"A land of streams! some, like a downward smoke,Slow-dropping veils of thinnest lawn, did go;And some thro' wavering lights and shadows broke,Rolling a slumbrous sheet of foam below."
"A land of streams! some, like a downward smoke,Slow-dropping veils of thinnest lawn, did go;And some thro' wavering lights and shadows broke,Rolling a slumbrous sheet of foam below."
"A land of streams! some, like a downward smoke,Slow-dropping veils of thinnest lawn, did go;And some thro' wavering lights and shadows broke,Rolling a slumbrous sheet of foam below."
The river dashed noisily through the centre of the gorge, and the masses of green on either side were toned down by many flowers in large patches, bright purpleLasiandræ, orangeCassiæ, and scarletSalviæ. I also saw anIndigoferagrowing in this part of the ravine.
A mile from the hut of Cahuan-chaca is the confluence of the river Huascaray; and a league lower down is the little shed or tambo of Cancallani. Here bamboos and tree-ferns first appear, and coca is cultivated in terraces which are fringed with coffee-plants, with their rich green foliage and crimson berries. I observed that the huts in the middle of these patches of coca or maize had no doors, showing the confidence of the inmates in the honesty of the numerous passers-by, who go to and fro between Sandia and the more distant coca estates.[314]I passed the estate of Chayllabamba, with terraces of coca at least fifty deep, up the sides of the mountains; and Asalay, a coffee estate, with groves of orange and chirimoya-trees, the extreme point reached by M. Hasskarl, the Dutch collector, in 1854. At the confluence of the rivers Asalay and Sandia perpendicular cliffs rise abruptly from the valley to a stupendous height on both sides, and the path winds up in a serpentine slippery staircase, to creep along the edge of the steep grassy slopes orpajonales, far above the tropical vegetation of the ravine. Winding along this path, we came to thetamboof Paccay-samana, on the grassypajonal, the mountains rising up on the opposite side of the ravine only about sixty yards distant; yet the river, in the bottom of the gorge, was many hundreds of feet below. There were thickets with masses of bright flowers in the gullies, and glorious cascades shimmering in the sunlight on the opposite mountain-sides.
It was at this spot that we first encountered chinchona-plants. A number of young plants ofC. Calisaya,var. β Josephiana, were growing by the side of the road, with their exquisite roseate flowers, and rich green leaves with crimson veins. The rock is a metamorphic slate, unfossiliferous, slightly micaceous, and ferruginous, with quartz occurring here and there: the soil a stiff brown loam. Above the tambo there was a small thicket of gaultherias, calledccaraniin Quichua, and Melastomaceæ with bright purple flowers (Lasiandra fontanesiana), in a shallow gully, surrounded by the rich broad-bladed grass of thepajonal. Here there were some fine plants of the chinchona named by Dr. WeddellC. Caravayensis; and further on more plants ofC. Josephiana, calledychu cascarillaby the natives. The height of this spot is 5420 feet above the sea. A tree-fern and manyTrichomaneswere growing with the chinchonæ. Paccay-samana is sixteen miles from Sandia.
Animal life did not appear to be very abundant. There were plenty of large doves, some ducks near the river, anda brilliant woodpecker. I also saw great numbers of large swallow-tailed butterflies, purple with light-blue spots on the upper wings; and others with white upper wings edged with jet black and rows of white spots, the lower wings orange.
Beyond Paccay-samana there were several more plants ofC. Josephiana, rising out of masses of maiden-hair andPolypodia. After following the edge of the pajonal for about a mile, we descended by a precipitous zigzag path and crossed over the river Pulluma, at its confluence with the Sandia. Here the road to the Hatun-yunca or Valle Grande branches off up the mountain of Ramas-pata, while our way continued down the ravine. The scenery is here remarkably beautiful. Lofty mountains, with their bright cascades, are clothed to their summits with rich grass, while their gullies are filled with flowering trees and shrubs. Half-way up, in many directions, the stone terraces of coca rise tier above tier, fringed with ferns and begonias, and filled with the delicate coloured green coca-branches, diversified occasionally by the darker hues of the coffee. The ravine is filled with masses of purple Melastomaceæ, and the river is fringed with tree-ferns, plantains, and bamboos.
This purple Melastomacea (Lasiandra fontanesiana), called in Quichuapanti-panti, in the brilliancy and abundance of its flowers, bears the same relation to this part of the Peruvian Andes as the rhododendron does to the Himalayas. The effect in masses is much the same, but theLasiandraappears to me to be a more graceful and delicate tree, with a more beautiful flower. In this ravine we have the shrub chinchonæ on the high grassy slopes, perhaps the finest coffee in the world near the banks of the river, and a little galium by the road-side—all chinchonaceous plants.
At noon on April 26th we rested in the tambo of Ypara, in the centre of coca cultivation, and in the afternoon, crossing the river by a wooden bridge, we had to travel alongthe skirts of the mountains, at a considerable height, in the region of thepajonales. No gullies or large cascades cut up the face of these mountains, which were entirely exposed to the full glare of the sun, and here, though there was a profusion of purple Melastomaceæ in some of the shallow indentations, there were no chinchonæ. Towards evening we came to a lofty spur of the mountain, called Estanqui, at a great height above the ravine, whence there was a most extensive view. To the left was the valley of Sandia, with little coca-farms nestling in all the sheltered gullies; and I could just make out the boys and girls far far below, like specks, busy with the coca-leaves in the drying-yards. In front there was a distant view of the hills in the direction of San Juan del Oro, covered with virgin forest; while at our feet, and a thousand feet below us, was the confluence of the rivers Sandia, Llaypuni, and Huari-huari, which unite to form the great river Ynambari.
It was my intention, after marking down all the eligible plants of the shrubbyCalisaya, to be taken up on our return, to make for the forest-covered valley of Tambopata, which is full of chinchona-trees; and I therefore left the ravine of the Sandia river at this point, and, by a rapid descent, went down from the grassy uplands to a region of tropical forest, full of palms and tree-ferns. We thus reached the banks of the Huari-huari. This river flows through a deep and very narrow ravine, lined with forest, for about 500 feet, above which rise grassy mountains to an immense height. Though only 30 feet across, and confined by dark polished rocks, the Huari-huari is very deep, and decidedly a more important stream than the Sandia, at their junction.
We established ourselves under a rock, where there was no room to pitch the tent, and thus our first night of camping out commenced, for previously we had slept in the road-sidetambos. The Indians carried little earthen pots for cooking,in theirccepis, and got up a fire of dry sticks with great rapidity. I had a delicious bath in the river, where the tall forest trees overshadowed the water on either side. At night the moon streamed its floods of light over the forest, and the brilliant sparks from myriads of fire-flies shone from the trees in every direction up the side of the opposite mountain; but in the early morning the sky clouded over, and a heavy drizzling rain began to fall, which prevented sleep, and made us wish for day.
From this encampment our way led up the precipitous sides of the mountain, to the grassypajonaleswhich divide the valleys of Sandia and Tambopata; but I will here halt awhile to give a brief account of the cultivation of that plant, of which we had lately seen so much, and which enabled me to ascend the mighty passes of the Andes on foot with ease and comfort—the strength-giving, invigorating coca.
A general geographical description of all this country has been given in the preceding chapter.
