324 MR. PRITCHETT'S EXPEDITION— Chap. XTX. 



of August lie stai-ted for the coast M'ith his collection of seeds, 

 and half a mule-load of young chinchona-plants, which were 

 in perfect health when placed in the Wardian cases at Lima. 



Mr. Pritchett reports that in the district around Cocheros, 

 Casapi, and Carpis, the rocks are of crystalline formation, in 

 many localities highly disintegTated, and composed of masses 

 of hornblende, felspar, and mica. He remarks that felspar 

 contains much potash, of which the chinchona-trees are said to 

 require a large quantity for their full development ; and, as 

 felspar abounds in this region, he attributes the abundance 

 and size of the chinchona-trees to this circumstance. He also 

 reports that steatite, a silicate of magnesia and alumina, 

 abounds in the vicinity of Huanuco. 



He describes the climate as moist and warm, and says that 

 the difference in the degree of moisture and warmth between 

 the lower slopes where the G. micrantha flourishes, and the 

 higher parts of the mountains inhabited by the O. 7iitida, 

 is very strikmg, while on the lower slopes the soil is much 

 deeper and richer." He reports the elevation of Cocheros 

 above the level of the sea to be about 4000 feet,'' but he made 

 no meteorological or other observations ; and I think there 

 can be no doubt that the elevation of that mountain is much 

 greater than ]Mr. Pritchett supposes. I do not find any in- 

 formation on this point in Poeppig's travels ; but the Huanuco 

 region is quite a beaten track, and there are several accounts 

 of it by modern travellers. Huanuco itself is 6300 feet 

 above the sea';^ the distance thence to the summit of the 

 cuesta del Carpis, which is 8000 feet above the sea, is about 

 twenty miles, and there is a descent on the other side into 

 the valley of the Casapi of 2920 feet.^ According to this 



« Letter from Mr. Pritcliett to the j dated Dec. 13, 1860. 

 Under Secretary of State for India, '^ Smytli's Journey from Lima to 

 dated Jidy 9, 1861. Para, p. CS. 



7 Letter from Mr. Pritchett to the ® Herndon's Valleij of the Amazon, 

 Under Secretary of State for India, ' p. 126. 



