390 A VOYAGE TO Book VI 



colour of the wild cochineal and that of Oaxaca, it 

 does not proceed from a diftcrence of specie?, but 

 from a want of pro[;cr care-in its improvement; and 

 were ihc culture every where alike, this difference 

 would no loiiger sub-ist. But the Indinnsneglcclit, 

 either because no commerce of that kind has been 

 opened nmon[^ il;cm ; or from an aversion to the 

 trouble and attention rccuii^ite to brine; those insects 

 to perfection ; or, lastly, from the apprehension that 

 the fruiis of all their time and care may be destroyed 

 by one of the above-mentioned acciden-ts. 



The ten)})craiure best adapted to the production of 

 this insect cannot be precisely determined, there being 

 in Oaxaca, as well as in the province of Quito, 

 ]iarls of verv different ten:- pera lures, som.e hot, some 

 temp'crnte, and others C(i!f] ; yet all breed the cochi- 

 neal. It is, however, very probable, that the most 

 proper climate is the temperate and dry; because in 

 these the nopal thrives the best. And agreeably to 

 this ob;-ervation it is remarked, that Ilumbato and 

 Loja are t!ie countries in the province of Quito 

 where they most aboi;nd ; though they are also seen 

 in other parts, v.hcre both the heat and cold are 

 greater. 



Here í cannot help observing, that And;dusia in 

 Spain apjiears to me extremely well situated for 

 breeding cochineal, both froui the nature of the cli- 

 mate, and the j)lantation of fig-trees, which there at- 

 \:\\n so great perfection. Here also neither frosts, fogs, 

 or snows, are to be apprehended, particularly in spring; 

 and the happy medium between cold and heat is, as Í 

 have before observed, thai wii:ch this creature is par- 

 ticularly ioiicl of. 



The inhabitants of Lojn, who are known all over 

 tins province by tlie u:\iuc of Lejanos, do not exceed 

 ten thousand souls, though fornieily,' when the city 

 was in its greatest prosperity, they were much more 

 ViumeruLis. Their char:icicr is much belter than that 



ef 



