u 



LAURACEJ5. 



The existence of a spice-yielding region in South America, havinf^ 

 cuuie to the ears of the Spanish conquerors, was regarded as a matter 

 of interest. It would appear that cinnamon was enumerated in the 

 earliest accounts among the precious products of the New World.^ 

 Such high importance was attached to it that in Ecuador an expedition 

 was fitted out. The direction of the enterprise was confided to Gonzalo 

 Pizarro, who with 840 soldiers, and more than 4000 Indians, laden witli 



Q 



on Christmas Day, 1539. The 



expedition, which lasted two years, resulted in the most lamentable 

 failure, only ISO Spaniards surviving the hardships of the journey. In 

 the account of it given by Garcilasso de la Vega, the cinnamon tree is 

 described as having large leaves like those of a laurel, with fruits 

 resembling acorns growing in clusters,^ Fernandez de Oviedo^ has 

 also given some particulars regarding the spice, together with a figure 

 fiiirly representing its remarkable form ; and the subject has been 

 noticed by several other Spanish writers, including Monardes.* 



Notwithstanding tlie celebrity thus conferred on the spice, and the 

 fact that the latter gives its name to a large tract of country,^ and is 

 still the object of a considerable trafl^c, the tree itself is all but unknown 

 to science. Meissner places it doubtfully under the genus Nectandra, 

 with the specific name cinnamomoides, but confesses tliat its flowers 

 and fruits are alike unknown.^ 



The spice, for an ample specimen of which we have to thank Dr. 

 Destruge, of Guayaquil, consists of the enlarged and matured woody 

 calyx, 11 to 2 inches in diameter, having the shape of a shallow funnel, 

 the open part of which is a smooth cup (like the cup of an acorn), sur- 

 rounded by a broad, irregular margin, usually recurved. The outer 

 surface is rough and veiny, and the whole calyx is dark brown, and has 

 a strong, sweet, aromatic taste, like cinnamon, for which in Ecucadorit 

 is the common substitute. 



Dr. Destruge has also furnished us with a specimen of the hark 

 which is in very small uncoated quills, exactly simulating true cinnamon. 

 We are not aware whether the bark is thus prepared in quantity 



1 AccoiTiit of Petrus Martyr cVAiigleria 

 to Cardinal Ascanio Sforza, in Michael 

 Herr's Dk neio Welt, etc., StrassLurL^ 

 1534. fol. 175. ^ 



2 Travels of Pedro de Cieza de Leon, A.n. 

 Io32-o0, translated by Markliam (Hakluyt 

 Society) Lond. 1864. chap. 39-40; also 

 Expedition of Gonzalo Pizarro to the Land 

 of Cinnamon, by Garcilasso Inca de la 

 \ ega, forming part of the same volume. 



^ Ilisforla de las hid Ian, Madrid, i, (Ibol) 

 3o7. (lib. ix. c. 31). ^ \ i 



\Dela Couela de nuestras Indian.— 

 nistoria de la.H co.sa^ qhp .^^ tmpn de 

 Mrau ludlas oecidejdale^, Sevilla, 1574. 



» The village of San Jose de Canelos, 

 which may be considered as the centre oi 

 the cinnamon region, was determined jjj 

 Mr. Spruce to be in lat. 1°20 S., long. // 

 45 W., and at an altitude above the sea or 

 1590 feet. The forest of cauelos, ie te^ia 

 us, has no defiiiite boundanes; but tue 

 term is popularly assigned to all the upper 

 region of the Pastasa and its ti-ibutane., 

 from a height of 4000 to 7000 feet od W 

 slopes of the Andes, down to the Ama^u a" 

 plain, and the confluence of the Bonibonaba 



and Pastasa. ^ : 



De Candolle, FroJromm, xv. sect. )• 



1C7. 



