CHAPTER XXII 



ON THE SHORES OF THE PACIFIC : SPRUCE'S LAST 

 THREE YEARS IN SOUTH AMERICA 



[DURING the whole of this period Spruce was 

 struggling hard against the severe illness which 

 prostrated him for the remainder of his life. The 

 list of his Botanical Excursions gives a connected 

 view of his movements in search of health, and the 

 few letters he wrote to his friends give a sufficiently 

 vivid picture of his life and occupations, when he 

 could do little more than rest and make those 

 minute observations on the country and the people 

 which were his chief consolation during the weari- 

 some years of forced inactivity. 



One result of these observations was an elaborate 

 paper of 80 pages, on the district of Piura, in 

 which he resided for nearly two years, more 

 especially in relation to the cultivation of cotton 

 there. This paper was published by the Foreign 

 Office, but is now out of print ; and as it describes 

 a district very rarely visited by European travellers, 

 I here reproduce those portions of it (about one-third 

 of the whole) which are of general or botanical 

 interest. They also serve to show how caretully 

 Spruce utilised his opportunities for scientific obser- 

 vation, even under the most adverse conditions.] 



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