During my stay at Sandia the indications of the thermometer were as follows, between the 20th and 25th of April:—
Mean temperature63⅕°Minimum temperature at night50½Highest observed65Lowest47Range18
COCA-CULTIVATION.
Thecoca-leaf is the great source of comfort and enjoyment to the Peruvian Indian; it is to him what betel is to the Hindoo, kava to the South Sea Islander, and tobacco to the rest of mankind; but its use produces invigorating effects which are not possessed by the other stimulants. From the most ancient times the Peruvians have used this beloved leaf, and they still look upon it with feelings of superstitious veneration. In the time of the Incas it was sacrificed to the Sun, the Huillac Umu or high priest chewing the leaf during the ceremony; and, before the arrival of the Spaniards, it was used, as the cacao in Mexico, instead of money. After the conquest, although its virtues were extolled by the Inca Garcilasso de la Vega,[315]and by the Jesuit Acosta,[316]some fanatics proposed to proscribe its use, and to root up the plants, because they had been used in the ancient superstitions, and because its cultivation took away the Indians from other work. The second council of Lima, consisting of bishops from all parts of South America, condemned the use of coca in 1569 because it was a "useless and pernicious leaf, and on account of the belief stated to be entertained by the Indians that the habit of chewing coca gave them strength, which is an illusion of the devil."[317]
In speaking of the strength the coca gives to those whochew it, Garcilasso do la Vega relates the following anecdote. "I remember a story which I heard in my native land of Peru, of a gentleman of rank and honour, named Rodrigo Pantoja, who, travelling from Cuzco to Rimac (Lima), met a poor Spaniard (for there are poor people there as well as here) who was going on foot, with a little girl aged two years on his back. The man was known to Pantoja, and they thus conversed. 'Why do you go laden thus?' said the knight. The poor man answered that he was unable to hire an Indian to carry the child, and for that reason he carried it himself. While he spoke Pantoja looked in his mouth, and saw that it was full of coca; and, as the Spaniards abominate all that the Indians eat and drink, as though it savoured of idolatry, particularly the chewing of coca, which seems to them a low and vile habit, he said, 'It may be as you say, but why do you eat coca like an Indian, a thing so hateful to Spaniards?' The man answered, 'In truth, my lord, I detest it as much as any one, but necessity obliges me to imitate the Indians, and keep coca in my mouth; for I would have you to know that, if I did not do so, I could not carry this burden; while the coca gives me sufficient strength to endure the fatigue.' Pantoja was astonished to hear this, and told the story wherever he went; and from that time credit was giving to the Indians for using coca from necessity, and not from vicious gluttony."
The Spanish Government interfered with the cultivation from more worthy motives, andmitasof Indians, for the purpose of collecting coca-leaves, were forbidden in 1569, owing to the reputed unhealthiness of the valleys.[318]Finally Don Francisco Toledo, viceroy of Peru, permitted the cultivation with voluntary labour, on condition that the Indians were well paid, and that care was taken of their healths. This most prolific of Peruvian legislators issued no less thanseventyordenanzason this subject alone, between the years 1570 and 1574. Coca has always been one of the most valuable articles of commerce in Peru, and it is used by about 8,000,000 of the human race.
The coca-plant (Erythoxylon coca)[319]is cultivated between 5000 and 6000 feet above the level of the sea, in the warm valleys of the eastern slopes of the Andes, where almost the only variation of climate is from wet to dry, where frost is unknown, and where it rains more or less every month in the year. It is a shrub from four to six feet high, with lichens, calledlaccoin Quichua, usually growing on the older trunks. The branches are straight and alternate; leaves alternate and entire, in form and size like tea-leaves; flowers solitary with a small yellowish-white corolla in five petals, ten filaments the length of the corolla, anthers heart-shaped, and three pistils.
Sowing is commenced in December and January, when the rains begin, which continue until April. The seeds are spread on the surface of the soil in a small nursery or raising-ground calledalmaciga, over which there is generally a thatch roof (huasichi). At the end of about a fortnight they come up; the young plants being continually watered, and protected from the sun by thehuasichi. The following year they are transplanted to a soil specially prepared by thorough weeding, and breaking up the clods very fine by hand; often in terraces only affording room for a single row of plants, up the sides of the mountains, which are kept up by small stone walls. The plants are generally placed in square holes calledaspi, a foot deep, with stones on the sides to prevent the earth from falling in. Three or four are planted in each hole, andgrow up together. In Caravaya and Bolivia the soil in which the coca grows is composed of a blackish clay, formed from the decomposition of the schists, which form the principal geological features of the mountains. On level ground the plants are placed in furrows calleduachos, separated by little walls of earthumachas, at the foot of each of which a row of plants is placed; but this is a modern innovation, the terrace cultivation being the most ancient. At the end of eighteen months the plants yield their first harvest, and continue to yield for upwards of forty years. The first harvest is calledquita calzon, and the leaves are then picked very carefully, one by one, to avoid disturbing the roots of the young tender plants. The following harvests are calledmitta("time" or "season"), and take place three times and even four times in the year. The most abundant harvest takes place in March, immediately after the rains; the worst at the end of June, called themitta de San Juan. The third, calledmitta de Santos, is in October or November. With plenty of watering, forty days suffice to cover the plants with leaves afresh. It is necessary to weed the ground very carefully, especially while the plants are young, and the harvest is gathered by women and children.
The green leaves, calledmatu, are deposited in a piece of cloth which each picker carries, and are then spread out in the drying-yard, calledmatu-cancha, and carefully dried in the sun. The dried leaf is calledcoca. The drying-yard is formed of slate-flags, calledpizarra; and, when the leaves are thoroughly dry, they are sewn up incestosor sacks made of banana-leaves, of twenty pounds each, strengthened by an exterior covering ofbayetaor cloth.[320]They are also packed intamboresof fifty pounds each, pressed tightly down. Dr.Poeppig reckoned the profits of a coca-farm to be forty-five per cent.
The harvest is greatest in a hot moist situation; but the leaf generally considered the best flavoured by consumers, grows in drier parts, on the sides of hills. The greatest care is required in the drying; for too much sun causes the leaves to dry up and lose their flavour, while, if packed up moist, they become fetid. They are generally exposed to the sun in thin layers.
Acosta says that in his time the trade in coca at Potosi was worth 500,000 dollars annually; and that in 1583 the Indians consumed 100,000cestosof coca, worth 2½ dollars each in Cuzco, and 4 dollars in Potosi. In 1591[321]an excise of 5 per cent. was imposed on coca; and in the years 1746 and 1750 this duty yielded 800 and 500 dollars respectively, from Caravaya alone. Between 1785 and 1795 the coca traffic was calculated at 1,207,430 dollars in the Peruvian viceroyalty; and, including that of Buenos Ayres, 2,641,487 dollars.
In the district of Sandia, in Caravaya, there are two kinds of coca, that of Ypara and that of Hatun-yunca, which has a larger leaf. The yield is 45,000 cestos a year. In the yungus of La Paz, in Bolivia, the yield is about 400,000 cestos. The coca-trade is a government monopoly in Bolivia, the state reserving the right of purchasing from the grower, and reselling to the consumer. This right is generally farmed out to the highest bidder. In 1850 the coca-duty yielded 200,000 dollars to the Bolivian revenue.
