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182 



rains succeeded in penetrating some of the bales. A fine and 

 little known alpine flora exists on Mt. Iliampu. The altitude 

 and conditions of this locality are a parallel of those of Unduavi. 

 One day's journey to the northward we reach Ingenio del Oro, a 

 gold washing establishment. This locality is also very similar to 

 Unduavi, but has the richest flora (March) of any locality that I 

 have ever visited. It is above timber line. Three days of mis- 

 erable exposure were passed here, and all our collections spoiled. 

 Two days more brought us to Mapiri, a section almost precisely 

 like Yungas, where, at 2,500 to 5,000 feet, I remained during 

 March and April, improving the fairly good weather in making 

 enormous collections, which arrived home, after great vicissitudes, 

 in very fair condition. Mapiri is the great centre of Cincliona 

 culture in South America, and large collections of these plants 

 were made, among them being many new hybrids. The run of 

 eighty-four miles to Guanai, 2,000 feet elevation, was made on 

 rafts by the force of the current in a little less than eight hours. 

 Arriving at Guanai three weeks earlier, we should have encoun- 

 tered one of the most interesting floras in South America. How- 

 ever, as we lost nearly everything collected at this place, it mat- 

 tered but little. The forests at that point consist almost wholly 

 of Mimosece, in prodigious variety. These had all gone to fruit 

 and made rather ill looking specimens. At this point the succu- 

 lent plants, such as Begonia, Oxalis and Bromeliaceas began to 

 appear much less prominent. I had early abandoned the collec- 

 tion of such plants, foreseeing that they would crowd out all other 

 work, owing to the unlimited time necessary to dry them. 



Upon new and larger rafts we floated in eight days to Reyes, 

 the mountains becoming smaller, and the banks lower and lower 

 as we proceeded, until, just at the port of Reyes we cut through 

 the outermost range of the Andean foothills. Here, at an alti- 

 tude of 1,500 feet, the forests are broken by patches of pampa, 

 which are projected into them from the South, and the varying 

 conditions of lake and river, forest, plain and bog, produce a flora 

 of surpassing interest. Nearly two months were passed in Reyes, 

 and although sickness materially interfered, a handsome repre- 

 sentation of between 400 and 500 species was secured. The 

 whole of this collection, with the most of what we liad brought 



