30 THE HUANUCO REGION : Chap. II. 



cent, of chinchonine. The trees are found in forest-regions 

 veiled in fog and rain, and often exposed to frost, where 

 the temperature ranges from freezing-point to 77° Fahr., at 

 heights of 7000 feet and upwards above the level of the sea. 

 They attain a height of 80 feet and 5 feet in diameter, but 

 the average size is 30 or 40 feet high and 3 feet in girth.^ 

 Seeds of this species, collected by Dr. Karsten, were sent to 

 Java, and there are now several plants raised from these 

 seeds in India.*^ 



I find that between 1802 and 1807 the export of New 

 Granada bark from the port of Carthagena was 3,340,000 lbs. ; 

 the largest quantity in one year being 48,330 lbs. in 1806. 

 The first arrivals in Spain sold at 5 to 6 dollars a pound, but 

 in 1808 they were worth next to nothing, owing to the da- 

 maged state in which the bark arrived.'' 



IV.— THE HUANUCO EEGION IN NOETHEEN PEEU, AND ITS 

 GEEY BAEKS. 



The chinchona-trees, in the forests of the province of 

 Huanuco, in Northern Peru, were discovered by Don Fran- 

 cisco Renquifo in 1776, on the mountain of San Cristoval de 

 Cuchero or Cocheros ; and Don Manuel Alcarraz brought the 

 first sample of bark from Huanuco to Lima. 



At almost the same time the Spanish government was 

 organizing a botanical expedition to exj)lore the chinch ona 



* Flora; Colmnhice specimina selecta, \ situations fur the production of alkaloids 

 i. p. 21 : Berlin, 1858. A superbly il- ' in chinchona barks, and other particulars 

 lustrated work by Dr. Karsten. I respecting the growth of the bark, and 



^ Die medic iniscl ten Chinarinden the methods of collecting it. Dr. Kars- 

 Neu-Granadas, von H. Karsten : Berhn, j ten is a careful observer and a scientific 

 1858. I have had tliis pampldct trans- ' botanist and chemist, and liis observa- 

 lated for the use of those intrusted tions fonu a very important adtUtion to 

 with, or interested in, tlic chinchona cul- our knowledge of this subject, 

 tivation in India and Ceylon. It con- '' Report of the Administrador Bon 

 tains a great deal of valuable infor- Ignacio Cavero, Semanario, p. 183. 

 mation respecting the most favourable 



