1 04 Voijage of the Novara. 



our brief stay admitted, we did not lose sight of this object, 

 but the practical observations we made in the course of our 

 voyage led us to conclusions widely different from those 

 which, representing the quinquina tree as in danger of being 

 extirpated on its native soil. South America, by the careless- 

 ness of the Indians, regarded its transplantation into other 

 countries as a que;stion of the utmost importance for the 

 interests of the human race. The China tree, very far from 

 becoming extinct, is carefully cultivated in Peru, Bolivia, 

 and Ecuador. The bark is systematically cropped in most 

 of these localities, and consequently there is no occasion to 

 anticipate any considerable increase in price, or failure in the 

 supply of this precious drug. We shall have an opportunity, 

 when describing our stay at Java and at the west coast of 

 America, to revert at length to this question, and shall have 

 only to add the remark, that the great expense of such an 

 attempt, and the extraordinary watchfulness and care which 

 must be bestowed on the China tree for a number of years 

 before the slightest profit can be derived from it, seem alone 

 to render hopeless such an undertaking as its introduction in 

 the Nicobar Islands, even were the climatic conditions better 

 suited to such an experiment than we have reason to believe 

 that they are. 



As for the zoology of these islands, it seems to be nmch 

 less developed, whether as regards numbers, or size, than might 

 be expected, considering the luxuriance of the vegetation. 

 The forests arc by their very nature poor in living denizens, 



