THE FLORA OF THE ANDES. 401 



affords in this respect incomparably the best conditions 

 for the study of the geographical range of plants as 

 influenced by altitude but it is to be feared that there 

 is yet a great deal to be said and done before the 

 flora of the Andes can be considered to have been 

 exhaustively investigated. A good deal of their western 

 slopes in Peru and Chili are of a very barren character, 

 consisting in many places of vast ranges of volcanic 

 sand and gravels which appear when viewed in the 

 distance to be wholly devoid of vegetation ; on a nearer 

 approach however, this illusion is dispelled by finding 

 considerable areas dotted over with grasses and many 

 kinds of plants; while in ravines along the course of 

 streams dwarf trees and bush ascend to considerable 

 elevations, but it is on the eastern side almost exclu- 

 sively that luxuriant growths are common. Towards the 

 northern part of the continent however, from Panama 

 downwards to the southern limits of Ecuador in the 

 region of the equatorial rains, the country is generally 

 covered with forest on both sides of the mountains, and 

 presents a rich and varied appearance. To form an 

 idea of the wealth of the tropical vegetation of this 

 region, a splendid excursion may be made from 

 Guayaquil to Quito, a distance of about 160 miles, 

 which in our day had to be performed on horseback, 

 and took some eight or ten days to do. The road 

 leads mostly through the forest, along the slopes of 

 the Chimborazo, a volcano 21,424 feet in height. * The 

 scenery is magnificent, and the traveller passes through 

 every variation of climate, from the sweltering heat of 

 Guayaquil to the city of Quito, situated at an altitude 



* Encyd. Brit., Vol. ii, p. 17 (Art. "Andes"). 

 VOL. II. 26 



