Chap. XIX. OF C. CONDAMINEA. 327 



on a little rounded eminence near the summit of the moun- 

 tain, which, being far from public roads or other dwellings, 

 seemed well suited for his head-quarters during the time that 

 he was searching for seeds. For be it remembered that the 

 Decree of May 1st, 18G1, ab-eady mentioned, was in full force, 

 and that he was running the risk of fine and imprisonment in 

 performing this important service. The owner of the hut, who 

 was an experienced bark-collector, allowed Mr. Cross to esta- 

 blish himself in a little shed at one end of it, which, although 

 favom'able for drying seeds, was so cold that he was some- 

 times compelled, during windy nights, to seek shelter in the 

 bottom of a neighbouring ravine. 



After many comparatively unsuccessful searches in the 

 surrounding woods, he was one day passing along the bank 

 of a steep ravine, and, happening to look over a projecting 

 rock, he saw a number of fine young trees of the G. Cmi- 

 daminea on the steep slope beneath, some of wliich bore a 

 few panicles of seeds, which, on examination, he found to be 

 perfectly ripe. After this discovery he continued to search 

 all the ravines in the vicinity from sunrise to smiset, some 

 of which he had to descend by means of the trailing stems 

 of a species of Passijiora, and in this way a good supply ol' 

 seeds was collected. He reports that on the accessible slopes 

 there are few chinchona-trees, owing partly to the annual 

 burning, and partly to continual cropping of the young shoots 

 by cattle. He describes the rocks, composed of micaceous 

 schist and gneiss, as being, in many places, in a state of 

 decomposition, and states that large portions are frequently 

 tumbling down from the more elevated summits. The 

 alluvial deposit in the ravines, where the C. Cmdaminea is 

 found growing, is shallow, in many places not more than six 

 inches in depth, and Mr. Cross often gathered seeds from 

 trees which were growing in clefts of rock, where there was 

 not a sin^de ounce of soil to be found. He describes the 



