CHAPTER XIX.

Mr. Spruce's expedition to procure plants and seeds of the “red bark"

or C. succirubra Mr. Pritchett in the Huanuco region, and the "grey barks” – Mr. Cross's proceedings at Loxa, and collection of seeds of C. Condaminea.

In a previous chapter I have given an account of the arrangements which I made for procuring the various species of Chinchonæ in districts other than that of the Calisaya, and it now remains for me to record the labours of those whom I employed on this service, and the successful results with which those labours were rewarded. And first, both in importance and success, stands the expedition of Mr. Spruce, to collect the seeds and plants of the “red-bark” tree or C. succirubra, of whose services it would be impossible to speak too highly. I may mention, at starting, that he received my first letter, requesting him to undertake the work, on July 2nd, 1859, and such was his zeal that on the 22nd of the same month he was on his way to the chinchona forests, at his own expense, to ascertain the best locality for collecting the plants and seeds.

The species of chinchona, known as the “red-bark” tree, yields a larger per-centage of febrifugal alkaloid than any other, and must therefore be considered as the most important. Its native forests are on the western slopes of the famous mountain of Chimborazo, in the Republic of Ecuador, and for a great many years it has not been found beyond 2° 36' S. lat., but Mr. Spruce thinks it probable that in former times the tree grew all along the roots of the Andes of Cuenca aud Loxa to the limits of the Peruvian desert

" Mr. Howard has recently obtained 8-5 per cent. of alkaloids from a specimen of red bark.

in 5° S. To the north it scarcely passes the latitude of 1° S.; and these precious trees are thus confined within a very narrow latitudinal zone. Within the ascertained limits of the true “red-bark” tree, it exists in all the valleys of the Andes which debouch on the plain of Guayaquil ; but great havoc has been made amongst the trees of late years by the bark-collectors.

In the valleys of Alausi, Pallatanga, and Chillanes (see map) all the large trees have already been cut down. At the bases of the ridges of Angas and San Antonio, the localities originally mentioned by Pavon, and where “red-bark” trees once grew in abundance, the same destructive system has been adopted; and now the “red-bark” grounds are confined to the ravine of the river Chasuan, and its tributaries, which rise on the northern slopes of Chimborazo, and fall into the river of Guayaquil.

On the 22nd of July 1859 Mr. Spruce set out from the pleasant town of Ambato, in the Quitenian Andes, where he was then residing, and, passing through Alausi, arrived at the banks of the river Chanchan, and established himself at a place called Lucmas, which is conveniently near the “ redbark" chinchona forests. Lucmas is a sugar-cane farm, between 5000 and 6000 feet above the sea ; there are foresttrees in the valleys and on the hills, while the steep slopes are often covered with scrub and grass. From Lucmas Jr. Spruce went to the forests on the banks of the river Pumachaca, which rises in the mountain of Asuay, and falls into the Chanchan, at an elevation of 4000 feet. One circumstance, among many, will give an idea of the difficulties which he had to encounter. On reaching the Pumachaca he found that the ford had been destroyed by the falling of a

? There is no ascertained law by the Andes of Pasto and Popayan, in which many of the species of the chin- i New Granada, there are the conditions chona genus are thus limited to narrow of climate and altitude requisite for the zones ils regards latitude. Mr. Spruce growth of C. succirubra, but it has not mentions that on the lower regions of been found there.

cliff, and that in its place there was a deep whirlpool ; so, with the driftwood along the banks, a bridge had to be made where the river was narrowed between two rocks, by which his party crossed with the baggage. Then, after a long search, he found a place where the horses could swim across, and, by rolling down masses of earth and stones, a way was made for them to ascend on the other side. Once across, a hut was made among vegetable-ivory palms, thatched with the palm-fronds, and Mr. Spruce commenced the examination of the forest.

After a long search, during which he passed several felled trunks of chinchona-trees, he at length came upon a rootshoot about twenty feet high. It is very rare to find these root-shoots, because the bark is stripped from the roots as well as from the trunk. Mr. Spruce, from his observations in the Pumachaca forest, came to the conclusion that the “ red-bark” trees grow best on stony declivities, where there is, however, a good depth of humus, at an elevation of from 3000 to 5000 feet above the sea. The temperature was very like that of a summer day in London, but with cold mists towards evening, and from January to May unceasing rain. He found the chinchona-trees, in this part of the country, almost entirely extirpated, and, after a short stay at Lucmas, he proceeded to examine the region of the “hill barks” or cascarillas serranas, which is at an elevation of 8500 to 9000 feet, on both sides of the river Chanchan. In the forest of Llalla, at the foot of the mountain of Asuay, he found two kinds called by the natives cuchi-cara (pig-skin) and pata de gallinazo ;3 and on a stony hill-side there were twenty large trees of the former, from 40 to 50 feet high.

By this excursion in the summer of 1859 Mr. Spruce ascertained the districts where he should not go to, a very

3 This is not the same as the pata | been named by Mr. Howard C. Perude gallinazo of Huanuco, which has | viunu.

important point; and he finally determined to carry on his collecting operations, in the season of 1860, at a place called Limon, at the junction of a stream of that name with the river Chasuan, which falls into the river of Ventanas at a place called Aguacatal. (See map.) The forests are all private property, and, after much negotiation with the owners, Señor Cordovez of Ambato, and Dr. Neyra of Guaranda, an agreement was made by which, on payment of 400 dollars, Mr. Spruce was allowed to take as many seeds and plants as he liked, on condition that he did not touch the bark.

Mr. Spruce had made arrangements for Dr. Taylor of * Riobamba to proceed to Loxa, and collect seeds of the C. Condaminea species; but a severe rheumatic and nervous attack, almost amounting to paralysis, induced him to resign the duty of collecting the “red bark” to Dr. Taylor, and it was only at the last moment that he was strong enough to undertake the journey in company with his friend. During the whole time that Mr. Spruce was at work he was suffering severely from illness; the benefit derived from the milder climate of the forests was neutralized by the fogs and damp; and, to use his own words, “although upheld by a determination to execute to the best of my ability the task I had undertaken, I was but too often in that state of prostration when to lie down quietly and die would have seemed a relief." Leaving the town of Ambato on the 11th of June, Mr. Spruce and Dr. Taylor reached Guaranda on the 13th, and continued their journey towards the forests on the 17th. At a very little below 4000 feet above the sea they reached the small farms at Limon. Their abode stood on a narrow ridge sloping gradually to the river Chasuan. It was merely a long low shed, two-thirds of which was occupied by the rude machinery of a sugar-cane mill; the remaining third had an upper story with a flooring of bamboo-planks, half of it open at the sides, and the other half with a bamboo wall