The approximate annual produce of coca in Peru is about 15,000,000 lbs.,[322]the average yield being about 800 lbs. an acre. More than 10,000,000 lbs. are produced annually in Bolivia, according to Dr. Booth of La Paz; so that theannual yield of coca throughout South America, including Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, and Pasto, may be estimated at more than 30,000,000 lbs. At Tacna thetamborof 50 lbs. is worth 9 to 12 dollars, the fluctuations in price being caused by the perishable nature of the article, which cannot be kept in stock for any length of time. The average duration of coca in a sound state, on the coast, is about five months, after which time it is said to lose flavour, and is rejected by the Indians as worthless.
The reliance on the extraordinary virtues of the coca-leaf, amongst the Peruvian Indians, is so strong, that, in the Huanuco province, they believe that, if a dying man can taste a leaf placed on his tongue, it is a sure sign of his future happiness.[323]
No Indian is without hischuspaor coca-bag, made of llama-cloth, dyed red and blue in patterns, with woollen tassels hanging from it. He carries it over one shoulder, suspended at his side; and, in taking coca, he sits down, puts hischuspabefore him, and places the leaves in his mouth one by one, chewing and turning them till he forms a ball. He then applies a small quantity of carbonate of potash, prepared by burning the stalk of the quinoa-plant, and mixing the ashes with lime and water; thus forming cakes calledllipta, which are dried for use, and also kept in thechuspa.[324]This operation is calledacullicarin Bolivia and Southern Peru, andchaccharin the North. They usually perform it three times in a day's work, and every Indian consumes two or three ounces of coca daily.
In the mines of the cold region of the Andes the Indians derive great enjoyment from the use of coca; the runningchasqui, or messenger, in his long journeys over the mountains and deserts, and the shepherd watching his flock on the lofty plains, has no other nourishment than is afforded by hischuspaof coca, and a little maize. The smell of the leaf is agreeable and aromatic, and when chewed it gives out a grateful fragrance, accompanied by a slight irritation, which excites the saliva. Its properties are to enable a greater amount of fatigue to be borne with less nourishment, and to prevent the occurrence of difficulty of respiration in ascending steep mountain-sides. Tea made from the leaves has much the taste of green tea, and, if taken at night, is much more effectual in keeping people awake. Applied externally coca moderates the rheumatic pains caused by cold, and cures headaches. When used to excess it is, like everything else, prejudicial to the health, yet, of all the narcotics used by man, coca is the least injurious, and the most soothing and invigorating.
The active principle of the coca-leaf has, a few years ago, been separated by Dr. Niemann, and calledcocaine. Purecocainecrystallizes with difficulty, is but slightly soluble in water, but is easily dissolved in alcohol, and still more easily in ether.[325]
I chewed coca, not constantly, but very frequently, from the day of my departure from Sandia, and, besides the agreeable soothing feeling it produced, I found that I could endure long abstinence from food with less inconvenience than I should otherwise have felt, and it enabled me to ascend precipitous mountain-sides with a feeling of lightness and elasticity, and without losing breath. This latter quality ought to recommend its use to members of the Alpine Club, and to walking tourists in general, though the sea voyage would probably cause the leaves to lose much of their virtue. To thePeruvian Indian, however, who can procure it within a few weeks of its being picked, the coca is a solace which is easily procured, which affords great enjoyment, and which has a most beneficial effect.[326]
CARAVAYA.
Chinchona forests of Tambopata.
On the morning of April 27th we crossed a rude bridge over the Huari-huari, and began to make our way up the face of the steep mountain on the other side, first through a thick forest, and then up into the grassy highlands, until, after several halts, we at length reached the summit of the ridge, though a mountain-peak still rose up in our rear. From this point there was a most extensive panoramic view. A sea of ridges rose one behind the other, with stupendous snowy peaks in the background, and, more than a thousand feet below, the rivers of Sandia and Huari-huari, reduced to mere glittering threads, could be seen winding through the tortuous ravines. We had now reached thepajonales, and were on a ridge or back-bone between the rivers of Laccani and San Lorenzo, two tributaries of the Huari-huari; a grass-covered and comparatively cold region, interspersed with thickets, forming the crest of the tropical forests which line the sides of the ravines through which the rivers wind, far below.
When there is sunshine, thesepajonalesform a very pleasant landscape: the broad expanse of grass, dotted over with a graceful milk-white flower calledsayri-sayri, is intersected by dense thickets, some in the gullies and watercourses, and others in clumps, like those in an English park, the palms and tree-ferns raising their graceful heads above the rest of the trees. Here and there a black pool of sweet water is met with at the edge of the thicket, with chinchona andhuaturu-trees drooping over it. Everywhere there is an abrupt boundary to the foreground in the profound forest-covered ravines, with splendid views of mountain ranges in the distance.
The vegetation of the thickets in thesepajonalesconsists ofpalms,tree-ferns,Melastomaceæ(Lasiandra fontanesiana) with bright showy flowers, exceedingly prettyEricaceæ(Gaultheriæ),Vacciniæ, thehuaturuor incense-tree in great quantities, andChinchonæ, chiefly consisting ofC. Caravayensis(Wedd.), with a few plants ofCalisaya Josephiana, but the latter are much more rare here than in the neighbourhood of Paccay-samana. TheC. Caravayensis, a worthless species, has panicles of beautiful deep roseate flowers, large coarse hairy capsules, and lanceolate leaves, above smooth with purple veins, and hairy on the under side. It can probably bear greater cold than any other chinchona.[327]
The afternoon was passed in searching for plants of the shrubbyCalisaya, but with little success. During our examination of the thickets we found a single specimen, evidently belonging to theCalisayaspecies, but in the form of a tree, and not of a shrub. Its height was eighteen feet six inches; its girth, two feet from the ground, eight and a half inches; and the position in which it was growing was 5680 feet above the level of the sea. I was uncertain whether it belonged to the tree variety (Calisaya vera, Wedd.), or to the shrub (Calisaga Josephiana); for Dr. Weddell only gives the height of the latter at eight or ten feet.
Near the banks of one of the black pools, overhung by spreading branches, we found a shed, a roof of coarse grass raised on four sticks four and a half feet high, and here we encamped for the night. It had been made by some party ofincense-collectors from Bolivia, who wander through these wilds. Towards sunset it began to pour with rain, and continued through the night.
From this point to the Tambopata valley the road was unknown to my Indians, and had not been traversed since the time of the bark-trade, which came to an end fifteen years ago. It was supposed that any path which might once have existed would be entirely choked up by the forest, and I therefore started early in the morning, with Andres Vilca, to reconnoitre. The backbone of the ridge along which we travelled was not level, but up and down like a saw, and very rough work. After walking for a league the ridge ended where a transverse range of hills, at a lower elevation, connects the mountains on the further sides of the rivers of San Lorenzo and Laccani, and, closing up the ravines, contains their sources. This range, at right angles with the one over which we had journeyed, is called theMarun-kunka, and is covered with dense forests. It was necessary to force our way through this formidable obstruction, and we plunged into it at once. Our progress was vigorously opposed by closely matted fallen bamboos for the first few hundred yards, and afterwards we followed the course of a torrent, deeply cut in the rock, and forming a passage four to six feet deep, and about three feet across, with masses of ferns and the roots of enormous forest-trees interlacing across overhead, and two feet of exceedingly tenacious yellow mud underfoot. In many places it was almost dark at midday, while in others the rays of the sun succeeded in forcing their way through the ferns, and throwing a pale light across the otherwise gloomy passage. It was a weird unearthly scene. After several hours of very laborious travelling we at length forced our way across the Marun-kunka, and came out upon anotherpajonal, on the eastern side, whence there was a grand view of the forest scenery towards Tambopata, andthe snowy peaks of the cordillera above Quiaca and Sina to the right.
