NATURAL HISTORY OF THE CINCHONAS. 
37 
have presented the same characters if similarly prepared, 
may, according to the circumstances, vary very greatly. In 
any of these cases the labor of the cascarillero is by no 
means ended, even when he has finished the preparation of 
the bark ; he has yet to carry his spoil to the camp, and 
with a heavy load on his shoulders, to retrace his steps 
along those parts which, while unburdened, he traversed 
with difficulty. The labor involved in this part of the ope- 
rations can hardly be conceived. I have seen more than 
one district where the bark has to be thus carried for fifteen 
or twenty days' journey to get it out of the wood from which 
it was obtained ; and considering the amount of remunera- 
tion received, I could hardly imagine men so unfortunate 
as to engage in work so laborious and ill-paid.* 
Something yet remains to be said with reference to the 
packing of the bark. It is the major-domo who performs 
this duty. As the cutters bring him the bark, the produce 
of their labor, he submits it to a slight examination, and re- 
jects that which is bad. It is then, if necessary, exposed to 
a fresh process of desiccation, and formed into bundles of 
nearly equal weight, which are sewn up in coarse canvass 
kept for that purpose. In this condition the bundles are 
conveyed on the backs of men. donkeys, or mules, to the 
depots in the towns, where they generally receive an ex- 
terior envelope, consisting of a fresh hide, which as it dries 
makes a hard and compact package. In this form the 
packages are known by the name of serous, and it is thus 
that they arrive in Europe. The usual weight of a seron 
is from 70 to SO kilogrammes (kilogramme 2 lbs. 3 ozs. 
* In general, before the product reaches the coast it passes through 
at least three or four hands, and on each occasion its price is augmented ; 
moreover, as carriage is very expensive, it follows that the price 
charged in Europe will afford no idea of its cost on the borders of the 
forest. At Pelechuco, for instance, 1 kilogramme (2 lbs. 3 ozs. avoir- 
dupoise) is only worth a franc and a half (fifteen pence,) and for this 
twenty francs are now paid in Paris. 
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