INTRODUCTION- OP CINCHONA INTO INDIA. 
157 
of the forest. On one side, from its towering elevation, you look over the boundless sea 
of forest vegetation to the eastward ; on the other, in the direction of the Cordillera and 
Huanuco, the prospect consists of every form of bare rock and arid mountain, except in 
those few instances w r here the bed of a valley is visible, and the green patches of irriga¬ 
tion can be distinguished. 
“On the forest side, the vapour and cloud which rise are continually bathing the 
woods, which seem at this spot to be the perpetual focus for the converging clouds. They 
are carried over the tops of the range towards the more heated plains of Acomayo, and 
bear with them in that direction, for a short distance, their beneficial and nutritive in¬ 
fluence, though it does not extend above a league or a league and a half. 
“ The atmospheric changes which rapidly take place at this point are very great, 
every vicissitude of temperature being experienced here within a few hours,—at one 
time, a raging tempest of rain and wind,—at another, the calm, tranquil, leaden atmo¬ 
sphere of chilling cloud and fog. I presume the almost fathomless depths of the water- 
worn abysses of the forest, the great proximity of their sides to each other, at the same 
time that they are under the influence of a tropical sun, will account for these phe¬ 
nomena.” 
The limits of a journal will not admit of our quoting the whole of this in¬ 
teresting letter, which goes on to describe the localities in which were found 
Cinchona purpurea , C. nitida , C. ohovata , and C. micrantlia var. provinciana 
and var. Pata de Gallinazo. The trees however had just passed the flowering 
season, so that careful observation was necessary for the discrimination of the 
species. Here let us again take Mr. Pritchett’s words : 
“ On the arrival of Juan (my bark guide), I immediately set to work to determine the 
capacity of our new scene of labour for producing cinchona seed, and daily were the 
trips made into its woods for that purpose. But it was soon clear that, however much 
was met with, and seemed merely to require a few days to ripen, nothing could be done 
for the present, as the capsules were only recently formed. 
• •»••••••••••• 
“ Being entirely satisfied as to the existence of the seeds at this point, I now only felt 
great anxiety about the weather. Although it was then about the middle of the dry 
season, heavy soaking rains were still falling from day to day, and the seed seemed to 
make no progress whatever towards maturity. 
“ Towards the latter part of July the weather broke up, and the sun began to make 
impression on the solid banks of clouds that filled the valleys. Though clouds were the 
prevalent visitants during this so-called dry season, there were occasions, during some 
portions of the day, when the sun unveiled, and even penetrated to the very underwood 
of the forest. 
“ But even to the last day of my remaining here, when we had nearly a fortnight’s 
fine weather, with only an occasional shower, the tracts were still deep with mud, and 
only in the exposed situations could the mud be found less than ankle-deep. This fort¬ 
night of fine weather was the harvest that was necessary to be fully improved. 
“ The rapid ripening of the seed kept as many hands as I could procure from the ha¬ 
cienda, occupied in felling the trees and stripping them of their seed. After various 
trials, I found that the felling of the tree was the best way of proceeding under my 
present circumstances. My time was very short, and the quantity of seed suddenly ri¬ 
pened so plentiful, that to attain my object of getting a good supply of it, I could af¬ 
ford to be extravagant; and although much more seed was lost than was gathered, still 
my limited time compelled me to adopt this plan. 
“During the fortnight we were engaged in this work, seven large trees were felled 
daily, and denuded of their capsules. At the same time the drying process had to be 
attended to in the hacienda, and every advantage to be taken of the sunshine, while the 
seeds were carefully protected from the breeze, which, with our utmost care, did not fail 
to deprive us of some of them. Our spoil having been so hardly earned, ensured this 
part of our operations being carried out with a jealous care, and the loss in this respect 
was reduced to a minimum. 
“ By the 13th August, when it was necessary for me to leave, in order to arrive in 
Lima by the end of the month, the seeds were all carefully put up in outside wrappings 
of tar-cloth, and every precaution taken to protect them from external influence. The 
VOL. V. NT 
