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



important point ; and he finally determined to carry on his 

 collecting operations, in the season of 1860, at a place called 

 Limon, at the junction of a stream of that name with the 

 river Chasuan, which falls into the river of Ventanas at a 

 place called Aguacatal. (See map.) The forests are all 

 private property, and, after much negotiation with the owners, 

 Senor Cordovez of Ambato, and Dr. Xeyra of Guaranda, an 

 agreement was made by which, on payment of 400 dollars, 

 Mr. Spruce was allowed to take as many seeds and plants as 

 he Kked, on condition that he did not touch the bark. 



Mr. Spruce had made arrangements for Dr. Taylor of 

 Eiobamba to proceed to Loxa, and collect seeds of the 

 C. Condaminea species ; but a severe rheumatic and nervous 

 attack, almost amounting to paralysis, induced him to resign 

 the duty of collecting the " red bark " to Dr. Taylor, and it 

 was only at the last moment that he was strong enough to 

 undertake the jom-ney in company with his friend. Durmg 

 the whole time that Mr. Spruce was at work he was suffering 

 severely from illness ; the benefit derived from the milder 

 climate of the forests was neutralized by the fogs and damp ; 

 and, to use his own words, " although upheld by a determi- 

 nation to execute to the best of my ability the task I had 

 undertaken, I was but too often in that state of prostration 

 when to lie down quietly and die would have seemed a 

 relief." Leaving the town of Ambato on the 11th of June, 

 ]Mr. Spruce and Dr. Taylor reached Guaranda on the 13th, 

 and continued theu* jom-ney towards the forests on the 17th. 

 At a very little below 4000 feet above the sea they reached 

 the small farms at Limon. Their abode stood on a narrow 

 ridge sloping gradually to the river Chasuan. It was merely 

 a long low shed, two-thirds of which was occupied by the 

 rude machinery of a sugar-cane mill ; the remaining thii-d 

 had an upper story with a flooring of bamboo-planks, half of 

 it open at the sides, and the other half witli a bamboo wall 