The afternoon was again devoted to searching for plants ofCalisaya Josephianain the thickets; where theC. Caravayensiswas very plentiful, together with several plants of the shrubbyCalisaya, and four or five trees of the normal treeCalisaya, from 20 to 30 feet high. The elevation of this place was 5600 feet above the sea. Later in the day the journey was continued over a most difficult country, sometimes over grassypajonales, and at others painfully struggling through forests like those on the Marun-kunka. In one of these forests I came upon aCalisaya-tree, 38 feet high, and 1 foot 3 inches in girth at a distance of 3 feet from the ground, which was several feet deep in dead leaves, chiefly the smooth leathery leaf of thehuaturu-tree. At length we commenced the descent into the valley of Tambopata, 1200 feet down slippery rocks and grass, then through a belt of forest, until we suddenly emerged on an open space on the banks of the large rapid river, where there was a bamboo hut. A little coca and sugar-cane was planted, but the occupant was absent. With touching confidence he had left his door open, so my Indians established themselves comfortably, while Weir and I pitched the tent.
The river of Tambopata, descending from the farm of Saqui near the frontier of Bolivia, here flows in a northerly direction. Up the stream I could see a few little clearings, but looking down nothing appeared but the virgin forest. A most magnificent range of mountains, with a fine growth of forest trees, rises up on either side, and the rapid swollen river rushed through the centre of the ravine. The rock of all the ranges of hills between the Huari-huari and Tambopata rivers is a yellow clay-slate, with masses of white quartz cropping out on thepajonales.
Early in the morning we continued our journey down thevalley, through a forest of grand timber, passing the little hut of Tambopata which Dr. Weddell had mentioned to me as having been the great rendezvous forcascarillerosor chinchona-bark collectors, at the time of his visit. After wading across the rapid little river of Llami-llami, which enters the Tambopata on the left bank, we came to a small clearing, planted with sugar-cane, the property of a very energetic and obliging old Bolivian, named Don Juan de la Cruz Gironda. He was living in a shed, open on two sides, and with a young son, and two or three Indians, was actively clearing, planting sugar-cane, and making rum in an extemporized distillery of his own manufacture. This little farm was the extreme outpost of civilisation in this direction, and had only been commenced since December 1859.
Gironda was cultivating sugar-cane, maize, and edible roots; and, at the time of my visit, he was just commencing hismichca, or small sowing of maize. His people were driving holes in the ground with long poles, about a foot deep, into which they drop four to six grains, and cover over. The holes are four feet apart, for here the maize grows to an immense height. The agricultural tools were of a most primitive kind. The ground is first broken and cleared with a bit of old iron, fastened, at an acute angle, on a short handle. It is further broken up by an attempt at a spade, an oblong piece of iron, bent at one end round a long pole. The weeds and brushwood are cleared away by an instrument like the first, only turned a different way, both being secured to their handles by leathern thongs. They reap with the blade of an old knife, and where the clods require to be broken up very fine, as in coca plantations, it is done by hand. The only use that Gironda puts his small supply of sugar-cane to, as yet, is making spirits and a small quantity of treacle. The cane is expressed by a very primitive mill of three upright rollers of hard wood,worked by a single capstan-bar and a mule, the juice flowing into a gutter, and running thence, through a bamboo, into a large jar. The juice is then placed in two long canoes, hollow trunks of trees, where it is allowed to ferment. In about eight days the fermentation is over, and it is ready for distilling. This sugar-beer is calledhuarapu, and is rather good. The juice is then poured into a large jar, over an oven, and above the mouth of this jar he places the broken side of another smaller one, covering the joining round with mud. From the mouth of the second jar a bamboo is led through a large canoe to the mouth of a third jar. The fire is lighted in the oven, the canoe is filled with cold water to condense the vapour as it comes up through the bamboo, and the work of distilling begins; the clear colourless rum soon commencing to flow out of the bamboo into the receiving-jar. The sugar-cane is of the purplish-brown kind, which is said to ripen quickest.
Gironda also raises a few edible roots, such asyucas(Jatophra manihot),aracachas[328](Conium maculatum),camotesor sweet potatoes, andocas. He gave me the following information respecting the climate and seasons in the valley of Tambopata, which is worthy of attention, as this is the very centre of theC. Calisayaregion.
January.—Incessant rain, with damp heat day and night. Sun never seen. Fruits ripen.February.—Incessant rain and very hot. Sun never seen. A coca harvest.March.—Less rain, hot days and nights, little sun. Bananas yield most during the rainy season.April.—Less rain; hot, humid nights, and little sun in the daytime.May.—A showery month, but little heavy rain. This is the month for planting coca and sugar-cane, and what is called themichca, or small sowing of maize, as well as yucas, aracachas, camotes, and other edible roots. Coffee-harvest begins.June.—A dry hot month. Much sun and little rain. Coca-harvest early in the month. Oranges and paccays ripen. Cool nights, but a fierce heat during the day.July.—The hottest and driest month, but with cool nights. Very few showers. Time for sowing gourds, pumpkins, and water-melons.August.—Generally dry. Trees begin to bud. A month for planting.September.—Rains begin. Time for blossoming of many trees. Coca-harvest.October.—Rains increasing. Maize-harvest, and time for the "sembra grande," or great sowing of maize.November.—Heavy rains. A coca-harvest.December.—Heavy rains. Pumpkins ripen.
January.—Incessant rain, with damp heat day and night. Sun never seen. Fruits ripen.
February.—Incessant rain and very hot. Sun never seen. A coca harvest.
March.—Less rain, hot days and nights, little sun. Bananas yield most during the rainy season.
April.—Less rain; hot, humid nights, and little sun in the daytime.
May.—A showery month, but little heavy rain. This is the month for planting coca and sugar-cane, and what is called themichca, or small sowing of maize, as well as yucas, aracachas, camotes, and other edible roots. Coffee-harvest begins.
June.—A dry hot month. Much sun and little rain. Coca-harvest early in the month. Oranges and paccays ripen. Cool nights, but a fierce heat during the day.
July.—The hottest and driest month, but with cool nights. Very few showers. Time for sowing gourds, pumpkins, and water-melons.
August.—Generally dry. Trees begin to bud. A month for planting.
September.—Rains begin. Time for blossoming of many trees. Coca-harvest.
October.—Rains increasing. Maize-harvest, and time for the "sembra grande," or great sowing of maize.
November.—Heavy rains. A coca-harvest.
December.—Heavy rains. Pumpkins ripen.
The inhabitants of the valley of Tambopata consist of Gironda, his two little boys, one Victorio Jovi, Villalba, and thecascarilleronamed Martinez. Anothercascarillero, named Ximenes, has lately died. They live with their families at a place called Huaccay-churu, about half a mile up the Llami-llami river, where there are a few huts, and a small clearing. Gironda's little farm is the last inhabited spot; beyond is the illimitable virgin forest, stretching away for hundreds, nay thousands of miles, to the shores of the Atlantic. This forest has not been traversed since 1847, when the bark trade ceased, and it is quite closed up.
