The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1892-08-25

all like herd of bisons and ia day, as it We're
the settlers vanished. We saw the ruins of
the plantations or every side Here and there
were ruined huts and the remains of patch !;
now and then skeleton bleaching in the sun,
or the remains Of farming implements told bow
terrible had been the swoop Of the red savages.
The men who spend their lives looking for
euinine trees are called cascariileros. They
are sepa-colored savages, good natured most
of the time, but always ready to fight when
they think they have been wroDged. They are
for the most part, Indians from the interior,
mex who are wiry. tireless and absolutely with
out fear Now and then they will 90 out on
their own hook and, after traversing hundreds
Of miles OF wild forest, will set up their ajoupas
or four-stlted huts, and proceed TO gather
bark by peeling the ciBchona trees. In order
TO endure the fatigues of the tramp through the
forests, the iebors Of climbing the mountains
and the long days Of thirst and hunger, they
carry with them little leathern bags which
contain leaves of the cocoa plant, which they
chew, mixed with lime This is a wonderful
stimulant, and the fatigue which cascarillero
can endure when using cocoa is something
wonderful
We had in our band several Of the best bark
hunters known to the qainine hunters of the
region. One in particular Juan, the terrible
terrible on account of his voice. was a man Of
40, as why as a withe He seemed TO smell the
cinchona blossoms long before we reached the
forest that contained the trees, and to the
jealous disgust of his rivals he would go straight
TO the elump. aud picking up leaves where the
others saw none would carry his find in triumph
10 the ezaminador.
The quinine tree often deceives the hunter.
The leaves not always found where the tree
Is, but are blown for miles through the forest by
the wind. Sometimes the tree itself is so cover
ed with creepers TO be entirely hidden and
the keenest bankers will pass and repass it with
e.
cascarillero who after stripping all the trees
near his camp, was about to remove, when hap
penipg to cut down some vines that had en-
circlcd another tree, discovered the father of
all the quina-qnina trees in the forest-one
that melted him small fortune.
The most precious of the cinchonas are those
that produce the grayish bark. and these are
the most sought after. Often have been al.
most overcome By the fragrance Of q clump of
quinine trees, for they bear sweet-snelling
blossoms aud the whole forest is filed with
doors like those waited from the bowers of
'Arsby the best"
The scenes of quinine camp are vivid and
interesting. The cascarilleros are a iolly
devil -may-care lot OF fellows who want to make
enough TO enable them TO have good time
when they get back to the cities, where they
can while away the time drinking chicha or
making love to the dark-eyed and dark haired
damses Of the same They work with vim
while they do work. The tall trees fall be-
meath their axes and the bark is stripped of by
willing hands The method Of taking the bark
has rot changed since the days of old Tie
bark itself is divided into stems of uniform
length, after which the outer rind is removed
without injuring the precious wood or seyering
any of the fbers.
The bark is taken from the main trunk of
the tree IL fat pieces, but that stripped from
the smaller branches is allowed to retain its
form and has received the name of quill bark
The natives, who have q separate name OF their
own for everything, call it canuto. The bark
is next sewn up IN canvas bags, with perhaps an
outer covering Of fresh hide. Thus shaped. il
is called scroons, and is ready to 90 back to the
coast on the backs of mules and natives for
shipment
This brief description gives no one an idea
OF the labor necessary to get the gray powder.
which is used all over the world into the drug
stores of civilization. 1t gives no one an idea
of the trials. the terrors and the sufierings of
those who go out to look for the quima tree.
If the Countess Of Cinehon had net fallen i'll
more than 200 years ago, the quiDa tree would
mot have been brought into the prominence it
holds to-day. IL the bark had been known 10
materis mediea when Alexander the Great lay
III OF his last fever in the Palace OF Babylon.
the whole face OF the old world might have