x,x IN THE ECUADOREAX ANDES 209 



covering up my face with my hands, I resigned my- 

 self to the sorrowful reflection that I must leave all 

 these fine things " to waste their sweetness on the 

 desert air." From that point upwards one may 

 safely assume that nearly everything was new, 

 and I have no doubt that the tract of country lying 

 eastward from Pasto and Popayan, where are the 

 head-waters of the Japura, Uaupes, and Guaviare- 

 probably nearly conterminous offers as rich a 

 field for a botanist as any in South America. But 

 I have made inquiries as to the possibility of reach- 

 ing it, and I find that it will be necessary to cross 

 paramos of the most rugged and inhospitable char- 

 acter, and afterwards risk oneself among wild and 

 fierce Indians, so that I fear its exploration must 

 be left to some one younger and more vigorous 

 than myself. 



If I remain in this country and clo not make 

 Quito my head-quarters, I suppose I must go to 

 Loja, where the climate is more temperate and the 

 flora no doubt magnificent. People who travel 

 that way all speak with admiration of the abundance 

 and beauty of the flowers. 1 



To Sir William Hooker 



QUITO, Au^-. 15, 1858. 



The house in which 1 reside is on the very slope 

 of Pichincha, and is actually the last house in Ouito, 



1 The route aimi^ tin.- < 'ordilleru to I.nja is now link- traversi d, and is 

 difficult and expensive. The s<>. called " road '' has no mending (or marring) 

 save what it gets from the rains and the liooN of the imile^. There i 

 not a single road in the Ecuador. 



VOL. ii r 



