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VI. Notes of a Visit to Mexico, Guatemala, and Equatorial Ame- 

 rica, during the Years 1836 to 1843, in search of Plants and 

 Seeds for the Horticultural Society of London. By Mr. 

 Theodore Hartweg. 



After a voyage of fifty-eight days I arrived, on the third of De- 

 cember, 1836, at Vera Cruz; and immediately, after landing my 

 luggage, I took advantage of the offer of Mr. De Wilde, a partner 

 m the house of Messrs. Stallforth and Co., to proceed to the 

 farm of Mr. Lavater, a gentleman to whom I had letters of intro- 

 duction. Two days' riding, over a country without regular roads 

 and through ravines, brought me to Zaquapan, the name of this 

 gentleman's residence. 



F or three leagues, from Vera Cruz to Santa Fe, the road lay over 

 a sandy plain by the seaside, covered partly by Convolvulus mari- 

 timus, a large round-leaved Opuntia, a Croton, and, above all, by 

 Mimosa pudica. At Santa Fe the vegetation became more luxu- 

 riant, and the small shrubs were replaced by stately Palms, Aca- 

 cias, several Scitamineous plants, and various climbers. However, 

 being anxious to quit the lowlands, which so often prove fatal to 

 new comers, I did not particularly examine them. 



Zaquapan is placed at an elevation of about 3,000 feet above the 

 level of the sea, on the eastern declivity of the snow-clad Orizaba, 

 which attains the height of more than 17,000 feet; the climate is 

 temperate and the place surrounded with the richest vegetation I 

 ever saw in Mexico. Upon leaving the savannahs, which are 

 covered with a scanty undergrowth, I entered a forest of Oaks, 

 ( Quercus jalapensis, H.B.K.) and there a change took place as if 

 brought on by magic ; Orchidacece, for which I had been on the 

 look out since I left Vera Cruz, and of the finding of which I had 



