M. LOMBARD!. 



109 



while the continual moisture has enabled many species 

 of the plain, elsewhere dried up at this season, to 

 maintain a vigorous growth. The little expedition 

 was full of interest, and, with the aid of Mr. Nation's 

 extensive local knowledge, I was able to make 

 acquaintance with many forms of vegetation not 

 hitherto seen. It was necessary to return early to the 

 town, as my Chicla collections required many hours 

 of diligent work until nightfall, when I had the 

 pleasure of joining an agreeable party at the house 

 of Mr. Graham, the British charge d'ajfaircs. 



Among other scientific or social engagements, I 

 called on the following day upon M. Lombardi, the 

 author of a voluminous work on Peru, of which three 

 large volumes have already appeared. M. Lombardi 

 is a man of varied and extensive acquirements, espe- 

 cially in natural history, and in the course of frequent 

 travels through the interior has accumulated a large 

 mass of new materials of no slight value. Unfortu- 

 nately, his work has been planned on a scale need- 

 lessly vast and costly ; and now that the funds, at one 

 time freely supplied by the Government, are no longer 

 forthcoming, the prospect of its completion seems 

 rather uncertain. The drawings and dissections of 

 many species of plants from the higher regions of the 

 Andes not hitherto figured, which M. Lombardi was 

 good enough to show me, appeared to be very care- 

 fully executed, and their publication, in whatever form, 

 would be welcomed by botanists. 



I had accepted an invitation to visit on the 27th a 



hacienda belonging to Don R. C and his brothers 



at a place called Caudivilla, about twenty miles north 



