872 CHINCHONA OR PERUVIAN BARK. 



he descended, and led his party, sometimes for hours together, 

 through the tangled wilderness, using the wood-knife to mark 

 his way to the chinchona clump. As soon as it was found, 

 rude huts were built, and the parties commenced their work. 

 Having with their axes laid the tree level with the ground, 

 cutting it as close as possible to the roots, the work of strip- 

 ping off the bark was commenced. The original mode of 



FELLING THE CHINCHONA-TREE. 



doing this is still continued. It is done by dividing the 

 stems into pieces of uniform length. The bark is then cut 

 lengthwise, so as to remove the rind without injuring the 

 wood, or severing any of the fibres. In a few days the bark 

 is taken off in strips as broad as possible, and is afterwa,rds 

 pressed out into flat pieces. That, however, taken from the 

 thinner branches is allowed to retain its form, and is known 