By the desertion of one of my Indians on the day we left Sandia, the other three and Pablo Sevallos were barely able to carry the provisions and other necessaries, so that, on reaching Gironda's clearing, which is called Lenco-huayccu,[329]I found that I had only sufficient food to last for six days. Gironda himself was little better off, and was living on roots, andchuñusor potatoes preserved by being frozen in the loftiest parts of the Andes. I determined, however, to penetrate into the forest, in search of chinchona-plants, for six days, and to trust to Gironda's kindness to supply me with provisions to enable me to return to Sandia.
I was so fortunate as to secure the services of Mariano Martinez, an experiencedcascarillero, who had acted as guide to Dr. Weddell, on the occasion of his visit to the valley of Tambopata in 1846. He was thoroughly acquainted with all the different species of chinchona-trees, and, reared from a child in these forest solitudes, he was a most excellent and expert woodman, intelligent, sober, active, and obliging.
On May 1st we prepared to enter the dense entangled forest, where no European had been before, and no human being for upwards of thirteen years, except the Collahuayas and incense-collectors. Our party consisted of seven: the three Indians, Weir, Pablo, Martinez, and myself. The Indians, each with theirchuspasof coca, and achumpior belt round their waists, carried theccepisor bundles of provisions; Pablo bore the tent; and we were all armed withmachetes, or wood-knives, to clear the way. My people were all dressed in coarse cotton cloth, and I wore a leathern hat, red woollen shirt, fustian trousers, and the indispensablepolccos, or shoes made ofbayetaor felt, always used in these forests. We were all mustered and ready to start on the verge of Gironda's clearing, which is surrounded by tall forest trees, with the river rushing noisily past, and the opposite mountains covered to their summits with fine timber, when half a dozen pale-faced men emerged from the tangled thicket in our front. They looked wan and cadaverous like men risen from the dead, and worn out by long watching and fatigue. They turned out to be Collahuayas, collectors of drugs and incense, who penetrate far into the forests to obtain their wares, and come forth, as we then saw them, looking pale and haggard.
These Collahuayas, called also Chirihuanos on the coast of Peru, Yungeños, and Charasanis, are a very peculiar race. They come from three villages in the forest-covered ravines of the Bolivian province of Larecaja, called Charasani, Consata, and Quirbe; and their knowledge of the virtues of herbs has been handed down from father to son from time immemorial. They traverse the forests of Bolivia and Caravaya collecting their drugs; and then set out as professors of the healing art, to exercise their calling in all parts of America, frequently being two and three years away from their homes, on these excursions. With their wallets of drugs on their backs, and dressed in black breeches, a red poncho, and broad-brimmed hat, they walk in a direct line from village to village, exercising their calling, and penetrating as far as Quito and Bogota in one direction, and to the extreme limits of the Argentine Republic in the other. Their ancestors did the same in the time of the Incas, and Garcilasso de la Vega gives some account of the medical treatment adopted by the ancient Peruvian physicians. They were in the habit of letting blood and purging, they administered the powdered leaf of thesayri(tobacco) for headaches,mulli(Schinus molle) for wounds, and a host of other simple herbs for other ailments. Both Garcilasso[330]and Acosta[331]mention their knowledge of the virtues of sarsaparilla, yet it is remarkable that the Collahuayas should never have discovered the febrifugal qualities of chinchona bark.
We saluted these hard-working physicians, and then entered the forest from which they had just emerged. A short walk brought us to the river Challuma,[332]a tributary of the Tambopata, which we waded across. Martinez told me that this was the extreme point reached by Dr. Weddell, and that he came here to see a tree ofC. micranthagrowing.
Beyond the Challuma there is no road at all, and the really serious forest work began; two hornets stinging me on the temple and back of the neck, as I forced my way through the first bush. Martinez went in front as pioneer, clearingaway obstructions with hismachete, and the rest of our little party followed. Between lordly trees of great height the ground was entirely choked up with creepers, fallen masses of tangled bamboo, and long tendrils which twisted round our ankles, and tripped us up at every step. Ten miles on open ground is only equal to one over such country as this. In many places we had to scramble through the same dense forest, along the verge of giddy precipices which overhung the river. Often we came upon tracks where a giant of the forest had fallen, bearing all before it, and finally dashing over the cliff into the river below. The Tambopata was boiling and surging over a rocky bed, at times far below us, while at others we took advantage of a short strip of rocky beach to escape the forest. Thus we struggled on until sunset, when we reached a stony beach, and encamped for the night. This had been a most fatiguing march. In some places we were a quarter of an hour forcing and cutting our way through a space of twenty yards, and the halt was most welcome. It was a wild scene as the darkness closed round: the camp-fire and Indians on the beach, the dense gloomy forest close behind, the boiling river in front, and forest-clad mountains rising up on the other side.
From this, the first day of our forest-life, until the 14th of May, being just a fortnight, we were actively engaged in the examination of the chinchona region, and in the collection of plants. As the best way of recording the results of our investigations, I now propose to give a detailed account of our proceedings from day to day; and, in the following chapter, to recapitulate our observations with special reference to the climate, soil, and general habit of those species of chinchonæ which came immediately under our notice. I owe much to the intelligent assistance of our guide Martinez, who, to great experience in woodcraft, added a lynx's eye for aCalisaya-plant; and it required no little quickness and penetrationto distinguish these treasures, amidst the close entanglement of the undergrowth, in the dense forests. Martinez spoke Spanish very imperfectly, and, without a knowledge of Quichua, I should have found much difficulty in conversing with him; but he had a most complete and thorough knowledge of all forest-lore, and was acquainted with the native name of almost every plant, and with the uses to which they were or might be applied.
At dawn the Indians found the marks of a jaguar on the beach close to the tent; and a huge snake wriggled through the fallen trees as we re-entered the forest. The brilliant colours and great variety of butterflies were very striking. I particularly noticed one, bright blue and crimson above, with the underside marked with a pattern, as if drawn by a crow-quill on a snow-white ground, edged with deep blue. After struggling through the forest for about a mile we came to the foot of the tremendous precipices, one on either side of the river, which Martinez called Ccasa-sani. That on our (the western) shore rises up perpendicularly from the water to a height which we estimated at 500 feet, ending in a rocky peak. Its sides are masses of bare polished rock, except in the rear, and in some crevices, where vegetation finds a foothold. Amongst other trees the paccay (Mimosa Inga), with its cottony fruit, was drooping over the bubbling waves. The river, surging furiously over and around huge masses of rock, dashed noisily on between the two precipices.
We had to ascend the western precipice of Ccasa-sani by a frightful kind of ladder, formed of ledges in the rock, or half-rotten branches of trees, here and there having to cross a yawning chasm on the fallen stems of tree-ferns rotting from age. Near the summit we had a glorious view of the forest-covered mountains, running up into sharp peaks, with graceful palms rising above the other trees on their crests, and standing out against the sky. SeveralCalisaya-trees were growingon the summit, with bunches of young capsules, in company with the leathery-leafedhuaturu, and theAceite de Maria(Elæagia Mariæ, Wedd.). The latter is a tree about thirty feet high, with bark covered with white lichens. Among the numerous ferns the most conspicuous was a very largePolypodium, calledcalaguala. Descending the rocks of Ccasa-sani, we had to continue the work of cutting our way through the forest, our passage being opposed by matted entanglements of bamboo, and aPanicumwith blades, the edges of which cut like a penknife, calledchalli-challi. On many of the trees there were hornets'-nests, globes of mud fixed to the leaves, and covered with the insects. I was inadvertently going to touch one, which was attached to the back of a large fern-frond, when Martinez, with great dexterity, hurled the plants down the precipice, before the savage creatures were aware of their danger.
