Owing to the unavoidable abandonment of Mr. Spruce's intention of sending Dr. Taylor to collect seeds of _C. Condaminea_ at Loxa, one portion of my scheme for introducing all the valuable species into India remained incomplete at the close of 1860. On my return from India, therefore, in May 1861, I obtained the sanction of the Secretary of State for India to take measures for obtaining a supply of seeds from the Loxa forests. Mr. Cross, the gardener who had so ably assisted Mr. Spruce, and shared his labours, after safely depositing the collection of seeds and plants in India, had returned to South America, attracted by the richness and variety of the flora of the Andes. Having acquired experience of the people and language, of the localities where chinchona-trees are found, and of the mode of travelling, during his former visit, he possessed the necessary qualifications; and, as Mr. Spruce was too ill to undertake the work, it was intrusted to Mr. Cross, who performed it with expedition and success. He is an excellent practical gardener, intelligent and persevering, ardently devoted to his profession, and thoroughly trustworthy. On the 17th of September, 1861, Mr. Cross left Guayaquil in an open rowing boat, and landed at Santa Rosa, the port of the province of Loxa, whence he proceeded, by way of Zaruma, to the town of Loxa, which he reached on the 27th. He had to pass through dense swampy forests, over dangerous precipitous ridges of the Andes, in crossing one of which his mule slipped down a deep ravine and was dashed to pieces, and along barren lofty plains. He mentions that during the ascent to Zaruma he saw several "red-bark" trees growing at an elevation of eight or nine thousand feet. On the 1st of October he left Loxa, and went to a long low ridge of hills, called the Sierra de Cajanuma, about eight miles to the southward, a locality which is mentioned by Humboldt, Bonpland, and Caldas, as the abode of the most valuable kinds of _C. Condaminea_. He came to an Indian hut on a little rounded eminence near the summit of the mountain, which, being far from public roads or other dwellings, seemed well suited for his head-quarters during the time that he was searching for seeds. For be it remembered that the Decree of May 1st, 1861, already mentioned, was in full force, and that he was running the risk of fine and imprisonment in performing this important service. The owner of the hut, who was an experienced bark-collector, allowed Mr. Cross to establish himself in a little shed at one end of it, which, although favourable for drying seeds, was so cold that he was sometimes compelled, during windy nights, to seek shelter in the bottom of a neighbouring ravine.