Chap. XIX. THE " EED BARKS." 319 



been disturbed ; all the rest grew from old stools, whose 

 circumference averaged from 4 to 5 feet. He was unable to 

 find a single young plant under the trees, although many of 

 the latter bore signs of having flowered in previous years ; and 

 this was explained by the flowering trees invariably growing 

 in open places, where the ground was either weeded, or 

 trodden do^vn by cattle. 



Mr. Spruce describes the C. succiruhra or " red-bark " tree 

 as very handsome, and he declares that, in looking out over 

 the forest, he could never find any other tree at all com- 

 parable to it for beauty. It is fifty feet high, branching from 

 about one-third of its height, with large, broadly ovate, deep 

 green, and shining leaves, mixed with decaying ones of a 

 blood-red colour, which give it a most striking appearance. 



Tlie Cascarilla magnlfoUa, a very handsome tree, with a 

 fragrant white flower, grows abundantly with the " red bark," 

 and attains a height of 80 feet. 



After the arrival of Mr. Cross at Limon the work of col- 

 lecting commenced in earnest. A piece of ground was 

 fenced in, and Mr. Cross made a pit and prepared the soil to 

 receive cuttings, of which he put in above a thousand on 

 the 1st of August and following days ; and he afterwards 

 went round to all the old stools and put in as many layers 

 from them as possible. "But," as Mr. Spruce most truly 

 observes, " only those who have attempted to do anything in 

 the forest, possessing scarcely any of the necessary appli- 

 ances, can have any idea of the difficidties, and Mr. Cross's 

 unremitting watchfulness alone enabled him to sm-mount 

 them." 



Towards the end of July, in a few sunny days, the fruit of 

 the "red-bark" trees made visible advances towards matu- 

 rity; and in the middle of August the capsules began to 

 burst at the base, and appeared ripe. An Indian was then 

 sent up the trees, and, breaking the panicles gently off, let 



