198 KELATION BETWEEN CLIMATE AND VEGETATION 



I crossed over to the valley of Sandia and followed it to the town 

 of the same name. Most of the forests in this canton appeared 

 to me to have been formerly destroyed to make way for Coca 

 plantations. I saw several specimens of Cinchona Calisaya, 

 which seemed to have sprung from old stocks. Leaving Sandia 

 I passed the Cordillera and came upon the Punas of the great 

 table-land of Carabaya. From Crucero, the capital of the pro- 

 vince, I pushed on to tlie interesting town of Cuzco. On my 

 way I passed the village of Macusani, where the mule animal 

 called Alpa Vigogne was first born, and shortly after I crossed a 

 great ridge of the Andes by a most magnificent pass. Continu- 

 ing my route for many leagues through red sandstone rocks, 

 curiously cut by the continued action of water, I reached the 

 bottom of the valley known by the name of Quebradadel Cuzco. 

 The river which flows through it is called lower down the Rio 

 Vilcamayo, and its climate is mild enough to enable Maize to 

 ripen. A there days' journey through this pleasant valley 

 brought me to the ancient capital of the Incas, where I arrived 

 on the 31st of July. On the 7th of August I proceeded to the 

 valley of Santa Ana, interesting for its forests, which, it is said, 

 contait) plenty of Quinquinas. The valley in question is that of 

 the Rio Vilcamayo, which is named differently in different parts 

 of its course ; as is well known, it joins the Apurimac, in the 

 Pampa of tlie Sacramento, and the two together foi-m the Ucayale. 

 Leaving Cuzco I entered the lovely valley of Urubamba (another 

 synonyme of Vilcamayo), in which is the village of Ollantaitambo, 

 so celebrated for its ruins. A little beyond this point the road 

 suddenly quits the valley and rises, on the right, towards the snows 

 of the Cordillera. The limits of the forest vegetation are here 

 marked by several interesting plants, amongst which are some 

 leafless Fuchsias, a magnificent variegated IVitheringia* ( W. 

 superba, N.), and a red flowered Currant. Near the crest of the 

 mountain, in a fog so thick that I couhl not see a yard before 

 me, I gathered the pretty Ranunculus Krapfia. On the other 

 side, where the ravine of Santa Ana bey ins, there is a large forest 

 of Pohjlepis, shaggy with tresses of Tillandsias and other P2pi- 

 phytes, but which soon make way for trees of another descrip- 

 tion : lower down the whole valley was covered with plantations 

 »f Coca, Mandioc, Plantain, Avocado Pears, Cotton trees. Cacao 

 trees, and Coffee trees, with fields of Maize and Sugar Cane. On 

 the 12th I arrived at the farm of Icharate, where, in company 

 with M. Delondre, I made several pleasant excursions ; on the 



* This fine tree, which has already been raised from seeds sent home by 

 me, may perhaps support the cold of our winters. Its flowers are not 

 unlike those of the Fritillaria Meleagris, but they are smaller. 



