RESIDENCE AT TARAPOTO 91 
in September 1856, and in November of the same 
year/ 
After the first month he began the more difficult 
excursions — to the pongo of the ShilHcaio, to the 
river Aguashiyacu, and to Mount Guayrapurima. 
This latter mountain he visited twice afterwards — 
in January and in June 1856, staying some days, 
or perhaps even weeks, each time. Of the second 
of these excursions there are a few notes. 
This mountain, whose highest summits lie about 
12 to 15 miles due east of Tarapoto, sends out spurs 
to the Huallaga, while to the north-west it extends 
till it mingles with the more prominent mountains 
north of the town. It consists of many steep 
ridges, which from some aspects give it a serrated 
appearance, while from Tarapoto it has a pyramidal 
outline with much-broken sides. It is penetrated 
by deep and almost impassable ravines and valleys. 
The meaning of the name is " Where the wind 
blows," and Spruce says that on the high ridges 
(over one of which the road to Chasuta passes) 
the wind seems to be almost constant, and so 
strong as in precipitous parts of the track to be 
dangerous. They blow always from the north, and 
where Spruce slept, a few hundred feet below the 
1 [Among the miscellaneous "notes" on the vegetation we find this very- 
interesting remark : " Going out of Tarapoto in different directions, although 
the soil may be the same, there is much difference in the vegetation." This 
accounts for the large amount of time he devoted to this pampa, and it is also 
instructive as showing that differences of conditions quite imperceptible to us 
determine the presence or absence of certain species at certain localities, and 
no doubt in some cases their absolute extinction or preservation. Of course 
the same phenomenon occurs everywhere around us, as every botanist knows, 
but they sometimes forget what a striking proof such facts afford of the severity 
of the struggle for existence, even under what appear the most normal and 
favourable conditions, and the rigidity of the "natural selection" that deter- 
mines the result. — Ed.] 
