By Mr. Theodore Hartweg. 



153 



great square in Riobamba. Chimborazo, like most elevated plains in 

 the Andes, is destitute of trees and shrubs ; the highest range of cul- 

 tivation we find is, at the farm of Chuquit>ollo, at an elevation of 

 11,500 feet ; barley, potatoes, " Maijua " [Tropceolum tuberosum), 

 " Oka " ( Oxalis tuberosa), and Lucerne, form the chief objects of 

 agriculture. Here I found Salvia macrostachya, a Castilleja, Plan- 

 tago, Calceolaria ericoides, Alchemillas, a Ranunculus, a Rumex, 

 with large leaves resembling R. Patientia, several species of Bac- 

 charts, Grasses and lonidium parviflorum. The latter is called 



Cuichunchullu" ( i. e. bowels of the guinea pig,) and is in 

 repute as a remedy for the mal de San Lazaro, but from the 

 frequency of that disorder in Riobamba, Huano, andCuenca, where 

 the Cuichunchullu is so easily procured, and where no complete 

 cure of confirmed leprosy has ever been effected, it may be con- 

 cluded that its virtues are greatly exaggerated. 



The ascent from the farm of Chuquipollo to the snow-line, 

 a distance of nine miles, is easily accomplished in three hours ; 

 judging from the eye, the distance seems much less than it really 

 is, a deception arising from the brilliancy of the snow. Two or 

 three species of grass, which leave but little chance for other 

 plants, densely cover the ground, until at an elevation of about 

 15,000 feet, they gradually give way to the more interesting Alpine 

 flora, which extends to the limits of perpetual snow. Among the 

 plants collected here, I may mention several species of Gentiana, 

 Valeriana, Lycopodium, Draba aretioides, Arabis andicola, a Ja- 

 miesonia, Cerastium densum, Astragalus geminiflorus, several 

 species of Lupinus, among which L. alopecuroides, was remark- 

 able for its dense inflorescence of 2 feet in height, and an Halenia, 

 Culcitium rejlexum, nivale and rufescens, or " Fraylejon," with a 

 woolly head and large cernuous flowers are found in abundance on 

 the sandy tract within a few yards of the perpetual snow and at 

 an elevation of 15,800 feet above the level of the sea. 



Having made several excursions to Penipe, the lake of Colta 



