84 NOTES OF A BOTANIST 



break off in the middle, and appear never to have 

 been finished. 



I have also a rude sketch-map of the plain of 

 Tarapoto, and of the chief villages, streams, and 

 mountains around it, drawn from his own compass- 

 bearings taken from various elevated spots and 

 mountains, and by a few latitudes and longitudes 

 from his own astronomical observations. This I 

 have endeavoured to fill up from the notes and 

 descriptions so as to include all the chief places 

 he visited during his explorations. This will, I 

 hope, enable the reader to follow more easily the 

 references to places in his letters, and the short 

 sketch I may be able to give of his botanical 

 work in this very rich and then almost unknown 

 district. 



Among the notes for his account of Tarapoto 

 there is a rather full description of the roads, where 

 there were any, along which he had to pass to and 

 fro in various directions. This is not only instruc- 

 tive and interesting in itself, but is essential to a 

 proper comprehension of the difficulties under which 

 his collections were made, even in this outlying 

 portion of the Andes, where the mountains were 

 very little higher than those in our own country. I 

 will therefore give it in full.] 



THE ROADS COMMUNICATING WITH TARAPOTO 



The roads between the towns mostly occupy 

 ancient Indian tracks, and it is easy to see how 

 they were originally made out. Some bare grassy 

 summit which will admit of a view being taken 

 ahead, and which is nearly in the direction of the 



