Editing Clements Markham (section)

== Peruvian journeys ==

=== First journey, 1852–1853 ===
[[File:Arequipa.jpg|thumb|Old print of [[Arequipa]], Peru, with [[El Misti|Mount Misti]] in the background]]
In the summer of 1852, freed from his naval obligations, Markham made plans for an extended visit to Peru. Supported by a gift from his father of £500 (more than £40,000 at 2008 values)<ref name= MW>{{cite web|title= Purchasing Power of British Pounds 1264 to 2007|website = MeasuringWorth|url= http://www.measuringworth.com/ppoweruk/|access-date= 30 April 2009}}</ref> to cover expenses, Markham sailed from [[Liverpool]] on 20&nbsp;August.<ref name= AHM127/>

Markham travelled by a roundabout route, proceeding first to [[Halifax, Nova Scotia]], then overland to [[Boston]] and New York, before taking a steamer to [[Panama]]. After crossing the [[isthmus of Panama]], he sailed for Callao, finally arriving there on 16&nbsp;October. He set out for the Peruvian interior on 7&nbsp;December 1852, heading across the [[Andes]] towards his goal, the ancient [[Inca]] city of [[Cusco|Cuzco]].<ref>A. Markham, pp.&nbsp;132–137.</ref> On the way, Markham paused for nearly a month in the town of [[Ayacucho]], to study the local culture and increase his knowledge of the [[Quechua people]]. He then travelled on towards Cuzco, and after crossing a swinging bridge—the Apurimac Bridge—suspended {{convert|300|ft|m}} above the raging [[Apurímac River]], he and his party passed through fertile valleys which brought them finally to the city of Cuzco, on 20&nbsp;March 1853.<ref>A. Markham, pp.&nbsp;147–152.</ref>

Markham remained in the city for several weeks, researching Inca history, describing in his journal the many buildings and ruins that he visited. During the course of an excursion to nearby towns and ruins he reached the area of San Miguel, La Mar, Ayacucho, where he first learned of the properties of the [[cinchona]] plant, a source of [[quinine]], cultivated in that vicinity.<ref>A. Markham, p.&nbsp;158.</ref> He finally left Cuzco on 18&nbsp;May, accompanied by a party of six who, like him, were returning to Lima. Their journey took them southwards, descending the mountains to the city of [[Arequipa]], a former Spanish colonial settlement with a mixture of native and European architecture.<ref>{{cite web|title= Historical Centre of the City of Arequipa|website = UNESCO|url= https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1016|access-date= 30 April 2009}}</ref> The city is overlooked by the conical volcano [[El Misti|Mount Misti]], which Markham likened to [[Mount Fuji]] in Japan. On 23&nbsp;June, the party reached Lima, where Markham learned of the death of his father. He departed for England, where he arrived on 17 September.<ref>A. Markham, pp.&nbsp;159–163.</ref>

=== Cinchona mission, 1859–1861 ===
[[File:Cinchona.pubescens02.jpg|thumb|Cinchona plant (photographed in 2002 at a Hawaiian plantation)]]
The idea of introducing cinchona to India was first made in 1813, by W. Ainslie, and, years later, in 1839, John Forbes Royle suggested that it could be tried in the Nilgiris. The Indian government was spending £7000 a year around 1852 when Royle made a proposal to introduce cinchona to India.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Williams|first=Donovan|date=1962|title=Clements Robert Markham and the Introduction of the Cinchona Tree into British India, 1861|jstor=1792039|journal=The Geographical Journal|volume=128|issue=4|pages=431–442|doi=10.2307/1792039|bibcode=1962GeogJ.128..431W }}</ref> By coincidence Markham was a civil servant in the [[India Office]], and in 1859 he made proposals to his employers for a scheme for collecting cinchona trees from the Peruvian and Bolivian Andes, and transplanting them to selected sites in India. Cinchona bark, a source of quinine, was the first known treatment for [[malaria]] and other tropical diseases.<ref>Willcox et al., p.&nbsp;21.</ref> These plans were approved and Markham was placed in charge of the operation.<ref name= Poser>Poser & Bruyn, p.&nbsp;93.</ref>

Markham and his team, which included the botanist [[Richard Spruce]] and his future brother-in-law, the New Zealander [[Charles Bowen (New Zealand politician)|Charles Bowen]],<ref name="DNZB Bowen">{{DNZB|last=Lineham|first=Peter J.|id=1b26|title=Bowen, Charles Christopher – Biography|access-date=6 October 2012}}</ref> left England for Peru in December 1859, arriving in Lima late in January 1860. There was danger in their enterprise; Peru and Bolivia were on the verge of war, and Markham's party soon experienced the hostility of Peruvian interests anxious to protect their control over the cinchona trade.<ref>A. Markham, pp.&nbsp;172–182.</ref> This limited his sphere of operations, and prevented him from obtaining specimens of the best quality.<ref name= Willcox>Willcox et al., p.&nbsp;29.</ref> Later Markham overcame bureaucratic obstruction to obtain the necessary export licences.<ref>A. Markham, p.&nbsp;193.</ref>

Markham returned briefly to England before sailing to India, to select suitable sites for cinchona plantations there and in Burma (now [[Myanmar]]) and [[Ceylon]].<ref>{{cite web|title= Cinchona|publisher = Government of Sri Lanka|website = Agridept.gov.lk|url= http://www.agridept.gov.lk/NBG/H_cinco.htm|access-date = 23 April 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090329170852/http://www.agridept.gov.lk/NBG/H_cinco.htm|archive-date=29 March 2009}}</ref> Although many of the Indian plantations failed to flourish and were soon destroyed by insects,<ref name= Poser/> others survived, and were augmented by species obtained by Spruce which were more suited to Indian conditions.<ref name= Willcox/> Twenty years after the first plantations the annual cinchona bark crop from India was estimated at {{convert|490000|lb|kg}}. For his work in introducing cinchona to India, Markham received a grant of £3,000 (over £200,000 in 2008 terms)<ref name= MW/> from the British Government.<ref>A. Markham, p.&nbsp;202.</ref>