CHAPTER XIX 



BOTANICAL EXCURSIONS AND ASCENTS IN THE 

 ECUADOREAN ANDES 



{July i, 1857, to December 31, 1858) 



[\YiTH the exception of the first six months spent at 

 Banos (and several shorter visits to it afterwards), 

 the town of Ambato was Spruce's head-quarters 

 during his three years' continuous exploration of 

 the Andes of Ecuador. During the year and a 

 half comprised in this chapter there is nothing in 

 the shape of a Journal, but the letters to his friends, 

 Messrs. Teasdale, Bentham, and Sir William 

 Hooker, furnish materials for a fairly complete 

 account of his life and work during this period. 

 His explorations covered a large extent of the 

 surrounding mountains and forests, and as he was 

 often away from Ambato for weeks or months at a 

 time, I shall now commence each chapter with the 

 full " List of Botanical Excursions," which is suffi- 

 ciently detailed to enable the reader, by the help of 

 the map, to follow his wanderings, and thus to 

 better understand the references he makes in the 

 letters to the places he has visited. It will be 

 seen that he made a stay of some weeks at Quito 

 in order to explore the neighbouring mountain 



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