IN THE CINCHONA FORESTS 305 



The cases were all in readiness, and the raft 

 brought down the river and moored in front of the 

 farmhouse, but Mr. Cross did not arrive with the 

 plants until the i3th of December. Some diffi- 

 culty had been experienced in procuring the re- 

 quisite number of beasts of burden, and the making 

 of cylindrical baskets to contain the plants had 

 proved a tedious task ; besides that, the tying up 

 each plant in wet moss, and the packing them in 

 the baskets, were delicate operations which Mr. 

 Cross could trust to no hands but his own. There 

 had been not a few falls on the way, and some of 

 the baskets had got partially crushed by the wil- 

 fulness of the bulls in running through the bush ; 

 but the greater part of the plants turned out 

 wonderfully fresh. We had the cases taken down 

 to the raft, and Don Matias lent us a couple of men 

 to carry thither the earth, sand, and dead leaves 

 necessary for making the soil to put in the cases. 

 Mr. Cross put as many plants into the cases as he 

 could possibly find room for, and only rejected a 

 few that were so much injured by their journey 

 from Limon that they were not likely to survive 

 the voyage to India, the whole number put in 

 being 637. As we might expect some rough treat- 

 ment on the descent to Guayaquil, we did not 

 venture to put on the glasses, but in their stead 



canoe and the weight of its cargo. [ havi never known the lianas to i>n-ak : 

 and as I have sat in my canoe, an\ii>u-ly \\aii-liin- its .-lw upward pn^i. 5S, 

 my only raiv was thai the liana- urn- -rruivh fastened to iln prow, Ol 1 

 the sudden bursting of a whirlpool beneath tin- canoe -Imuld teai them 



tin.- haiuls (if UK- Indians, as the) \\ iih diffii uli\ h.-ld their \\ay almi.^ th-- rock) 

 shore. 



In the (luayaquil district, as mi the- Amazon, the aerial r<>ts of \ariim- 

 Aroideae and Carludovicx- are the mnmum substitute- I'm- string. Imi Ki^r 

 stems are always preferred win i i tn n^ih i i ssential. 



VOL. II A 



