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STAIEWAY ON ,A PAVED TKAIL 



A characteristic portion of the old Spanish trails in the 
neighborhood of Bogota 



QUITO TO BOGOTA 



BY 

A. C. YEATCH 

F.G.S.A., F.G.S., F.R.G.S., F.A.G.S., ETC. 

AUTHOR OF "MINING LAWS OF AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND," 
"GEOGRAPHY AND GEOLOGY OF SOUTHWESTERN WYOMING," ETC. 



WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY , 

THE RT. HON. LORD MURRAY OF ELIBANK,P. C. 




NEW YORK 
GEORGE H. DORAN COMPANY 



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COPYRIGHT, igi 7, 
BY GEORGE H. DORAN COMPANY 



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JUN-7I9I7 



PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 



©CLA462878 




DEDICATED TO 

THEIR EXCELLENCIES 
SENOR DON CARLOS E. RESTREPO 

AND 

SENOR DON L. PLAZA G. 

PRESIDENTS OF COLOMBIA AND ECUADOR 
AT THE TIME OF OUR VISIT 

IN 

GRATEFUL REMEMBRANCE 

OF THEIR MANY KINDNESSES TO US. 




LORD MURRAY (right), AND THE BRITISH MINISTER TO COLOMBIA, 
MR. PERCY WYSDHAM, IN THE PATIO AT LAS PALMAS, FUSAGASUGA 



INTRODUCTION 

I gladly respond to the request of my friend Dr. Veatch 
to preface with an introductory note the absorbing pages 
in which he has richly elaborated his diaries of a journey 
we made together through the Republics of Ecuador and 
Colombia, the grandeur of whose scenery has for ever im- 
pressed itself upon my mind. I am not without hope that 
these pages will prove of interest not only to geologists, 
geographers, lovers of scenery and nature, but to that por- 
tion of the reading public to whom journey ings in little 
travelled countries peculiarly appeal. 

Of the books that have been written on Colombia and 
Ecuador, countries glowing with the memories of the six- 
teenth century Spanish Conquistadores, I do not remember 
any containing so vivid a picture as that portrayed by the 
graphic and sympathetic pen of my fellow traveller. In 
commending this book to the British and American publics, 
and with respectful diffidence to Colombian and Ecuadorian 
friends also, there is but little to add. 

For those interested in all pertaining to the old Spanish 
Main, the adventures of the Conquistadores and the British 
sea rovers, there is a new viewpoint in the adjustment to 
geographical facts of both new and old historical data, 
rectifying long current misconceptions. Starting from 
Quito the reader is taken through the upland parks of the 
Andes, traverses the famous fertile, healthy plains between 



viii INTRODUCTION 

the Central and Western Cordilleras, descends to the Pa- 
cific at Buenaventura, and returning, climbs over the three 
ranges, and finally descends to the northern shore of the 
South American Continent, along the valley of the Magda- 
lena. It is a region with an old civilisation and culture, a 
country of great natural resources, but comparatively few 
people — little known to the English speaking world. 

Colombia embraces an extent of area greater than the 
sum total of the following European countries : France, 
Belgium, Holland, Germany and Switzerland. It is the 
most northwestern of the Republics of South America, and 
the one nearest the Panama Canal. Often regarded as a 
rain-drenched, unhealthy, tropical country, it has, in fact, 
a great diversity of climate, great agricultural possibilities, 
and enormous undeveloped mineral resources, and the day 
of great prosperity for Colombia is undoubtedly rapidly ap- 
proaching. 

Benjamin Kidd, in his "Social Evolution," observes: — 
"The day is probably not far distant when, with the advance 
that science is making, we shall recognise that it is in the 
tropics and not in the temperate zones that we have the 
greatest food producing and material producing regions of 
the earth." When that great thinker penned these words, 
even he could have realised but little what a wonderful stride 
toward the accomplishment of his prophecy would be made 
by the marvellous achievements of the alert genius and 
resources of American engineers and doctors in their twin 
triumphs over nature and disease on the tropical Isthmus 
of Panama. 

