186 
- too, that the name of my friend was likewise John, and as the 
people of the town are chiefly supported by the traffic occa- 
sioned by the mines, which was expected to be greatly 
increased by the erection of the steam engines for draining 
them, it was argued, that there could be no hope of patron- 
age from the saint in the undertaking if we refused to devote 
a day to him. A still more powerful argument was mentioned 
incidentally, that as the fresh mules were feeding at some 
distance,:they might not arrive sufficiently early for us to 
start the following day, even if we wished it, which meant, as we 
knew by experience, that the mules certainly would not arrive, 
- whatever our wishes might be, and we were therefore obliged 
to declare our willingness to do honour to the saint. For 
my part, I was very well pleased to stay, as the delay gave 
me time to pack up my seeds, and change the papers of my 
plants, and to collect a few more in the neighbourhood. 
- I had not yet seen any Calceolarie on our route, but here 
several species were common. The fragrant Verbena peru- 
viana abounds in the hedges along the path to Canta. The 
Perilomia ocymoides I only saw in the immediate vicinity of 
the town. | 
The celebrated Yellow Potatoe of Peru, (Papas amarillas,) 
is grown here, and indeed its cultivation is almost confined 
to a few spots in the interior, at the same distance from the 
coast, and probably about the same elevation. The best are 
said to come from Huamantanga, a small town in a neigh- 
bouring valley, and they are known in the market of Lima 
by the name of Papas de Huamantanga. This vegetable 
which has been cultivated at the Garden of the Horticultural 
Society,* and other places in Britain, and proved to be 4 
variety of Solanum tuberosum, differs from all the other 
"die 
$ * Trans. Hort. Soc. v. 6. p. 6. "Though not deserving of the extravagant 
Character that has been given of it, the Yellow Potatoe is considered by thos? 
Mare vei 5 in Peru, far superior to any that we have in cultivation. 
is, however, sess d "ns, as in this country, a very indifferent bearer. Perhaps we 
useful variety might be obtained from its seed, by fertilizing the flower with the 
* 
