312  Cultivation  of  Cinchonas  in  Bolivia,  {^""ji^e?!^*"""- 
mit  of  the  mountains.  Men  are  rarely  used  upon  this  stage  of  the  journey. 
The  entire  transit  of  these  mountains  requires  about  eight  or  ten  days,  and 
covers  an  actual  distance  of  two  hundred  and  twenty -five  miles,  costing  from 
fifteen  to  twenty  cents  per  pound  Bolivian  currency.  So  you  see  these  men, 
loaded  down  as  they  are  by  sixty  five  pounds  weight,  accomplish  for  a  period 
of  ten  days  about  twenty-two  miles  per  day,  and  this  is  up  and  down  moun- 
tains whose  steepness  surpasses  anything  which  we  have  in  this  country.  It 
is  perhaps  pertinent  to  remark  just  at  this  point  that  the  Indians  themselves 
believe  it  would  be  impossible  to  accomplish  these  journeys  but  for  the  use  of 
coca.   I  must  say  that  from  my  own  experience  I  believe  such  to  be  the  case. 
From  here  it  has  nearly  three  hundred  miles  to  go  before  it  can  be  shipped. 
On  this  part  of  the  journey  there  is  comparatively  level  ground  and  three  hun- 
dred pounds  is  a  load  for  a  mule,  and  five  cents  per  pound  the  cost.  The  en- 
tire cost  of  collecting,  drying,  and  transporting  to  London,  the  bark  under  the 
most  favorable  circumstances  is  estimated  at  about  twenty-five  cents  per  pound, 
United  States  currency,  leaving  the  balance  of  fifteen  to  twenty  cents  of  the 
ordinary  selling  price  to  go  towards  the  expenses  of  cultivation.  I  can  say  too, 
that  from  my  own  estimate  I  do  not  see  how  people  can  buy  bark  from  Bolivia, 
bring  it  to  this  country  and  get  from  it  an  amount  of  quinine  which  would  not 
pay  for  the  actual  cost  of  the  bark  laid  down  in  New  York,  leaving  out  of  ac- 
count the  entire  cost  of  manufacture.  I  do  not  see  how  they  can  get  enough 
alkaloid  from  it  to  pay  the  cost  of  the  bark  itself.  It  has  led  me  often  to  won- 
der whether  it  is  not  true  that  quinine  is  gradually  being  manufactured  syn- 
thetically. I  know  nothing  about  it,  but  otherwise  I  am  unable  to  explain  the 
cheapness  of  quinine  at  the  present  time. 
You  are  all  aware  that  in  India  the  custom  prevails  of  taking  bark  from  one 
side  of  the  Cinchona  tree,  and  then  mossing.  Mossing  is,  as  you  know,  prac- 
ticed to  keep  out  the  rays  of  the  sun.  The  result  is  that  new  bark  grows  under 
the  moss.  This  bark  is  not  only  greater  in  weight  than  the  bark  originally 
taken  from  that  place,  but  it  is  very  often  much  richer  in  alkaloid.  This  has 
been  tried  in  Bolivia,  and  it  has  been  found  to  be  impossible  on  account  of  the 
great  cost,  owing  to  the  comparatively  high  price  of  labor.  The  cultivation  of 
Cinchona  in  this  region  is  somewhat  easier  than  in  foreign  lands.  The  pro- 
duct is  slightly  richer,  but  the  expense  is  much  greater  than  in  India,  the 
transportation  charges  not  only  eating  up  all  the  profits,  but  actually  leaving 
a  deficit  on  shipments  disposed  of  at  forced  sale. 
Cinchona  trees  were  formerly  met  with  two  or  three  times  the  thickness  of 
a  man's  body  and  tall  in  proportion.  The  age  of  such  trees  must  have  been 
very  great,  for  wild  trees  at  twelve  or  fifteen  years  are  scarcely  as  thick  as  the 
wrist.  Cultivated  trees,  on  the  contrary,  at  six  to  nine  years,  are  six  to  eight 
inches  in  diameter,  and  yield  from  three  to  six  pounds  of  bark.  The 
appearance  of  a  cinchona  plantation  is  always  handsome,  owing  to  the  peculiar 
satiny  lustre  of  the  leaves  on  many  of  the  trees,  of  a  rich  purple  red.  When 
in  flower  its  appearance  is  perfectly  enchanting.  At  such  times  these  groves 
are  the  resort  of  myriads  of  humming  birds  of  which  many  species  are  to  be 
found.  I  collected  eight  species  of  humming  birds  from  a  single  tree  in  an 
hour's  time.  The  air  is  at  times  filled  with  the  hum  of  these  birds  just  as  it 
would  be  here  with  a  swarm  of  bees.  I  collected  altogether  thirty-five  species 
of  hummingbirds. 