We were now in the midst of the chinchona region; and passed several trees ofC. ovata(morada ordinaria) andC. micrantha(verde paltaya). There were also great quantities of a false chinchona, called by MartinezCarhua-carhua blanca. We passed through several large groves of this species, which appeared to be aLasionema, but differed in several respects from theL. chinchonoides, mentioned by Dr. Weddell as growing in the Caravayan forests. The tree is very common near the banks of the river Tambopata, frequently with its boughs, large coarse leaves, and panicles of flowers, drooping over the water.[333]
The magnitude and variety of the trees of the forest were very striking; and the imposing character of the scenery, in these vast solitudes, was a source of constant enjoyment, and lightened the fatigues of the journey. Among the wonders of the forest there were enormous trees with great buttressed trunks, others sending down rope-like tendrils from the branches in every direction, the gigantic balsam-tree, the india-rubber tree, and many others. A list of the ferns or mosses, endless in the variety of their shape and size, would fill volumes. Of palms, also, there were many kinds. The tallchonta, with its hard serviceable wood; the slender beautifulchinilla(Euterpe?); the toweringmuruna(Iriartea?), with its roots shooting out in every direction from eight feet above the ground, and triangular-notched leaflets; thechaquisapa(Astrocaryum?), with its lofty stem thickly set with alternate rings of spines, and thorny leaves; thesumballu(Giulielma?), a beautiful palm with a slender stem covered with long sharp spines, numerous graceful leaves, and an edible fruit; and above all thesayal, the monarch of the palms of these forests, with a rather short thick stem, inner fibres of the stalks like black wool, but with enormous leaves growing rather erect from the stem to a length of at least forty feet—I should think they must be the largest leaves in the whole vegetable kingdom. Among the bright flowers there were crimsonMelastomaceæ, calledccesuara, a scarletJustitia, theManetia coccinea, and many beautiful orchids in the branches of the trees.
At length, after a very hard day's work, we reached themouth of the Yana-mayu[334]or Black river; and attempted to wade across the Tambopata, but found it too powerful. I was particularly anxious to effect this, as Martinez assured me that chinchona-trees were most abundant on the right or eastern bank. We, however, managed to get upon an island, near the left bank, and encamped for the night on a shingly beach. After sunset it came on to rain very heavily, and the waters foamed furiously around us in the inky darkness. The rain continued to pour down, and the waters to rise through the night, and I hourly expected the island to be submerged; but, fortunately, we escaped this danger, though the river came up to within a very few feet of the tent-door. I served out a dram of brandy to all hands.
In the morning of May 3rd I continued my attempts to cross the river, by stripping and trying the water for a ford at several points, with a long pole as a support. But the water was deep, much swollen, and very rapid; and, after having twice been as nearly as possible carried away by the fury of the stream, I was obliged unwillingly to give up the attempt for the present. I considered it prudent also to remove our encampment from the island, and to establish it on a narrow beach overshadowed by the forest, at the point where the muddy waters of the Yana-mayu unite with those of the Tambopata.
These arrangements having been made, we devoted the day to an examination of the adjacent forest. The spot on which we were encamped was about 4600 feet above the sea. Our tent was pitched close to the foaming torrent, and behind rose up the tall dark forests. In front were the steep green sides of the Yana-mayu ravine, while looking down the river the view was bounded by forest-covered mountains, surmounted by the lofty peak of Corimamani. On the actual banks of theriver there were trees ofC. micrantha, with large bunches of lovely and deliciously sweet white flowers; manycarhua-carhua blancas; and a chinchonaceous tree, which Martinez calledHuiñapu. TheHuiñapugrows low down and near the banks of rivers. Its capsules are three inches long; and the veins of the leaves are a pale purple. Dr. Weddell tells me that he recollects gathering the leaves of theHuiñapu, and that he took it to be a variety ofCascarilla magnifolia.
We commenced the day's work in the forest on the south-west slopes of the Yana-mayu ravine, scrambling up the steep forest-covered declivity amongst palms, tree-ferns, bamboos, and trees with buttressed trunks of stupendous size. Here too were the vast leaves of thesayalpalm. At a height of 400 feet above the river theCalisayaregion commences; while in the lower belt, from the river banks to a height of 400 feet, the most abundant chinchonaceous plant is theCarhua-carhua grande(Cascarilla Carua, Wedd.), with very fragrant white flowers. I met with flowers and capsules together on the same tree, which is forty feet high, with a thick trunk, fine spreading branches, and masses of beautiful white flowers.
I found that theC. Calisayaregion extended in a belt from 450 to 650 feet above the banks of the river; bamboos, large palms,C. micranthas,Huiñapus,Lasionemas, and theCascarilla caruabeing found below that line, and other species of chinchonæ and chinchonaceous plants above it. We collected twenty-fiveCalisaya-plants, two of them fine strong seedlings, and the remainder root-shoots springing up from trees which had been cut down bycascarillerosin former times, but with good spreading roots of their own. The search was exceedingly hard work, scrambling through matted undergrowth, and up steep ascents, through masses of rotting vegetation.
The afternoon was devoted to an examination of theheights on the north-east side of the Yana-mayu, where, at an elevation of 450 feet, there is a level table-land, covered with palms and bamboos. The search was chiefly conducted along a ridge above this plateau, where the bamboos ended. We obtained twenty more plants ofC. Calisaya, one of which was declared by Martinez to be aCalisaya morada(C. Boliviana, Wedd.), and the leaf agreed well with Dr. Weddell's description, though that botanist believed that the species was not found in this part of Caravaya, but only in the valleys of Ayapata, further north. To-day we saw a couple oftunquis,[335]birds with the most gorgeous plumage I ever beheld. They are the size of large pigeons, with orange-scarlet feathers on the head, neck, breast, and tail, black wings, light-grey back, and scarlet crest. They have a shrill, harsh cry. The butterflies and moths were numerous and brilliant, but so tame, and in such swarms, as to be a perfect plague. There was one bright swallow-tail, with blue wings, fringed with crimson. The torments from venomous insects were maddening; especially from a kind of fly which in a moment raised swellings and blood-red lumps all over the hands and face, causing great pain and irritation. During the night it rained heavily, with peals of thunder, and vivid flashes of lightning, while the river increased in size, and roared past the tent noisily.
The collection of chinchona-plants was deposited in a shady place, near the tent, the roots being well covered over with soft moss.
On the morning of May 4th the river was so swollen as to destroy all hopes of crossing it for the present. It frequently changed its colour, on one morning the surging flood being black, on another tolerably clear, and on another a lightmuddy colour. By these means Martinez could always tell where the rains had been heaviest, and what stream was contributing an unusual freshet to swell the waters of the Tambopata.
