NATURAL HISTORY OF THE CINCHONAS. 
31 
gained their empire, and the hatchet of the cascarillero now 
alone breaks the silence. 
We will here quote the words of the talented author: 
The name of cascarilleros ,.says M. Weddell, is given to the 
men who cut the cinchonas in the woods; an appellation 
equally applying to those who are specially engaged in this 
commerce. The former, and of these alone I will speak 
here, are in general men who have been brought up to this 
laborious occupation from their infancy, and are accustomed 
by a kind of instinct to guide themselves in the midst of the 
forest. Without any compass but that intelligence peculiar 
to man in a state of nature, they guide themselves unerringly 
in these labyrinths as if they were surrounded by an open 
horizon. Bat how often does it happen that those less ex- 
perienced in this art lose themselves and are never more 
heard of! 
The only period which is not suited for the collection of 
cinchona bark is the rainy season, which in duration corres- 
ponds in some respects with our winter. If some persons 
contend that the period of the ascension of the sap is the best 
for stripping the trees, their precepts are certainly not prac- 
tically adopted, for even during the rainy season the collec- 
tion of the bark is only suspended on account of physica 
obstacles to its continuance. 
The cutters are not generally engaged on their own ac- 
count, but are mostly in the service of some merchant or 
small company. A confidential person is sent with them 
into the forests, who is called the major domo. It is his 
duty to receive and examine the barks which are brought 
to him by the different parties in the forest, and to superin- 
tend the distribution of the provisions. 
The first thing done by those who engage in this kind of 
speculation in a region previously unexplored, is to have it 
examined by experienced cascarilleros, who are called 
d'iestros or praclicos. The duty of these is to penetrate the 
forests in different directions, and to ascertain to what points 
