On the western side of the Quitenian Andes, south of the Equator, the summer or dry season lasts from June to December, the remaining five months constituting the wet season. In the summer, at Limon, the early part of the day is often sunny, and fogs come on in the afternoon and night; but in the wet season there are fogs in the morning, and heavy rains during the rest of the day and night. A perusal of the foregoing pages, which are nothing more than a brief abstract from Mr. Spruce's official reports, cannot fail to impress the reader with the valuable nature of the service which has been performed, and with the energy and fortitude, combined with great skill and ability, which enabled Mr. Spruce to overcome so many difficulties; and almost equal praise is due to Mr. Cross. But in recounting these arduous labours, only half of Mr. Spruce's services have been recorded. That gentleman is an accomplished botanist, and most accurate observer; and he has supplied us with a detailed report which, I do not hesitate to say, contains a larger amount of valuable information on the chinchona-forests than any account which has yet appeared in Europe. In addition to the narrative of his proceedings, and his observations on the "red-bark" tree, Mr. Spruce here gives a minute account of the vegetation of the "red-bark" forests of Chimborazo, a detailed meteorological journal, and important remarks on the climate and soil.[371] My apprehensions respecting the feelings of the natives, when our proceedings became known, were fully justified by what took place in Ecuador, as well as in Peru. But the South Americans are, as a rule, remarkable for the slowness of their movements; and it was not until May 1st, 1861, that the legislature of Ecuador decreed that every person, whether foreigner or native, should be forbidden to make collections of plants, cuttings, or seeds of the quina-tree; and that precautions should be taken to prevent those articles from passing the ports and frontiers of the Republic. A fine of 100 dollars on every plant, and every drachm of seed, was imposed on those who attempted to break this decree. But by May 1st, 1861, the plants and seeds of the quina-tree were safe on the Neilgherry hills, in Southern India. While Mr. Spruce was engaged in collecting these seeds and plants in the forests at the foot of Chimborazo, Mr. Pritchett, whose services I had secured for the Huanuco region in Northern Peru, was employed on the species of chinchonæ yielding grey bark.