quently used it at the great
feasts; but that the difficulty of procuring such a rarity had
increased until they were now forced to strike it from their bill of
fare.

The night passed without disturbance, and the next day's parting was
accompanied by reiterated requests for a repetition of the visit. The
Panther, who since their arrival had oppressed the travelers with a
multitude of officious attentions, escorted them into the woods, and
there took leave of them with a gesture of his hand, relieving their
eyes of his slippery, snake-like robe of spots. A knife from their
stores, slung round his neck like a locket, smote his breast at each
step as he danced backward, and a couple of large fish-hooks glanced
in his ears.

With a feeling of relief and satisfied curiosity the exploring party
left behind them the traces of these children of Nature, and returned
toward the river. The cascarilleros, all for their business,
had regretted the waste of time, and now betook themselves to an
examination of the woods with all their energy. After several hours
of march their efforts were crowned with success. Eusebio presently
rejoined his employers, showing leaves and berries of the _Cinchona
scrobiculata_ and _pubescens_: the peons, on their side, had
discovered isolated specimens of the _Calisaya_, which, joined with
those found on Mount Camanti, indicated an extended belt of that
precious species. This was not the best. A veritable treasure which
they had unearthed, worth all the others put together, was a line of
those violet cinchonas which the native exporters call _Cascarilla
morada_, and the botanists _Cinchona Boliviana_. The trees of this
kind were grouped in threes and fours, and extended for half a mile.
This repeated proof that the most valuable of all the cinchonas,
together with nearly every one of the others, were to be discovered
in a small radius along the valley of the Cconi, filled the explorers
with triumph, and demonstrated beyond a doubt the sagacity of Don
Santo Domingo in organizing the expedition.

The purpose and intention of the journey was now abundantly fulfilled.
Had the travelers rested satisfied with the liberal indications they
had found, and consented to place themselves between the haunts of
the savages and the abodes of civilization, with a tendency and
determination toward the latter, they might have returned with safety
as with glory. The estimate made by Eusebio, however, of the trend or