AMAZONIAN VEGETATION 347 



TRANSLATION OF SANTANDER'S LETTER 

 To Ricardo Spruce 



AM BATO, June 30, 1867. 



[The letter begins : " My never forgotten 

 friend," and after two pages giving a full descrip- 

 tion of the box of specimens (also asked for) he 

 has sent to Mr. H anbury, and his prospects of 

 getting the much -desired Canelo, he continues 

 thus :] 



I now pass on to my own affairs and those of 

 my family. I wrote to Inez (his eldest daughter) 

 with your salutations, and she replies saluting you 

 most affectionately. She says that her first little 

 boy already bears the name of Juan Elias, and 

 that she reserves the name of Ricardo for her 

 second. Her husband and her father-in-law (Don 

 Rafael Paz y Mino), who both know you, salute 

 you with many caresses. . . . As respects my 

 family, we are all here at your orders, truly desiring 

 to see you and embrace you, for even yet tears 

 accompany the memory of our absent friend. 

 Isabelito and Pachito (his younger children) are in 

 despair to see you and embrace you, and say : 

 " Oh that London was no farther off than Ambato 

 to Lligna, that we might go to Senor Ricardo ! 

 But as an immense distance separates us, there is 

 no alternative but to console ourselves with v< nil- 

 letters. Isabel (his wife) is ready to complain that 

 she ever knew you, because she could not then 

 have felt your loss ; but consoles herself with tin- 

 hope that one clay you will return to Ambato, stout, 

 healthy, and rich. This is what we all desire, and 



