THE FORESTS OF ALAUSI 243 
it turns white, and in a few minutes red. The 
more rapidly this change is effected, and the deeper 
is the ultimate tinge assumed, the more precious 
is the bark presumed to be. It is rare to find 
shoots springing from an old root, because the 
roots themselves are generally stripped of their 
bark, which, along with the bark from the lower 
part of the trunk, is known by the name of 
" Cascarilla costrona " (from " costra," a scab), and 
is of more value than that from any other part of 
the tree. 
The Cascarilla roja seems to grow best on stony 
declivities, where there is, however, a good depth 
of humus, and at an altitude of from 3000 to 5000 
feet above the sea. The temperature is very much 
that of a summer day in London, though towards 
evening each day cold mists blow down the valley 
from Azuay ; and for five months in the year — from 
January to May — there is almost unceasing rain. 
If the Cascarilla roja has been almost extirpated 
at Puma-cocha, there is still left abundance of 
Salsaparilla, and of a very productive kind, for 
Bermeo assured me he had once taken 75 lbs. 
weight of the roots from a single plant ; whereas in 
Brazil the greatest yield I have heard quoted was 
a little over 30 lbs. The Puma-cocha species has 
a round stem and few prickles, while that most 
esteemed on the Rio Negro has a triangular stem 
thickly beset with prickles. 
Let me now say a word about the other plants 
accompanying the Cascarilla, and first of the Ivory 
palm, which is known throughout the Ecuador by 
the name of Cadi. ... It has a stout erect 
trunk of 15 or 20 feet ; the fronds are 30 feet long. 
