ACCOUNT OF THE ARAUCARIA IMBRICATA OF CHILI. 
months after they were ripe, and being 
sowed immediately, the period was just 
that of the Chilian spring. Of some hun- 
dreds, about thirty came up, but ignorance 
of the true climate, which led to the error 
- Of placing the young plants in a hot-house, 
killed the greater part during the first year. 
To my great satisfaction, however, about 
six individual plants have been preserved 
in different places, and they are, to the best 
of my belief, the only ones in Europe.! The 
specimen in the Botanic Garden at Leipzic 
flourishes beautifully, it is about twenty 
inches high, and already bears four long 
branches in whorls. The wood of the 
Araucaria is red where it has been affect- 
ed by the forest fires; but otherwise it is 
white, and, towards the centre of the stem, 
bright yellow. It yields to none in hard- 
ness and solidity, and might prove valua- 
ble for many uses, if the places of growth 
of the tree were less inaccessible. For 
ship-building it would be useful, but is 
much too heavy for masts. If a branch be 
Scratched, or the scales of an unripe fruit 
be broken, a thick milky juice immediately 
exudes, that soon changes to a yellowish 
resin, of which the smell is agreeable, and 
Which is considered by the Chilians as 
possessing such medicinal virtues, that it 
Cures the most violent rheumatic head- 
aches, when applied to the spot where the 
pain is felt. 
The Araucaria forest of Antuco is the 
Most northerly that is known in Chili, so 
the boundary of this king of all the 
extratropical American Trees, may be es- 
at 36° south latitude. The ex- 
treme southern limit is not so clearly 
certained, which is not surprizing, when 
. We consider how little, comparatively, is 
| f western Patagonia; it seems 
à probable, however, that it does not stretch 
far beyond lat. 46^. Between Antuco and 
is Valdivia this tree only grows among the 
» and as the Indians assert, solely on 
UNS * Many were raised previous to this period, by Mr. 
nm Marry, at the Glasgow Botanic Garden, from seeds 
__ Seat by Mr. Cruckshanks, from Chili. 
355 
their western declivities, and no where 
lower than from 1,500 to 2,000 feet below 
the snow-line, up to which they frequently 
reach. Further to the South, the Arauca- 
ria appears at a lower elevation, and in the 
country of the Cuncos and about Osorno 
is said to occur on mountains of a very 
moderate altitude near the sea. The Cor- 
covado, a mountain that rises opposite 
Childe, is said to be studded, from its foot 
to the snow-line, with large groupes of 
these beautiful trees. Of all other vege- 
tation, the Araucaria forests are as bare 
as the Pine-woods, offering but few plants 
which can interest the Botanist. Steep 
rocky ridges, where there is no water, are 
its favourite habitat. We were obliged to 
seek this needful article at a considerable 
distance from our bivouac ; but, our frugal 
supper not requiring much cooking, we 
soon stretched ourselves on the hard rock 
to sleep, under the lullaby of a storm, to 
which the lofty summits above us imparted 
the most singular tones. All of us who 
had been accustomed to such primitive 
beds might have rested well enough, if a 
fog had not descended upon us about mid- 
night, which was so dense, as nearly to 
extinguish our fire. Matters became still 
worse, when violent thunder and hail ap- 
prized us that not even a forest of Arauca- 
rias could shelter the traveller from the 
wrath of the Cordillera.? We all trembled ; 
my companions, however, chiefly from 
fear and superstition, though the tempera- 
ture was sufficiently low to occasion a 
shudder in thinly-clad travellers. The 
anxiously looked for morning brought a 
brighter sky, and the means of kindling a 
cheerful and genial fire. A yo man, 
who had joined us the preceding day, suc- 
ceeded (by means of his lasso, which he 
threw over one of the lowest branches) in 
ascending a tree, from which he brought 
down many branches, loaded with their 
truly colossal fruit, which have since arrived 
safely in Germany. 
* See Colonel Hall’s Travels in the Quitenian An- 
des. 
