C'riAr. XIX. THE "EED BARKS." 317 



about six feet high, not coming up to the roof in any part of 

 it. This was their dormitory, and it was reached by a ladder, 

 merely a trunk of a tree with rude notches for steps. On 

 the ground-floor was the kitchen, with a wall of rough planks 

 of raft wood, not touching each other ; so that the whole 

 fabric was abundantly ventilated, and only too often filled 

 with fog, causing coughs, achiug limbs, and mouldy clothes. 



This was their head-quarters dm-ing the time that they 

 were collecting seeds and plants ; and the severe hardships, 

 miserable lodging, and acute sufferings from illness must 

 increase our admiration for Mr. Spruce's zeal and resolution 

 in performing this great public service. 



Mr. Cross, the gardener whom I had engaged to assist Mr. 

 Spruce, conveyed the fiifteen ^Yardian cases, which I had 

 predously sent to Guayaquil, up the river as fai* as Ventanas, 

 and reached Limon on the 27th of July. 



In the mean while ISlv. Spruce had carefully examined the 

 chinchona forests, and visited all the bark-trees known to exist 

 within reach of Limon. He found a good crop of capsules 

 on many of them, which had abeady nearly reached their full 

 size on the finest trees ; on others, however, there were only 

 very young capsules, and even a good many flowers, and not 

 one of the late-flowering panicles produced ripe capsules. 

 On the tree which bore most capsules they began to turn 

 mouldy, the mould being not fimgi, but rudimentary lichens, 

 which, wliilst it proved that the capsules were still alive and 

 growing, proved also that they were exposed to an atmosphere 

 almost constantly saturated with moisture. 



The manehmi or clump of " red-bark " trees at Limon lies 

 nearly west from the peak of Chimborazo, and the river 

 Chasuan rises on the northern shoulder of that mountain. 

 The view from Limon takes in a vast extent of country, and 

 the whole is unbroken forest, save towards the source of the 

 Chasuan, where a lofty ridge rises above the region of 



