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Klappentext Sir Clements Robert Markham (1830-1916) had a lifelong interest in Peru. Having already travelled there in his early twenties, he was commissioned to return ten years later to supervise the collection of sufficient specimens of the cinchona tree for its introduction to India. The bark of the tree yielded quinine, by then a well-known febrifuge and one of the few effective treatments for malaria. This book, originally published in 1862, is Markham's personal account of his travels. His story moves from the misty heights of the Peruvian mountains, where he suffered from altitude sickness, to the Malabar coastline and its complex, remarkable caste system. Markham also includes a detailed history of the use of cinchona bark, both by Europeans and aboriginal Peruvians, and a discussion of Incan culture since the arrival of the Spanish. His work is still a valuable resource for students of scientific and colonial history. Zusammenfassung By the mid-nineteenth century! the bark of the cinchona tree was widely sought after. It contained quinine! an effective malarial treatment much needed in tropical climates. However! it was indigenous only to Peru. This book! first published in 1862! tells the remarkable story behind the cinchona's introduction to India. Inhaltsverzeichnis Preface; Travels in Peru: 1. Discovery of Peruvian Bark; 2. The valuable species of chinchona-trees, their history, their discoveries, and their forests; 3. Rapid destruction of chinchona-trees in South America; 4. Introduction of chinchona-plants into India; 5. Islay and Arequipa; 6. Journey across the Cordillera to Puno; 7. The Aymara Indians; 8. The Peruvian Indians; 9. Narrative of the insurrection of José Gabriel Tupac Amaru, the last of the Incas; 10. Diego Tupac Amaru; 11. Journey from Pumo to Crucero, the capital of Caravaya; 12. The Province of Caravaya; 13. Caravaya; 14. Coca cultivation; 15. Caravaya; 16. General remarks on the chinchona-plants of Caravaya; 17. Journey from the forests of Tambopata to the port of Islay; 18. Present condition and future prospects of Peru; 19. Mr. Spruce's expedition to procure plants and seeds of the 'red bark', or C. succirubra; 20. Conveyance of chinchona-plants and seeds from South America to India; Travels in India: 21. Malabar; 22. Neilgherry Hills; 23. Selection of sites for Chinchona-plantations on the Neilgherry Hills; 24. Journey to the Pulney Hills; 25. Madura and Trichinopoly; 26. Mysore and Coorg; 27. The Mahabaleshwur hills and the Deccan; 28. Cultivation of the chinchona-plants in the Neilgherry Hills, under the superintendence of Mr. McIvr; 29. Chinchona cultivation; Appendix....
