194 RELATION BETWEEN CLIMATE AND VEGETATION 



has to pass over a gradual slope composed of cinders, arranged 

 with a regularity ahiiost artificial. On the opposite side there is 

 a similar but shorter slope, which is soon replaced by broken 

 ground cleft by deep ravines. There are several plants to 

 enliven this scene ; amongst them are a large yellow-Howered 

 Cistus, an Adesmia with a resinous smell and a violet-haired 

 fruit, and the Mutisia vicicefolia, with orange-red flower-heads, 

 and which is equally common in the ravine of Cuzco. 



The town of Arequipa is situate in the midst of a sandy plain, 

 1600 yards above the level of the sea, and in one of the most 

 beautiful climates in the world. Its mean temperature is about 

 14° C. Its soil, except where it is artificially irrigated and cul- 

 tivated, is bare and sterile. Corn, Maize, Lucern, several vege- 

 tables of temperate climates, and especially the Potato, are 

 cultivated in the artificially prepared spots, as are also several 

 kinds of fruit, viz., the Apple, Pear, Peach, Grape, atid Mul- 

 berry. Strawberries, Melons, and other Cucurbits are abun- 

 dant. The Plantain and Corossol tree (^Anona muricata) grow 

 at Uchumayo, a town 4 leagues from Arequipa, and lower down 

 than it. In the valley of Vitor, 12 leagues distant, tliere are 

 abundant supplies of the products of hot countries. 



At the end of April I left Arequipa, where the rains had 

 detained me, and took the road to Puno : thence I went north, 

 turned the extremity of the lake which I liad not yet seen, and 

 passing through the villages of Huancane, Vilque, and Moho, 

 re-entered Bolivia on the 1 1th of May : throughout the whole of 

 this route I crossed nothing but large plains, bearing barley, 

 Qiiinoa, and potatoes, and broken by a few low hills. Continu- 

 ing on the borders of the lake in a south-easterly direction, I 

 ascended, beyond the village of Carabuco, some barren hills, a 

 little higher than those I had just seen, and from which I could 

 distinguish the peak of the lUampo or Sorata, the highest moun- 

 tain iu Bolivia. Arrived at the village of Ancoraimes I changed 

 my course and followed an inlet of the lake which extends to the 

 foot of the Cordillera ; here I found, amongst other interesting 

 plants, some beautiful Calceolarias and a Cerastium. A long 

 ridge of mountains covered with snow next presented itself, and 

 the road, after crossing it, follows a large stream which rushes 

 down to the valley of Hilabaya, separated by another but lower 

 ridge from that of Sorata. I well remember the trembling of 

 the knees with which I was attacked, and which was occasioned 

 by my rapid passage through so many differences of temperature ; 

 the bitter cold of the morning soon decreased, and in the place 

 of the poor grass of the Puna succeeded more succulent plants, 

 shrubs, bushes, and at last small trees. In the region of the 

 shrubs is grown a large quantity of Oxalis tiiberosa^ the tubers 



