332 



Proceedings of Societies, 



colours like the belts on a tiger, and had his head dressed out with Macaw 

 feathers, why he did it? His answer was, " because it looked pretty, and 

 the women liked it." I wonder what an Eastern sa'trap would say if he 

 was transported into the midst of an Indian village, and saw the ditfer- 

 ence of clothing from that in his own country, where a woman dare hardly 

 show the tips of her fingers. We spent a few nights in the bush, swing- 

 ing hammocks between trees with a sail stretched over them. We were 

 often disturbed by the noise of the "howling monkeys," They make a 

 most awful and dismal noise. They can be heard several miles away. 

 I see the London Zoological Gardens obtained a pair of them the other 

 day. I have been very much interested in trying to make out the his- 

 tory of the enormous boulders which are to be met with about the penal 

 settlement and above. There is no rock like them within hundreds of 

 miles, and the ground on which they rest is pure alluvial soil. The 

 ground of the penal settlement is covered by a collection of them, form- 

 ing what, I suppose, would be called a moraine. How came these huge 

 blocks down here — could it be by means of glaciers ? The gold discovered 

 up the Euyuni, which is now beginning to excite deserved attention, is 

 found chiefly in boulders of this description. The parent rock is in some 

 of the mountains in the interior — but where, no one knows. There is 

 ample room for explorers in this part of the world. I have not been up 

 to the gold district, although I once tried it. Our boat proved too heavy 

 for hauling over the falls. Descending these rapids is most exciting 

 work. We came down almost at railway-train speed. We have always 

 to get Indians to steer, two in each boat. 



V. Notice of Mosses found near Blair- Atliole, Perthsliire. By Miss 

 M'Inroy, of Lude. Communicated by Mr John Sadler. 



VI. Principal Plants of the Sutlej Valley with Hill, Botanical, and 

 English Names ; together with approximate Elevations, and Remarks. 

 By Dr Hugh F. C. Cleghorn. 



VII. Letter from Henry Stephens, Esq., relative to Dry-rot. 



Thursday, 11th February 1864. — Professor Balfour, President, in 



the Chair. 



The following Communications were read : — 



I. On Diplostemonous Flowers, with some remarks upon the position of 

 the Carpels in the Malvacece. — By Dr Alexander Dickson. 

 (This paper appears in the present number of the Journal.) 



IL On the Cinchona Plantations in connection with the Botanical 

 Garden at Bath, Jamaica. — By Nathaniel Wilson, Curator of the 

 Garden. Communicated by Dr Lauder Lindsay. 

 The most important event in the history of this Botanic Garden for 

 many years past has been the introduction, by seeds, of the quinine-yield- 

 ing Cinchona in the autumn of 1860. By the month of October 1861, I 

 succeeded in rearing upwards of 400 healthy plants, quite ready for plant- 

 ing out ; but unfortunately the selection of a proper site for their final 

 establishment was overlooked, and in consequence one-half of the number 

 perished. Being anxious, however, to test the adaptability of the plants 

 for cultivation in the higher altitudes of this island, I caused the whole 

 of them to be removed in small pots to Cold Spring CotFee Plantation, the 

 elevation of which is about 4000 feet. T soon found the climate and soil 



