182 Mil. K. SPHUCE's visit to the cinchona FOllESTS 



who sold me alfalfa for two days then told me he could spare no 

 more. About a league from Chunchi aud 1000 feet lower down, 

 there is a cane-farm called Cruataxi, whose owner, Senor Jose Leon, 

 I had known in Eiobamba. 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 Chanchan 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 Guataxi, 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 I was recommended to a person called Ber- 

 meo, who had w^orked a good deal at getting out cascarilla and 

 sarsaparilla. I at once secured his services, and, as he turned out 

 an honest active fellow, I took him with me in all my subsequent 

 excursions in the district. Erom 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- 

 curing and transporting of provisions, necessary for a long stay in 

 the forest, is both difficult and expensive. 



I remained a day at Lucmas to look around. It is at an altitude 

 of between 5000 and 6000 feet, and produces luxuriant sugar-cane. 

 The small banana called " Gruineo" 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 Bromeliaceae. In descending towards Lucmas, I saw 

 on the bushy hill-sides a great deal of the small tree called " Palo 

 del Eosario," a curious, and I believe undescribed Sapindacea, 

 which I had already gathered at Banos 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 purplc-brbwn 



