182 MR. R. SPRUCE’S VISIT TO THE CINCHONA FORESTS 
who sold me alfalfa for two days then told me he could spare no 
more. About a league from Chünchi and 1000 feet lower down, 
there is a cane-farm called Guataxi, whose owner, Señor José Leon, 
I had known in Riobamba. Almost in despair, I rode down to 
consult with him, and he at once invited me to take up my quarters 
in the hacienda, where he has a good house, with neatly papered 
rooms and decent furniture. The cane-grounds extend along the 
banks of a stream, which before falling into the Chanchán forms 
a considerable lake, on whose shores there was still a little herbage ; 
besides that a few squares near the house were planted with 
alfalfa. 
On the third day after establishing myself at Guataxí, having 
procured a guide, I proceeded to Lucmas, a short day's journey 
lower down the river, where there are a few small chacras tenanted 
by Indians and zambos. There I was told I should be near the 
Cascarilla roja, and 1 was recommended to a person called Ber- 
meo, who had worked a good deal at getting out cascarilla and 
sarsaparilla. I at once secured his services, and, as he turned out 
an honest active fellow, Y took him with me in all my subsequent 
excursions in the district. From him I learnt that the Cascarilla 
roja did not commence until another day's journey downwards, 
and that to have a chance of seeing it in any quantity (which, he 
admitted was, at best, only problematical), it would be necessary 
to penetrate at least three days into the forest. As my object for 
the present was merely to make myself acquainted with the plant, 
and with the soil and climate in which it grows, I decided on 
going no farther than until I should meet with it; for the pro- 
euring and transporting of provisions, necessary for a long stay in 
the forest, is both difficult and expensive. 
I remained а day at Luemas to look around. It is at an altitude 
of between 5000 and 6000 feet, and produces luxuriant sugar-cane. 
The small banana called * Guinéo" flourishes (as indeed it does at 
Guataxi), but the plantain is near its upper limit, and the fruit 
is small and scanty. There are tolerably lofty forest trees in the 
valleys and on the hills, while the steep sides of the latter are often 
covered with grass, more or less intermingled with scrub, and 
often with Bromeliacem. In descending towards Luemas, I saw 
on the bushy hill-sides a great deal of the small tree called * Palo 
del Rosario," a curious, and I believe undescribed Sapindacea, 
which I had already gathered at Baños in the eastern Cordillera. 
Its most remarkable feature is, that while the layer of wood next 
the bark is quite white, all the internal layers are purple-brown 
