Madeira and the Canary Islands : a practical and complete guide for the use of invalids and tourists / A. Samler Brown.

  • Brown, A. Samler.
Date:
1894
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Madeira and the Canary Islands : a practical and complete guide for the use of invalids and tourists / A. Samler Brown. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The University of Glasgow Library. The original may be consulted at The University of Glasgow Library.

    44/352 (page 32)
    The Canaries differ in many important particulars. The climate is more exciting than that of Madeira ; rainless and cloudless days are more frequent and the temptations to invalids to overdo their strength are consequently greater. There is also more wind and more dust. Generally speaking those who wish to explore the islands and to visit remote parts should endeavour' to give Madeira the most favourable chance, as there is more rainy weather there during the winter than is the case with the Canaries. The tables of figures are of course the best means of ascer- taining which month or fortnight is the most likely one to be fine, but no year ever agrees with an average of years, and the tourist will do well to make such arrangements that, when passing Madeira, he can go ashore if the weather happens to be favourable, or, if otherwise, that he can proceed at once to the Canaries and take Madeira on his return. There are such lovely walks and excursions in all the islands that it is worth while to take some little forethought on the subject. The coldest and rainiest months are generally January and February and the winter season proper extends from the middle of October to the end of April or well into May, the earliest date on which invalids should return to Europe. The difference between Madeira and the Canaries is very well indicated by the date palm, which, when grown in sheltered positions, bears fruit in both places, although it is only in the Canaries that the fruit will ripen. Mention may here be made of the fallacy of supposing that great dryness must be most beneficial to all kinds of illnesses. Dense and constant clouds do, however, when stationary, undoubtedly tend to accumulate foul air, more especially immediately below them. Rainfall.—That the amount of rain which falls in Madeira is greater than is the case in the Canary Islands is beyond a doubt ; it is also certain that, commencing with Fuerteventura on the E., which is the driest, the Canary Islands themselves become gradually damper as the distance from the African desert increases, though probably the N. and W. sides of Teneriffe and the Islands of Gomera, Hierro, and Palma are much on a par with one another in this respect, the proximity of the Peak being an equivalent in the first to the greater influence of the Gulf Stream in the others. When reviewing the climatic conditions of any one island, regard must also be had to the vegetation found, not only as an indication of what the island can produce, but also as being in itself at times a direct incentive to the accumulation of vapour.