326 MB. CROSS'S COLLECTION CIiiap. XIX. 



intention of sending Dr. Taylor to collect seeds of C. Conda- 

 niinea at Loxa, one portion of my scheme for introducing all 

 the valuable species into India remained incomplete at the 

 close of 1860. On my return from India, therefore, in IMay 

 1861, I obtained the sanction of the Secretary of State for 

 India to take measures for obtaining a supply of seeds from 

 the Loxa forests. Mr. Cross, the gardener who had so ably 

 assisted Mr. Spruce, and shared his labours, after safely 

 depositing the collection of seeds and plants in India, had* 

 returned to South America, attracted by the richness and 

 variety of the flora of the Andes. Having acquired expe- 

 rience of the people and language, of the localities Avhere 

 chinchona-trees are found, and of the mode of travelling, 

 during his former visit, he possessed the necessary qualifi- 

 cations ; and, as Mr. Spruce was too ill to undertake the work, 

 it was intrusted to Mr. Cross, who performed it with expe- 

 dition and success. He is an excellent practical gardener, 

 intelligent and persevering, ardently devoted to his profes- 

 sion, and thoroughly trustworthy. 



On the 17th of September, 1861, Mr. Cross left Guayaquil 

 in an open rowing boat, and landed at Santa Rosa, the 

 port of the province of Loxa, whence he proceeded, by way 

 of Zaruma, to the town of Loxa, which he reached on the 

 27th. He had to pass through dense swampy forests, over 

 dangerous precipitous ridges of the jindes, in crossing one of 

 which his mule slipped doM'u a deep ravine and was dashed 

 to* pieces, and along barren lofty plains. He mentions that 

 dm-mg the ascent to Zaruma he saw several " red-bark " 

 trees growing at an elevation of eight or nine thousand feet. 



On the 1st of October he left Loxa, and went to a long 

 low ridge of hills, called the Sierra de Cajanuma, about eight 

 miles to the southward, a locality which is mentioned by 

 Humboldt, Bonpland, and Caldas, as the abode of the most 

 valuable kinds of ('. Condaminea. He came to an Indian hut 



