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
the _pajonales_, 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, these _pajonales_ form a very pleasant
landscape: the broad expanse of grass, dotted over with a graceful
milk-white flower called _sayri-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
and _huaturu_-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 these _pajonales_ consists of
_palms_, _tree-ferns_, _Melastomaceæ_ (_Lasiandra fontanesiana_) with
bright showy flowers, exceedingly pretty _Ericaceæ_ (_Gaultheriæ_),
_Vacciniæ_, the _huaturu_ or incense-tree in great quantities, and
_Chinchonæ_, chiefly consisting of _C. Caravayensis_ (Wedd.), with a
few plants of _Calisaya Josephiana_, but the latter are much more rare
here than in the neighbourhood of Paccay-samana. The _C. 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 shrubby
_Calisaya_, but with little success. During our examination of the
thickets we found a single specimen, evidently belonging to the
_Calisaya_ species, 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 of incense-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 the _Marun-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
another _pajonal_, on the eastern side, whence there was a grand view
of the forest scenery towards Tambopata, and the snowy peaks of the
cordillera above Quiaca and Sina to the right.
The afternoon was again devoted to searching for plants of _Calisaya
Josephiana_ in the thickets; where the _C. Caravayensis_ was very
plentiful, together with several plants of the shrubby _Calisaya_,
and four or five trees of the normal tree _Calisaya_, 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 grassy _pajonales_, and at others painfully
struggling through forests like those on the Marun-kunka. In one of
these forests I came upon a _Calisaya_-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
the _huaturu_-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 the
_pajonales_.
Early in the morning we continued our journey down the valley, 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
for _cascarilleros_ or 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 his _michca_, 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 called _huarapu_, 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 as _yucas_ (_Jatophra
manihot_), _aracachas_[328] (_Conium maculatum_), _camotes_ or sweet
potatoes, and _ocas_. 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 the _C. Calisaya_ region.
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 the _michca_, 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 the _cascarillero_ named
Martinez. Another _cascarillero_, 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, and _chuñus_ or 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
experienced _cascarillero_, 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 their _chuspas_ of coca, and a
_chumpi_ or belt round their waists, carried the _ccepis_ or bundles of
provisions; Pablo bore the tent; and we were all armed with _machetes_,
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 indispensable _polccos_, or shoes made of _bayeta_ or
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 the _sayri_ (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 of _C. micrantha_ growing.
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, clearing away obstructions with his _machete_, 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 a _Calisaya_-plant; and it
required no little quickness and penetration to 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. Several _Calisaya_-trees were growing
on the summit, with bunches of young capsules, in company with the
leathery-leafed _huaturu_, and the _Aceite 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 large _Polypodium_, called _calaguala_. 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 a _Panicum_ with blades, the edges of which cut like a penknife,
called _challi-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 of _C. ovata_ (_morada ordinaria_) and _C. micrantha_ (_verde
paltaya_). There were also great quantities of a false chinchona,
called by Martinez _Carhua-carhua blanca_. We passed through several
large groves of this species, which appeared to be a _Lasionema_, but
differed in several respects from the _L. 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 tall _chonta_,
with its hard serviceable wood; the slender beautiful _chinilla_
(_Euterpe?_); the towering _muruna_ (_Iriartea?_), with its roots
shooting out in every direction from eight feet above the ground, and
triangular-notched leaflets; the _chaquisapa_ (_Astrocaryum?_), with
its lofty stem thickly set with alternate rings of spines, and thorny
leaves; the _sumballu_ (_Giulielma?_), a beautiful palm with a slender
stem covered with long sharp spines, numerous graceful leaves, and an
edible fruit; and above all the _sayal_, 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 crimson _Melastomaceæ_, called _ccesuara_, a
scarlet _Justitia_, the _Manetia coccinea_, and many beautiful orchids
in the branches of the trees.
At length, after a very hard day's work, we reached the mouth 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 the river
there were trees of _C. micrantha_, with large bunches of lovely and
deliciously sweet white flowers; many _carhua-carhua blancas_; and a
chinchonaceous tree, which Martinez called _Huiñapu_. The _Huiñapu_
grows 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 the _Huiñapu_, and
that he took it to be a variety of _Cascarilla 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 the _sayal_ palm. At
a height of 400 feet above the river the _Calisaya_ region commences;
while in the lower belt, from the river banks to a height of 400 feet,
the most abundant chinchonaceous plant is the _Carhua-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 the _C. Calisaya_ region extended in a belt from 450
to 650 feet above the banks of the river; bamboos, large palms,
_C. micranthas_, _Huiñapus_, _Lasionemas_, and the _Cascarilla
carua_ being found below that line, and other species of chinchonæ
and chinchonaceous plants above it. We collected twenty-five
_Calisaya_-plants, two of them fine strong seedlings, and the remainder
root-shoots springing up from trees which had been cut down by
_cascarilleros_ in 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 the heights 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 of _C. Calisaya_,
one of which was declared by Martinez to be a _Calisaya 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 of _tunquis_,[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 light muddy 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 called
_itapallu_, 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
small _Asplenium_, called _espincu_, which has a sweet taste, and is
sometimes chewed by the Indians for want of coca; and the _panchi_,
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
largest _Calisaya_ we 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 of _C. Calisaya_, two of _C. micrantha_, two of _C. ovata,
var. β rufinervis_, and the remainder root-shoots of _C. 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 of _C. 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 the _C. 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 the _sayal_ palm. The locality was very damp and
shady, and the _C. micrantha_, _Huiñapu_, and _Cascarilla Carua_
were in great abundance. We continued to ascend through the forest
which covered the sides 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 the _beno-beno_ (_Pimentelia gomphosia_,[337] Wedd.),
with its bright laurel-like leaves and minute capsules; the _C.
