THE EXPLORATIONS OP HARTWEG IN AMERICA. 33 



Agua, the explorer passed on to the region of the equatorial Andes, 

 visiting the neighborhood of Callao and Lima, Peru, and returning 

 northward by way of the Gulf of Guayaquil, Ecuador, and the 

 city of Quito to the peak of Chimborazo and the plains of Bogota. 

 The traveler spent over two years in this interesting region, one 

 month of which was consumed by an illness contracted through 

 sudden change of climate. He floated down the Magdalena River 

 and returned to England in 1843. 



The travels of Hartweg resulted in the most extensive collection, 

 made by a single individual, that came from Mexico and tropical 

 America in the first half of the century. During these years he 

 had sent to England hundreds of living plants, thousands of 

 packets of seeds, and a large quantity of herbarium specimens. 

 Through his efforts the rarest plants of Mexico were living in the 

 hothouses of the Society. He discovered many new pines, and 

 made, in particular, several choice collections of orchids. "Upon 

 leaving the scanty undergrowth of the Savannahs near Vera Cruz," 

 he writes in his journal, "I entered a forest of oaks, and there a 

 change took place as if brought on by magic; Orchidacese, for 

 which I had been on the lookout since I left Vera Cruz, and of the 

 finding of which I had given up all hope, considering the elevation 

 I had attained, appeared here in the greatest abundance; the oaks 

 actually seemed to groan beneath their weight; Maxillaria densa 

 and teniiifolia forming festoons and hanging gracefully over the 

 branches they were growing on, seemed to strive with the larger 

 species of Tillandsia for their existence." 



The personal record of his travels, which was published in the 

 "Proceedings and the Journal of the Society,"' contains an account of 

 the characteristic vegetation wherever he journeyed, comments on 

 rare and strange plants, and the native uses of many of these, in 

 company with an occasional spirited bit of description. 



The success of Hartweg induced the Society to send hira to Cali- 

 fornia, and the botanical explorer arrived again at Vera Cruz, this 



1 See "Transactions of the London Horticultural Society," n.s. ii, p. 377; 

 n. s. iii, 115; and Journal of the London Horticultural Society, i, 169, 180; 

 ii, 121, 191; iii, 217, where will be found Hartweg's "Journal of a Mis- 

 sion to California in Search of Plants." 



