XXI TO THE CINCHONA FORESTS 267 
intervals by level steppes, rarely exceeding a hundred yards across. 
The soil, from the summit down to the very plain, is a yellowish 
or reddish loam, wherein the sandy element prevails in some parts 
and in others the clayey, and it is of immense thickness, as we 
could see in the deep gullies worn in the mountain side by the 
rains and in the landslips. Angular masses of rock are sparingly 
embedded in it and scattered on the surface, but rounded pebbles 
are rare. 
The vegetation in the pass consisted of Vaccinia (especially 
V. Morfifia, Benth.), Gaultheriae, Melastomaceae, Compositse, etc., 
disposed in compact shrubberies, with intervening grassy glades. 
But we had scarcely turned the ridge before the forest became 
dense and continuous, at first low and bushy, but increasing in 
height at every step. At about 9500 feet we came on the first 
Cascarilla Serrana or Hill Bark, and it accompanied us down- 
wards to, perhaps, 8000 feet. It is called indifferently Cuchicara 
and Pata de Gallinazo, which I believe to be terms merely in- 
dicative of the relative facility with which the bark may be stripped 
olf in different individuals, either of the same or of various 
species. 
At 3 P.M. we reached the Rio de Tablas, a considerable stream 
of clear water, foaming over large stones ; its roar had been audible 
for the last hour of our steep descent. We crossed it, and on a 
deserted clearing of some two acres drew up for the night, uniting 
all our rubber ponchos to make a fall-to roof, to shield us from 
the night dews. The animals were turned loose to graze on the 
scanty grass in the clearing and on the leaves of a Chusquea on 
the edge of the forest. 
I have nowhere seen Melastomacese so abundant as in the 
forest surrounding our encampment. One species grows to a 
stout tree 40 feet high, and bears large peiidulous panicles (a 
novel feature to me in this order) of blood-red flowers, with large 
turgid yellow anthers. A lower spreading tree, apparently a 
Pleroma, bore numerous large violet flowers. Other smaller 
sarmentose species had also large rose or violet flowers. Alto- 
gether, I have never seen so gay a forest vegetation, except on the 
river Uaupes. 
We w^ere still in a rather cool region, but the night was dry and 
the wind very slight, so that we had not to complain of cold. After 
an early breakfast the next morning, we followed our way, which 
became still narrower and rougher as we proceeded. We had to 
climb the high ridge separating the valley of the Rio de Tablas 
from that of the Chasuan, and then to descend to the latter river, 
but there were many subsidiary ridges, with intervening hollows, 
or sometimes nearly level crossings (called travesias). The track 
in the precipitous ascents and descents is mostly a gully worn 
in the soft loamy soil by the transit of men and beasts, to the 
