i64 NOTES OF A BOTANIST 
the first habitation of civilised men — on June 29, 
the journey up to that point had lasted just 100 
days. 
[As a conclusion to this chapter it will be well 
to give here the short account of the Forest of 
Canelos — geographical, historical, and botanical — 
contained in the Prdcis d'tm Voyage, which is of 
much general interest, as it is now, probably, in 
exactly the same condition as when Spruce tra- 
versed it, if not, from the point of view of the 
traveller, even worse. The translation follows the 
original in being written in the third person.] 
The Montana de Canelos has not any fixed 
limits. It extends between the parallels of i"^^ and 
2° S. latitude, and the meridians of 77° to "jZ^ 
west of London, exceeding these limits in a few 
places. Within this space are included the sources 
of several tributaries of the Pastasa and the Napo, 
and a part of the upper course of these rivers them- 
selves. It is bounded on the west by the volcanoes 
Cotopaxi, Llanganati, and Tunguragua ; and on 
the east it slopes imperceptibly down to the plain 
of the Amazon, towards the middle of the course 
of the Bombonasa.^ It will be understood that, 
with the exception of the little plantations made 
by the Indians, the whole of this district is primeval 
forest. It was in this forest of Canelos and on the 
banks of the Curaray and the Napo, that Gonzalo 
Pizarro wandered for more than two years, search- 
ing for cities as rich as those of Peru, which he 
imagined must exist there ; hoping besides to dis- 
cover that great river, which, uniting all the rivers 
of the Cordillera, ran from west to east, to empty 
^ Spruce spells this word either with or without the "m." 
