84 NOTES OF A BOTANIST 
break off in the middle, and appear never to have 
been finished. 
I have also a rude sketch-map of the plain of 
Tarapoto, and of the chief villages, streams, and 
mountains around it, drawn from his own compass- 
bearings taken from various elevated spots and 
mountains, and by a few latitudes and longitudes 
from his own astronomical observations. This I 
have endeavoured to fill up from the notes and 
descriptions so as to include all the chief places 
he visited during his explorations. This will, I 
hope, enable the reader to follow more easily the 
references to places in his letters, and the short 
sketch I may be able to give of his botanical 
work in this very rich and then almost unknown 
district. 
Among the notes for his account of Tarapoto 
there is a rather full description of the roads, where 
there were any, along which he had to pass to and 
fro in various directions. This is not only instruc- 
tive and interesting in itself, but is essential to a 
proper comprehension of the difficulties under w^hich 
his collections were made, even in this outlying 
portion of the Andes, where the mountains were 
very little higher than those in our own country. I 
will therefore give it in full.] 
The Roads communicating with Tarapoto 
The roads between the towns mostly occupy 
ancient Indian tracks, and it is easy to see how 
they were originally made out. Some bare grassy 
summit which will admit of a view being taken 
ahead, and which is nearly in the direction of the 
