Notes of a Botanist on the Amazon and Andes Being Records of Travel on the Amazon and its Tributaries, the Trombetas, Rio Negro, Uaupés, Casiquiari, Pacimoni, Huallaga and Pastasa Notes of a Botanist on the Amazon and Andes 2 Volume Set Series

Having previously embarked on a collecting expedition to the Pyrenees, backed by Sir William Hooker and George Bentham, the botanist Richard Spruce (1817?93) travelled in 1849 to South America, where he carried out unprecedented exploration among the diverse flora across the northern part of the continent. After his death, Spruce's writings on fifteen fruitful years of discovery were edited as a labour of love by fellow naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace (1823?1913), whom Spruce had met in Santarém. This two-volume work, first published in 1908, includes many of the author's exquisite illustrations. Showing the determination to reach plants in almost inaccessible areas, Spruce collected hundreds of species, many with medicinal properties, notably the quinine-yielding cinchona tree, as well as the datura and coca plants. Featuring four maps, Volume 2 includes discussion of the Peruvian and Ecuadorian Andes and the cinchona forests of western Chimborazo.

15. From Barra do Rio Negro to Tarapoto, Peru; 16. Residence at Tarapoto; 17. Voyage in small canoes from Tarapoto to Canelos on the Bombonasa river; 18. Through the forest on Canelos to Banos; 19. Botanical excursions in the Andes of Ecuador; 20. Ambato and the Cinchona forests of Alausí; 21. The Cinchona forests of western Chimborazo; 22. Spruce's last three years in South America; 23. Letters and articles relating to his Amazonian travels; 24. On ant-agency in plant-structure; 25. On indigenous narcotics and stimulants, with their uses by the Indians; 26. The women-warriors of the Amazon; 27. The engraved rocks of the Rio Negro and Casiquiari; 28. A hidden treasure of the Incas; Glossary of native names; Index.