122 



Notes of a Visit to Mexico, 



expected to have found some Pine seeds which had been promised 

 me by the Company's forester at Bolanos ; but not receiving any, 

 I went there myself without loss of time, and found to my great 

 regret, that the cones had all shed their seeds. I then joined a 

 convoy for Guadalajara whence I returned to Bolanos and Zacate- 

 cas, with scarcely an acquisition to remunerate me for that long 

 journey. 



Having now received permission to proceed in the direction I 

 thought most proper, always, however, visiting the more elevated 

 parts, because they were most likely to furnish plants that will 

 endure the open air in England, I resolved to leave the arid plains 

 in the north, and proceed to Morelia the capital of the State of 

 Mechoacan. The country about this town, from its broken surface, 

 presents a beautiful vegetation ; in the higher parts Pines and Oaks 

 grow intermixed, and the latter are adorned with a great variety of 

 Epiphytes. On the western declivity towards the active volcano 

 Jorullo, I found Pinus oocarpa in great abundance, forming a tree 

 40 to 50 feet high ; of this I secured an ample supply of seeds, but 

 from its low situation, I fear it will not be proof against our north- 

 ern winters. The cones of this pine after being ripe will remain 

 on the tree without opening for two or three years, and the seeds 

 in them are equally as sound as the fresh ones. In the more ele- 

 vated parts I found the showy Fuchsia fulgens, in the greatest per- 

 fection, and beside it Rigidella flammea, bearing its bright scarlet 

 flowers on a scape 3 to 4 feet high. In the more shaded places the 

 pretty little Hydrotcenia meleagris and Ariscema macrospatha were 

 met with. In pastures, Bravoa geminiflora and Cyclobothra bar- 

 bata were common. 



After a two months' stay in this interesting country I left for An- 

 gangueo, at which place I arrived after a two days' ride over a moun- 

 tain road, where I observed fine trees of Pinus leiophylla and pseu- 

 dostrobus, the former being called" Ocote chino" because, from its 

 abundance of resin, it yields the best « Ocote " or candlewood ; it 



