became extinct after the Spanish con f quest early in the fifteenth century.
 'On Gomera. also, is the village oi | San Sebastian where Columbus pro- f Visioned his voyage to the unkno~r
 West, and there still stands the church r which he attended to pray for the suc- e cess of his quest. Few travellers vtsii n the hill encircled, red-roofed. isoist-
 ed little village whence Columbus e. d parted-September T, 14s2.
 n ''The Phoenician traders proeahsy
 knew the Canaries, then the Fortu-
 nate Islands, Homer's aIlusiou to the I 'habitations of the blest Is thoughi
 to have referred to them. Legend
 clusters about them MythicAlly thsJ
 were the home of the Hespeeidss J scenes of Hercurlean adventures, ant e the visible traces of the lost Cont. y nent of Atlantis.
 'Tn 1922 they constitute a healfh rs- g sort of note, are populated by son' l. 50O.0o0 people. export foodstuffs fruit
 vegetables, sugar and wine. and hAv' F an important wireless station. Tsie 8 phones have been strung where road
 are yet unknown and goats mules ani n camels are the only common carrier !. that the mountains will allow. m s combined area of the tslanda is abou
 equal to that of Corsica. They are d n ministered as a part of Spain"