314 MR. SPRUCE'S EXPEDITION— Chap. XIX. 



in 5° S. To tlie north it scarcely passes the latitude of 

 1° S. ; and these precious trees are thus confined within 

 a very narrow latitudinal zoue.^ Within the ascertained 

 limits of the true " red-bark " tree, it exists in all the valleys 

 of the Andes which debouch on the plain of Guayaquil ; 

 but great havoc has been made amongst the trees of late 

 years by the bark-collectors. In the valleys of Alausi, 

 Pallatanga, and Chi] lanes (see map) all the large trees 

 have already been cut doAvn. At the bases of the ridges 

 of Angas and San Antonio, the localities originally men- 

 tioned by Pavon, and where " red-bark " trees once grew 

 in abundance, the same destructive system has been adopted ; 

 and now the " red-bark " grounds are confined to the ravine 

 of the river Chasuan, and its tributaries, which rise on the 

 northern slopes of Chimborazo, and fall into the river of 

 Guayaquil. 



On the 22nd of July 1859 Mr, Spruce set out from the 

 pleasant town of Ambato, in the Quitenian Andes, where lie 

 was then residing, and, passing through Alausi, arrived at the 

 banks of the river Chanchan, and established himself at a 

 place called Lucmas, which is conveniently near the " red- 

 bark" chinchona forests. Lucmas is a sugar-cane farm, 

 between 5000 and 6000 feet above the sea ; there are forest- 

 trees in the valleys and on the hills, while the steep slopes 

 are often covered with scrub and grass. From Lucmas Mr. 

 Spruce went to the forests on the banks of the river Puma- 

 chaca, which rises in the mountain of Asuay, and falls into 

 the Chanchan, at an elevation of 4000 feet. One circum- 

 stance, among many, will give an idea of the difficulties 

 which he had to encounter. On reaching the Pumachaca 

 he found that the ford had been destroyed by the falling of a 



^ There is no ascertained law by the Andes of Pasta and Popayan, in 

 whicli many of the species of the chm- { New Granada, there are the conditions 

 chona genus are tlius hmited to narrow of climate and altitude requisite for the 

 zones as regards latitude. IMr. iSprucc I growth of C. succiruhra, hut it has not 

 mentions that on the lower regions of | been fouii<l tliere. 



