as ours,
this would have been a great business, as everything must be carried
to so great a height, up such steep places, and over such bad roads.
Still, there are so many objects and places of interest, not only on,
but around, the Peak, that it is a pity to see them only when hurried
and fatigued.

_Sunday, July 23rd_.--Orders had been given not to call us nor to wash
decks, and it was consequently half-past ten before any one awoke, and
midday before the first of our party put in an appearance on deck.

Long before this, the 'Sunbeam' had been inundated with visitors from
the shore. We had given a general invitation to the friends of the
Vice-Consul to come and see the yacht; and they accordingly arrived in
due course, accompanied in many cases by a large circle of
acquaintances. Those who came first were conducted below and all over
the vessel, but the number ultimately became so great that, in
self-defence, we were obliged to limit their wanderings to the deck,
opening the skylights wide, however, to enable them to see as much as
possible of the saloon and cabins.

From breakfast-time until prayers, at three o'clock, when the yacht
was closed for an hour, there was a constant stream of visitors from
the shore. It was a great nuisance; but still it seemed unkind to
refuse to allow them to see what they had never seen before, and might
possibly never have an opportunity of seeing again. All steamers and
sailing-ships, as a rule, go to Santa Cruz; and the fame of our vessel
having been spread abroad by our visitors of Friday, many of the poor
people had come from villages far away over the mountains. We could
not help feeling a certain respect for the determined way in which
physical infirmity was mastered by curiosity for, though many
experienced very serious inconvenience from the motion of the vessel,
they still persevered in their examination.

About five o'clock we went ashore ourselves, and drove up to Villa
Orotava. The wide road is macadamised and marked with kilometre
stones, and is planted on either side with pepper-trees, plane-trees,
and the _Eucalyptus globulus_, which has grown 35 metres, or 115 feet,
in seven years. The hedges are formed of blue plumbago, scarlet
geranium, yellow acacia, lavender-coloured heliotrope, white jasmine,
and pink and white roses.

After driving a few miles, we turned down an old paved road towards
the sea, and, by dint of a considerable amount of shaking, arrived at
th