CnAP. XVTT. CLIMATE OF ISLAY. 287 



It was impossible not to feel regret that H. ]M. steamer 

 'Vixen,' then lying idle at Callao, had not been ordered 

 to take the plants direct across the Pacific to Madras, when 

 a majority would have arrived in perfect order. But this was 

 not to be, and we had to look forward to long voyages, seve- 

 ral trans-shipments, and the intense heat of the Ked Sea, 

 before this most valuable collection of plants could reach 

 their destination in Southern India. 



Yet it could not but be satisfactory to look back upon the 

 extraordinary difficulties we had overcome, the hardships and 

 dangers of the forests, the scarcity of the plants, the bewilder- 

 ing puzzle to find them amidst the dense underwood, the 

 endeavour to stop my journey first at Tambopata and then in 

 Sandia, the rapid flight across unknown parts of the Cordil- 

 lera, and the attempts first to stop and then to destroy the 

 plants at Islay : it was a som'ce of gratification to look back 

 upon all this, and then to see the great majority of the plants 

 budding and looking healthy in the Wardian cases. 



The climate at Islay, during the time that the plants 

 remained there, was as follows, from the Ist to the 24th 

 of June : — 



Mean temperature 69° Fahr. 



Mean minimum at night 60 



Highest temperature observed . . . . 73 



Lowest 58 



Entire range 15 



The temperature is almost exactly the same as that of the 

 Tambopata forests in May ; but the forests were always exceed- 

 ingly moist, while Islay is intensely dry. This, however, was 

 unimportant to the plants in their cases. 