I devoted the day to examining the forest on the declivities overhanging the left bank of the Tambopata, and this was by far the most toilsome and dangerous forest journey we had yet made, rendered worse by a comparative want of success. The whole way was along giddy precipices, seeming to hang half way between the sky and the roaring torrent, with no foothold but decaying leaves, nothing to grasp but rotten branches, every motion a drenching bath from wet leaves, every other step a painful and dangerous slip or fall, besides hornets, and endless thorns. Among the latter I was struck by a tree calleditapallu, with trunk and branches thickly set with thorns, very large leaves, and the fruit in clusters, like bunches of pearls with purple stalks. We met with large pigeons, flocks of green parrots, paroquets, and tunquis. The forest peeps across the river were superb, but it was difficult to enjoy them. Martinez pointed out a smallAsplenium, calledespincu, which has a sweet taste, and is sometimes chewed by the Indians for want of coca; and thepanchi, a tall slender malvaceous tree, with large round leaves on spreading branches at the top, and very white wood. It is used by the Chunchos for procuring fire by friction, and the bark, which peels off in long strips, is serviceable for girdles. During this day we came to the largestCalisayawe had yet seen, and Martinez operated on the bark to show his dexterity as a cascarillero, which was remarkable.[336]Our collection only amounted to fourteen plants, among them two fine seedlings ofC. Calisaya, two ofC. micrantha, two ofC. ovata,var. β rufinervis, and the remainder root-shoots ofC. Calisaya: seedlings of the latter species are exceedingly rare. We returned to our camp dead beat, and drenched to the skin, only to find that my Indians were mutinous, declaring that they had been away long enough, that they had no maize or coca left, and that they must return to their homes at once. Our only hope rested upon them, and, if they had deserted, all our plans would have been entirely frustrated. It, however, required no little persuasion and eloquence to induce them to change their minds, and, as they had nothing left to eat, I sent Andres Vilca back to Gironda, to entreat him to supply us with a few chuñus and a little coca. I then told the others, in their own expressive language, that if they deserted me they were liars, thieves, traitors, and children of the Devil, whose punishment would soon overtake them; while if they were true to me they would be well rewarded, and would enjoy the friendship of a Viracocha. After this great effort in Quichua, the evening ended pleasantly. The Indians had built themselves a little shed of palm-leaves near the tent door, a bright fire was lighted, and its cheery reflection danced on the waves of the noisy flood.
It rained heavily through the night, and in the morning, hearing from Martinez that the varieties ofC. ovata, the collection of which had been recommended to me by Dr. Weddell, were only found in a zone at a much greater elevation than that of theC. Calisayas, I devoted the day to a search in an almost vertical direction, on the north-east side of the Yana-mayu, towards some heights called Pacchani.
Ascending the steep sides of the ravine of Yana-mayu for about two hundred feet, we reached a narrow level shelf covered with ferns and the huge leaves of thesayalpalm. The locality was very damp and shady, and theC. micrantha,Huiñapu, andCascarilla Caruawere in great abundance. We continued to ascend through the forest which covered thesides of the steep mountain, for several hours continuously; the footing consisting of decayed leaves and rotten trunks, moss and ferns covering every tree, and all the vegetation intensely humid. At a height of 750 feet above the river we came to some trees of thebeno-beno(Pimentelia gomphosia,[337]Wedd.), with its bright laurel-like leaves and minute capsules; theC. pubescens, called by Martinezcascarilla amarilla, still only in bud, which was very abundant; and large trees of themorada naranjada(C. ovata, var. α vulgaris, Wedd.). Near this place a troop of about twenty monkeys went chattering along the tops of the trees, and while I was looking at them a huge black hornet rushed up out of the moss and stung me on the chin. These savage creatures make their nests under the earth, and are calledhuancoyru.
After a long and wearisome but fruitless search for young plants of thezamba morada(theβ rufinervisvariety ofC. ovata) in these excessively damp forests, we began the descent again. Nothing struck me so much as the extraordinary variety of forms and shapes in which nature works in these tropical forests. One is amazed to see enormous trees with their gigantic roots separating at least twenty feet above the ground, and forming perfect Gothic arches. In one place a giant of the forest had grown on the edge of a ridge of rock, and the roots had combined with the stone to form a spacious vaulted cave large enough to hold ten men comfortably. Beautiful variegated leaves ofColocasiæ, and a scarlet-floweredJustitia, with bright purple leaves, united with a profusion of ferns to ornament the opening, while some tree-ferns, and achinilla, the most slender and elegant of the palms of the forest, guarded the entrance. Rays of the sun struggled through a network of bamboos on an opposite bank, andpenetrated into the recesses of the cavern. While I gazed on this lovely scene, the plaintive mournful notes of the little "Alma perdida" reached me from the boughs of the great tree. This is a small bird of the finch tribe, of which there are two kinds, one black, the other chesnut with black wings. Their loud clear note is peculiarly sad. Such peeps as these into the secret beauties of the innermost forest recesses are rewards for many hours of toil and disappointment.
Late in the evening I returned to the tent dead tired, sodden and wet to the skin, covered with moss and fungus, bitten all over by mosquitos, stung by a hornet, and with hands sliced in pieces by the sharp blades of aPanicumcalledchalli-challi, but with only three plants of the valuable variety ofC. ovata. It is most provoking that only the seedlings of all the worthless species of Chinchonæ should be in great abundance; the reason is of course connected with the general felling of the trees of valuable species by the cascarilleros, years ago.
There was little rain during the night, and on May 6th we commenced the search of a range of forest on the south-west side of the Yana-mayu ravine, where we found a large supply of plants ofC. Calisaya. At a height of 500 feet above the river there was a ridge of rock jutting out from the forest-covered sides of the ravine. In this spot the ground was not nearly so thickly covered with vegetation; there were no palms, tree-ferns, or plants requiring extreme moisture, and young plants received shade from taller trees, while they also enjoyed plenty of sunshine through the spreading branches. The most abundant plants wereMelastomas,huaturus, andPanica, which climb amongst the branches to a height of thirty feet and upwards. These afford but very slight shade, and below there is an undergrowth of ferns,Colocasiæ, and young plants. In different parts of this ridge we collected 124youngC. Calisayaplants, most of them root-shoots, and a few seedlings. There were also two young trees bearing capsules. TheC. Calisayaplants were all growing out of the moss which covered the rock to a thickness of eight inches or a foot, together with beautifulHymenophylla,[338]but there was scarcely any soil. The roots spread along the face of the rock, which is a metamorphic clay slate, unfossiliferous, slightly micaceous, and ferruginous;[339]and is easily broken up into thin layers by the growth of the plants. In this situation theC. Calisayaswere more numerous than in any other we have yet seen.
Two bears had made themselves a comfortable and very carefully prepared bed on the summit of the ridge, whence there was an extensive bird's-eye view of the windings of the river, and of the forest-covered mountains beyond. On the opposite mountains there were two or three long bare places—tremendous landslips, not unfrequent occurrences in the forest. There is a sudden crash, when masses of rock, huge trees, and underwood come rushing down in one fell irresistible swoop. A beautiful whiteStephanotiswas climbing over the rocks. We returned to the camp in a heavy fall of rain, after a very severe but successful day's work, and found that both the Indians and ourselves had come to the end of our provisions, and that Andres Vilca Lad not returned.
On May 7th we rose to find only a few bread-crumbs in the corner of our bag, and, as famine was thus knocking at the door, it became necessary to beat a hasty retreat. The plants were carefully packed in layers of moss, and sown up in two bundles of Russia matting, which we had brought with us, containing about 200 chinchona-plants. In the absence ofAndres Vilca, Mr. Weir showed much zeal and energy in undertaking to carry one of these bundles, four and a half feet in circumference, over the slippery and dangerous road, in doing which he fell into the river.
