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 Calceolarice 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 a 

 variety of Solanum tube7'0sum, differs from all the other 



* Traits, Uort. Soc. v. 6. p. 6. Though not deserving of the extravagant 

 character that has been given of it, the Yellow Potatoe is considered by those 

 who have eaten it ia Peru, far superior to any that we have in cultivation. It 

 is, however, there, as in this country, a very indifferent bearer. Perhaps some 

 useful variety might be obtained ft'om its seed, by fertilizing the flower with the 

 pollen of a niore prolific plant. 



