ESPIRITU SANTO. 



181 



ped in their misty robes. The freshness of the foliage and thickness of 

 the leaves present different shaped clusters, so heavy and massive that 

 there seemed to be a difficulty on the soil for the crowds of trees and 

 little saplings to find room to grow. At the foot of the steep hill on 

 which the Indian's hut stood, a small piece of flat land, by the side of the 

 stream, was thickly planted with sugar canes. We gathered some 

 tobacco seed which was ripening on stalks nine feet high. The Indian 

 was a Quichua ; his only comfort appeared to be in chewing coca, and 

 his only companions three tamed turkey hens. His house was well 

 built, the sides being open work, and roof well thatched with wild palm 

 leaf. A stick of wood with notches leaned in one corner towards the 

 loft. This was his stairway. As we sling our hamacs in the lower story, 

 the old man went up to bed. I told Jose to inquire why he slept up 

 there, and we found he was in the habit of doing so not to be at home 

 to the tigers, who troubled him by repeated and unwelcome visits during 

 the night. He had no objection to their calling in the day time, as then 

 he was ready to trade saltpetre and lead for a tiger's skin, which became 

 valuable at the Pacific coast. 



Looking down the ravine we saw the Espiritu Santo descending with 

 the land, thickly coated in green. The forest trees are not so large as 

 we expected them ; none of them are equal to the oaks of North Amer- 

 ica. The old Indian pointed out the cinchona leaf on the opposite side 

 of the ravine, but said there were few trees in his neighborhood, that the 

 bark gatherers entered the woods farther towards the northwest of us. 



The descent here is not near so precipitous as to the east of Cuzco, 

 though the difference in height between it and the last ridges we 

 crossed was very small. The road near the Espiritu Santo is over ridges 

 of hills which run parallel with the range of mountains, decreasing as 

 we descend. We rise up a short distance, and then descend on the long 

 side, like a boat forcing its way seaward through the rollers of the coast, 

 which, as they approach the land, become mere breakers. We passed a 

 comfortable night in the hut, which protected us from heavy rains ac- 

 companied with lightning. 



Farther down, at a settlement called Espiritu Santo, about one hun- 

 dred Creoles were cultivating land on both sides of a ravine, which 

 widens as we descend. They were clearing coca patches of weeds; 

 looked ghastly, thin, sallow, and distressed. The climate did not agree 

 with them. I never saw so miserably weak, broken down a caste of 

 men. The women looked more healthy, but there were few of them. 



The coca plants were small and unthrifty; the moss gathered about 

 their trunks gave them the appearance of trees placed in uncongenial 



