CINCHONA FOREST. 



193 



CHAPTER JUL 



Cmchona forest — Indians shooting fish — Department of the Beni — Vinchuta — 

 Small pox — Canichanas boat's crew— Cotton cloth and silver coins— Our faith- 

 ful servant Jose Casses and the mules — Trade at Vinchuta — A night on Coni 

 creek — Embarkation at the base of the Andes — Chapare river — Canoe life — 

 Floods — Bark cloth — Pick up the sick — Indians at prayers in the wilderness — 

 Lassoing an alligator. 



The cinchona trees of Bolivia are found in that boisterous uninhabited 

 region on the east side of the Andes which we have just passed through, 

 in a sort of belt all along the side of the mountains, stretching from 

 about half-way down to the feet of the Andes ; a beautiful green skirt, 

 which clothes these lofty mountains and protects their nakedness from 

 the heavy east winds and beating rains. The general impression on the 

 other side of this valuable forest is, that the cinchona tree may be found 

 many miles to the eastward of where the bark gatherer has penetrated, 

 This is not so ; probably most of them have touched the lowest edge of 

 this rich dress. On^the road to the head of the Madre-de-Dios, in Cuzco, 

 I passed beyond where the bark gatherers went, and Leechler, who made 

 his living by collecting bark, was constantly saying to me, after we got 

 fairly down into the bottom of the Amazon basin, "I see no cinchona 

 trees, sir, and I am looking out for my fortune down here." When we 

 returned to the boisterous region, there he was calling my attention to 

 the shining leaf, clearly distinguished from the other foliage. 



The impression in Bolivia is that the Yungas forest is giving out, and 

 the bark gatherers are turning their attention to the Yuracares forests. 

 There is no doubt that the forests of Yungas have been nearly stripped 

 of this valuable tree. The only way to save the cinchona tree is to take 

 the bark off in strips, so that the tree will cover itself again, and then the 

 supply will be constant. The decree issued by the government, prohib- 

 iting the cutting of bark for the next three years, is no remedy. The 

 forest does not become enriched by a new growth of trees in that time. 

 It requires a man's life, and probably more, for the cinchona tree to be- 

 come of full size, and after the first growth is cut down that species of 

 tree may be forever lost to the land where it was originally found in 

 such abundance. The cinchona tree requires care and protection. 



At daylight in the morning twelve or fourteen Indians came to San 

 Antonio's shed to see us. Three of them were on their way to a lake 

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