pubescens_, called by Martinez _cascarilla amarilla_, still only in
bud, which was very abundant; and large trees of the _morada 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 called _huancoyru_.
After a long and wearisome but fruitless search for young plants of
the _zamba morada_ (the _β rufinervis_ variety of _C. 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 of
_Colocasiæ_, and a scarlet-flowered _Justitia_, with bright purple
leaves, united with a profusion of ferns to ornament the opening, while
some tree-ferns, and a _chinilla_, 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, and penetrated 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 a _Panicum_ called _challi-challi_, but with only three
plants of the valuable variety of _C. 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 of _C. 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
were _Melastomas_, _huaturus_, and _Panica_, 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 124
young _C. Calisaya_ plants, most of them root-shoots, and a few
seedlings. There were also two young trees bearing capsules. The _C.
Calisaya_ plants were all growing out of the moss which covered the
rock to a thickness of eight inches or a foot, together with beautiful
_Hymenophylla_,[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 the _C. Calisayas_ were 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 white _Stephanotis_ was 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
of Andres 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
was _Uma-yuyu_, _uma_ being water in Aymara, and _yuyu_ a plant with
a large cordate dock-like leaf, used in _chupes_. 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 them
_Mamachuru_, 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 of _C. 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 of _Aceite de
Maria_ trees (_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 that
was noticeable by the way, especially the _palo 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 called _achira 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, many _Lasionemas_, 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 of _C.
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 of _Calisaya 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 difficulty
be distinguished from that of _C. 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 some _achocches_, 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 young _chonta_ palm 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 the _Calisaya morada_ species. The leaves of the chinchonæ, and
more especially the _Calisaya_ species, 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 called _canela_. The inner bark had a
strong taste of cinnamon, and they use it to scent and flavour their
_huarapu_, or fermented juice of the sugar-cane. On many trees, in
the forest, there are immense masses of earth fixed on the trunk,
called _cotocuro_. 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 of _C. 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 the _Amaranthus
caudatus_, which they call _jataccu_ and _cuimi_, using the leaves in
_chupes_. 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, though low, 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 of _C.
pubescens_, which appear to belong to a zone just below, but in contact
with the _C. 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 of _C. ovata_, growing in very moist
parts of the forest, where the trees were covered with _Hymenophylla_
and 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 of _C. ovata,
var. α vulgaris_, and eleven of _C. ovata, var. β rufinervis_, five
of which were strong healthy seedlings, the remainder being suckers,
with spreading roots of their own. With the _C. ovatæ_ grows the
_Carhua-carhua chica_ (_Cascarilla bullata_, Wedd.).
In descending from these heights I came to a tree which Martinez called
_copal_, but the trunk rose to such an extraordinary height, without
branches, that I was unable to make out the appearance of the leaves or
flowers. The bark was covered with a milk-white fragrant resin, of a
nature analogous to _gum thus_ or _gum elemi_. The forest also abounds
in vegetable and bees' wax, and in many varieties of gums and resins.
On May 11th, as we had now collected a sufficient number of
chinchona-plants, including those of the shrub _Calisaya_ which we
intended to take up on our return across the _pajonales_, to fill
the Wardian cases at Islay, Mr. Weir began to make up the plants in
layers, with plenty of moss between them, ready for sewing up in the
Russia matting. Having heard that a young man, a nephew of Gironda's,
had planted a _C. Calisaya_ in a small clearing a few leagues up the
ravine, I went to examine it. The clearing was on a steep declivity
sloping down to the river, and had been partly planted with coffee
and coca by its solitary occupant. The tree was a _Calisaya morada_,
having been a root-shoot twelve inches high when it was planted in
January, 1859. It is now seven feet high, six inches and four-tenths
in circumference round the trunk, and three feet three inches across
the longest branches from one side of the stem to the other. It was
growing on the side of a steep hill, quite open to the south, east,
and south-east, at the edge of a clearing, while mountains covered
with forest rise up close behind it, on the north and west, to a great
height. It is planted in a soil consisting of stiff yellowish loam,
composed of vegetable matter, mixed with the disintegration of the
soft clay slate. This is probably the only cultivated chinchona-tree
in Peru. In returning to Lenco-huayccu I saw a flock of _Alectors_,
large birds analogous to turkeys, and many parrots; and on my arrival I
found that Mr. Weir had already made up the chinchona-plants, in four
Russia-matting bundles, ready to start for Sandia on the following
morning.