On the morning of May 7th, when we commenced our retreat, it was pouring with rain, and the forest was saturated, our bodies sodden, our hands crumpled like washerwomen's, and our powder damp. We had to wade across many little streams falling into the Tambopata. The first, after leaving the Yana-mayu, was called Churu-bamba, because it empties itself just opposite an island (churu, in Quichua). The next stream wasUma-yuyu,umabeing water in Aymara, andyuyua plant with a large cordate dock-like leaf, used inchupes. Thus every little stream and hill had received a name from the cascarilleros of former times, from some peculiarity of position or other similar circumstance, which would easily impress it on the memory. What an improvement on the nomenclature in new countries discovered by Englishmen, where we have an endless succession of Jones's rivers, Smith's mountains, and Brown's islands! Near the banks of these streams there are very large snail-shells, and Martinez described the snails as "large kind of hornets, all made of flesh, which do not sting." He called themMamachuru, or "Mother of the Island."
On reaching the precipice of Ccasa-sani we scrambled along its slippery sides, in the pouring rain, to collect plants ofC. Calisaya, and obtained twenty-one good ones. They were growing in a similar situation to those above the Yana-mayu, in company with a number ofAceite de Mariatrees (Elæagia Mariæ),[340]and completely exposed to the sun, without any shade whatever. Passing the precipice, we continued our damp weary journey, Martinez pointing out everything thatwas noticeable by the way, especially thepalo santo(Guaiacum sanctum), a very tall tree, the stem 60 to 70 feet high, without a branch, with a few short horizontally spreading branches at the summit, with pinnate leaves. When the bark is cut, a host of stinging ants come forth. There was also a plant, which he calledachira silvestre(Canna achira?) with a rhizome, and bunches of rank red berries. We passed through groves of paccays (Mimosa Inga), a creeping legume with bright flowers, wild coca, manyLasionemas, with their large coarse leaves drooping over the river, and a melastomaceous plant with a crimson fruit. After having been nearly carried away by the force of the Challuma river, in wading across it, I reached Gironda's hospitable shed, after a journey of more than thirty miles, in pouring rain.
On May 8th I left Gironda's clearing, with Martinez, in order to examine the forests above the hut of Tambopata, for plants ofC. Calisaya. Here, in almost exactly a similar ridge of rock to those which proved so prolific of these precious plants on the heights above the Yana-mayu, and on the precipice of Ccasa-sani, I found a number of plants ofCalisaya morada(C. Boliviana, Wedd.), growing out of moss, amongst the rocks, with scarcely any soil. They were overshadowed by numerous trees, called by Martinez "Compadre[341]de Calisaya" (Gomphosia chlorantha, Wedd.), one of the most graceful and beautiful of the chinchonaceous plants, with deliciously sweet flowers. Dr. Weddell exactly describes it as rising without a branch above all the trees of the forest, and then spreading out in the form of a chandelier, and attracting the attention of the traveller from afar. The bark of this tree, with its transverse cracks, can with difficultybe distinguished from that ofC. Calisaya. Whilst climbing amongst these rocks, I nearly put my hand on a small viper of a most venomous kind, 18 inches long, with a black skin marked with yellow rings, edged with white. In the evening we returned to Gironda's clearing at Lenco-huayccu, with eighty-seven chinchona-plants, sixteen of Calisaya fina (C. Calisaya, var. α vera), and sixty-nine of Calisaya morada (C. Boliviana, Wedd.).
We found Gironda, on whom we were now entirely dependent for food, very little better off than ourselves. His supplies consisted of maize, yucas, aracachas, chuñus or frozen potatoes, and quispiñas, made of boiled quinoa-grains dried in the sun, ground, and preserved as little gritty hard lumps. He also had someachocches, which are poor watery cucurbitaceous things, squeezed, and served up in chupes. No salt.
Though frequently baffled, and more than once exposed to much risk in making vain attempts, I had never given up my determination to have at least one day's work on the right bank of the Tambopata. For some days the volume of water had been gradually decreasing, but it was still 40 yards across, and rushing with great velocity over a ford which Gironda believed to exist a little below Lenco-huayccu. I stripped and went in, with the stem of a youngchontapalm as a support, but, on approaching the mid-channel, the water came up above my middle, the large pebbles slipped and rolled under my feet, and for some time it was with the utmost difficulty that I held my own; but finally we all reached the right bank in safety.
We were rewarded by a very successful day's work. After ascending the steep ravine, through the zone of bamboos, to a height of 400 feet, we reached a ridge of rocks, where we collected 109 good chinchona-plants of theCalisaya moradaspecies. The leaves of the chinchonæ, and moreespecially theCalisayaspecies, are invariably perforated by holes in every direction. Much of this mischief is the work of caterpillars, but it may partly be attributed to the effects of drip from the trees which overshadow them. In this forest there were trees of great height, without a branch for a distance of 50 or 60 feet from the ground, which Martinez calledcanela. The inner bark had a strong taste of cinnamon, and they use it to scent and flavour theirhuarapu, or fermented juice of the sugar-cane. On many trees, in the forest, there are immense masses of earth fixed on the trunk, calledcotocuro. They consist of exceedingly thin layers, one added to another until they are sometimes of an immense size, eight to ten feet high, and three or four feet across. They are made by myriads and myriads of small yellowish lice, which swarm between each thin layer.
In the evening we incurred the same risks in wading across the river again, but arrived without any accident at Gironda's clearing, where we now had a depôt of 436 chinchona-plants.
On May 10th I resolved to make a search on the heights immediately above Lenco-huayccu, called Gloriapata, for the valuable red-nerved variety ofC. ovata. I first paid a visit to the poor little Indian wife and children of Martinez at Huaccay-churu, in a hut of split bamboos, surrounded by aracachas, yucas, camotes with their white convolvulus flowers, plantains, frijoles or beans, and theAmaranthus caudatus, which they calljataccuandcuimi, using the leaves inchupes. We then struck right up the steep declivity of Gloriapata, making our way with difficulty through the dense bamboo thickets, which, in spite of their obstinate obstructiveness, make excellent cisterns, and their joints will always afford a good drink of cool water. For some time we followed a pathway made by a herd of peccaries, until it ended at the mouth of a cave which, thoughlow, appeared to be of considerable size. These peccaries come down in herds of thirty or forty to the clearings, during the night, and do much damage amongst the roots. Some are black and white, and others of a leaden colour.
After ascending for several hundred feet we came to trees ofC. pubescens, which appear to belong to a zone just below, but in contact with theC. ovatæ. Their leaves were eaten by a caterpillar, red at both ends, with a horn, red stripe down the back, and red spots on each side, body striped green and yellow. Some hundred feet higher there were large trees of both varieties ofC. ovata, growing in very moist parts of the forest, where the trees were covered withHymenophyllaand dripping moss, the former a sure sign of extreme humidity. The ground was covered with fallen leaves to a great depth, and there was a good deal of shade. We collected seven plants ofC. ovata, var. α vulgaris, and eleven ofC. ovata, var. β rufinervis, five of which were strong healthy seedlings, the remainder being suckers, with spreading roots of their own. With theC. ovatægrows theCarhua-carhua chica(Cascarilla bullata, Wedd.).