105 
INTRODUCTION OF CINCHONA INTO INDIA. 
dens, the death of which plants is recorded three years later in letters from Drs. 
Thomson and Falconer. The unsuccessful attempt to employ the services of 
British Consuls residing at South American ports, and the munificent (!) offer 
of the Secretary of the East Indian Company to the Secretary of the Board of 
Control to repay to the extent of £50, expenses to be incurred in obtaining seed 
of Cinchona Ccdisaya , are duly narrated. Several letters, minutes and reports 
extending over about three years follow, and then a communication under date 
5 April 1859 from Mr. C. R. Markham offering his services to proceed to South 
America and procure plants and seeds of cinchona for introduction to India. For 
this task Mr. Markham possessed certain qualifications to which few men could 
lay claim : he was well acquainted with several of the forests in Peru and on 
the frontiers of Bolivia containing Cinchona, some of the more useful species of 
which (although not a botanist) he knew by sight. He had a knowledge of 
not only Spanish but likewise of Quichua, the language spoken by the Indians; 
and he was intimate with many of the public men and landowners on the 
eastern slopes of the Cordillera. Lastly Mr. Markham was impressed with the 
importance of the object in view, and anxious to throw' his whole energy into 
the enterprise. 
Mr. Markham’s offer having been accepted, he quitted England and arrived 
at Guayaquil in the republic of Ecuador on the 19th January 1860. Upon 
reaching Lima a week later the prospects of success were not cheering, as we may 
gather from the following lines to Dr. Forbes Watson :— 
“ I have met several persons connected with the forests on the eastern slopes of the 
“Cordilleras, such as Don Jose' Maria Costas, Don Modesto Basadre and others; and 
“ they all tell me that good cinchona trees have become exceedingly scarce both in the 
“forests of Caravaya and Bolivia ; that 10 years ago, when Dr. Weddell was out here, 
“ it would have been comparatively ensv to make a large collection, but that now it will 
“ be an enterprise of very great difficulty. The natives both in Peru and Bolivia, have 
“ lately become extremely jealous of strangers, and there is almost the certainty of a war 
“ between those two republics in a few' months. The obstacles in the way of success are 
“of no small magnitude; but at the same time every year of delay would most un- 
“ doubtediy greatly increase them.” 
Mr. Markham proceeded to Islay, a little Peruvian town surrounded by sandy 
desert, and the sea-port of Arequipa from which city it is distant 90 miles. 
There the 15 Wardian cases destined for young cinchonas were put together 
under the superintendence of Mr. Weir, a gardener who accompanied Mr. 
Markham. Another 15 cases were reserved for plants to be collected by Mr. 
Spruce, an excellent botanist residing in South America whose services were 
fortunately secured for collecting the lied Bark tree in the neighbourhood of 
Guayaquil. 
From Islay, a ride of two days brought Mr. Markham to Arequipa, whence 
his progress is thus detailed in a letter to the Under Secretary of State for 
India. 
“.... On March 22nd 1860, I left Arequipa accompanied by John Weir the 
gardener and arrived at the city of Puno, on the banks of Lake Titicaca, on the 27th, 
a very painful journey over snowy heights, 15,500 feet above the level of the sea, in the 
worst season of the year, the rigours of which were increased by the debility brought 
on by an illness from which I had suffered at Arequipa, and by the sorochi , or violent 
headaches and sickness, occasioned by the great elevation of this region above the sea. 
The loftiest part of the road is several hundred feet above Mont Blanc.” 
“At Puno, I was occupied for some days in collecting information which induced me 
to alter the plans for executing this service, that I had previously formed at Arequipa. 
I found that a war with Bolivia was imminent; that the state of that country, owing to 
the excessive rains, would render travelling exceedingly slow; and that the extreme 
jealousy of the Government and people in preserving their present monopoly of the bark 
trade, would render it impossible for me to make a collection personally. I have a most 
