IN THE ECUADOREAN ANDES 213 



RlOBAMBA, NOV. 2, 1858. 



. . . Since I last wrote to you I have several 

 times done the 40 miles from Ambato to Riobamba 

 in one day, and the distance begins to seem much less 

 than at first. But my back is just now aching con- 

 siderably from having ridden 112 miles in three 

 clays, for the most part along steep and dangerous 

 declivities. I left Quito in September and came 

 straight on to Riobamba, and then 60 miles farther, 

 in a south-westerly direction, crossing the summit 

 of the Cordillera at an elevation of 12,500 feet, and 

 then descending to the valley of Pallatanga at 5000 

 to 6000 feet. This pass, called the Paramo de 

 Naba, is far lower than that over the shoulder of 

 Chimborazo (14,000 feet) on the way from Quito 

 and Ambato to Guayaquil. I scarcely suffered 

 from the cold on Naba, although I was buffeted 

 by a hail-storm ; and I gathered there some very 

 interesting plants, including the beautiful Gentiana 

 cernua found by Humboldt and Bonpland on Chim- 

 borazo. It is great pity that these fine Andine 

 Gentians have proved so difficult to cultivate in 

 England. Anderson, the famous nurseryman of 

 Edinburgh, has succeeded in raising a great main 

 plants of the Andes, from seeds sent to him by 

 Professor Jameson of Quito, but I am told that 

 none of the Gentians have survived. It is difficult 

 to imitate the conditions of their growth ; for some 

 of them endure frost nearly every night of their 

 lives, yet so light is the pressure of air upon them 

 that the frost injures them not ; yet they die when 

 frozen in the dense atmosphere of the plains. 

 have seen epiphytal Orchids Oncidiums, Odonto- 



