Hunting the wild potato in the South American Andes. Memories of the British Empire Potato Collecting Expedition to South America 1938-1939

HUNTING THE WILD POTATO
IN THE SOUTH AMERICAN ANDES
Gerard van der Weerden and Ronald van den Berg
C. Meijer BV
Stichting Veenhuizen-Tulpfonds
HUNTING THE WILD POTATO
IN THE SOUTH AMERICAN ANDES
J.G. HAWKES
Solanum ballsii Hawkes, named after Edward Balls.
(drawn by J.G. Hawkes)
Contents
Page
Foreword 6
Photographs 28, 38, 69, 90, 129, 138, 143
FOREWORD
Richard N. Lester, 13 June 2003
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
JGH 2003
PREFACE
I hope you will enjoy joining me on my journey of yesteryear to distant, unique and beautiful lands.
J.G. Hawkes
Route of the British Empire Potato Collecting Expedition in South America. The thick
CHAPTER 1
EXPEDITION PLANNING: MEETING VAVILOV
Early Days
Russian Experiences
Back in England
CHAPTER 2
THE VOYAGE OUT AND EXPEDITION PLANS IN PERU
CHAPTER 3
FROM PERU TO ARGENTINA
Bill and I made another excursion down the valley on 29th January, this time on foot. We found another wild potato in great abundance on the steep stony slopes of the river canyon, much of it in flower. It appeared again lower down, and it was certain...
The Journey to Argentina
CHAPTER 4
IN ARGENTINA
In the early afternoon it started to rain but cleared up later. We found a camping site at 3.30 p.m. at an altitude of about 3,700 metres, not far from the triangular yellow patches on the ridge which we had seen even from the valley below. A small mu...
CHAPTER 5
IN BOLIVIA AGAIN
Early Days
At Tarija, Bolivia
At Potosí, Bolivia
At Sucre, Bolivia
At Cochabamba, Bolivia
At La Paz, Bolivia
On 24th March our friend Figueroa gave us letters of introduction to various places near mount Illimani and to some haciendas in Rio Abajo, below La Paz. Our truck and driver from the Ministry of Agriculture were supposed to have picked us up on 25th ...
CHAPTER 6
IN SOUTHERN PERU
Puno and Lake Titicaca
Wednesday and Thursday, 26th and 27th April were somewhat uneventful, except that Mr. Arnold took us to the studio of a Sr. Landaeta who painted in oils. I bought an oil painting of balsas on Lake Titicaca, whilst Edward bought three, one of them bein...
Cuzco, Paucartambo and the Valley of the Rio Vilcanota
CHAPTER 7
IN CENTRAL PERU:
To Abancay, Andahuaylas and Ayachucho
The following morning, 22nd May, we did get up at 5.00 a.m., only to have to wait until 7.00 a.m. for the muleteer to arrive. In the end, we got five mules, one large white horse and three muleteers. They brought their wives to help them load up (but ...
At that altitude, spending the night there would be no joke, for it was already freezing by 7.00 p.m., and my sinuses had not quite recovered from the operation in Bolivia. We lit some of the Stipa grass in the hope that someone might see us and come ...
It was a colossal room with lots of large tables and two good beds. Edward was certain that there were fleas in them, but if I was bitten I did not realise it amongst all the other insect bites that I had suffered from in the last few days. Sleep in a...
Departments of Huancavelica, Junín and Lima
The last lap of our journey in Peru, was even more complex than some of the previous ones. Firstly, we had to go to a place named Huanta by bus, stay overnight, and then on by bus to La Mejorada very early in the morning to catch the train which ran f...
CHAPTER 8
IN ECUADOR
The next day, 20th June, we found the elusive Barrington Brown at breakfast but he and Dr. Arizaga were going out of town that morning, so we left them to their own activities. As was customary in those countries, we had to visit the Departamento de E...
In Quito
CHAPTER 9
IN COLOMBIA
I think that we were glad in one way and sorry in another that the expedition was over. It had often been both tiring and frustrating, but it certainly had been a success from every point of view.
It set me up as a future expedition leader and had knocked quite a lot of rough corners off my personality. I felt that I had learned a very great deal from Edward for which I shall always be extremely grateful.
CHAPTER 10
THE VOYAGE HOME