It has been my privilege on three or four occasions both 
prior and subsequent to the completion of the Canal to 



INTRODUCTION ix 

visit Panama and for myself to learn the truth of what 
triumphant science can accomplish. American citizens must 
indeed be proud of the men who have carried out on the 
Isthmus their heart-stirring work in the interests of man- 
kind. If I quote the work of the Americans on the Isthmus 
of Panama it is merely to bring home more particularly to 
my Colombian friends, the influence which the work of 
the Canal corps will have in placing the tropics among the 
most productive regions of the earth as the home of man- 
kind. The achievements on the Canal Zone not only have 
robbed the tropics of its terrors, but have provided a clear 
and conclusive demonstration of what can be accomplished. 
The effect is thus world-wide, but the lands which will 
probably most benefit by this demonstration of life, comfort 
and health in tropical environment, are the neighbouring 
Republics of Central and South America. The benefit to 
these of harnessing science to similar ends will be incalcu- 
lable, and with the construction of trunk lines and ade- 
quate harbour facilities, these nations will take the place 
among the nations of the world to which their great and in- 
disputable natural resources, both agricultural and mineral, 
as well as the culture and courtesy of their peoples, justly 
entitle them. 

To-day their small population is concentrated largely 
in the higher regions, where the elevation gives a 
climate like that of the temperate zones, but the de- 
velopment is hampered by the lack of trunk railways to 
which I have already alluded, like those which gave the 
mountain regions of Canada and the United States their 
present thriving condition and prosperity. These trunk 
railways and the opening up of the scarcely touched min- 



x INTRODUCTION 

eral wealth will come with the realisation that their ex- 
tensive low-lying, thinly populated and meagrely developed 
tropical portions are habitable. 

The triumphs of the Americans on the Canal Zone have 
shown the soundness of the observations of the economist, 
Kidd, that the day is indeed not far distant when, with the 
progress of science, we will realise that in the tropics and 
not in the temperate zones we have the regions which prom- 
ise most to mankind in the future. This advance can only 
be made with great expenditure of money. Only State en- 
terprise or organisations with large resources, alone or in 
partnership with the State, can in these early stages bring 
success one step nearer the prediction of Kidd. After the 
path is broken by the pioneers others will follow and the 
development of these regions will be accomplished without 
undue danger to human life. 

A year or two ago I read an interesting article in the 
American magazine, the "World's Work," by Mr. Charles 
Chandler, of the American Consular Service, entitled "The 
World's Race for the Rich South American Trade," the 
gist of which is well worthy of the attention of the rulers 
of the Northern South- American Republics. Competition 
between the United States and Europe for sound commer- 
cial business with these States is largely handicapped by 
lack of banking facilities, by meagre sources of credible 
news, by an inadequate knowledge of conditions, and by 
misdirected training of trade representatives. 

In both the Americas I had many conversations with 
prominent leaders and men of affairs, and they all agreed 
that the opening of the Panama Canal, together with the 
immense advertisement which will result in Europe, stimu- 



INTRODUCTION xi 

lated by the great shipping companies desirous of steerage 
passengers, will bring a continuous flow of the best type 
of immigrant from Southern Europe to the Pacific ports 
in the South and to California in the North. It is inter- 
esting to note that that view is confirmed by Mr. Chandler. 
He writes, "The Panama Canal is viewed by Americans 
almost wholly as a channel of commerce for wares, but 
vessels carry more than wares. In their steerage are fu- 
ture nations. The Panama Canal is certain to provide one 
of the greatest channels of immigration in the world. Now 
South America is still a country for settlement as well as 
development. Only after a person has roamed over that 
vast territory from Panama to South Argentina, does he 
realise the sparseness of its settlement and the many possi- 
bilities of its future. Therefore the greatest advantage of 
the Canal is the people it will bring. They will amalgamate 
with the present inhabitants of the country and build a gen- 
erally altered, perhaps a new, South America, industrially 
and politically. The change has begun in one country al- 
ready. Argentina's commerce has grown, until that coun- 
try has the largest foreign trade in the Western Hemisphere 
(except the United States). Argentina has received most 
of the immigration because of her railway and harbour de- 
velopment and the steamship lines from her ports to 
Europe, the remainder of it has only gone to Peru and Chile. 
Now the Panama Canal will bring the steamship lines to the 
west coast." 

I sometimes think that the exhaustion that will come over 
Europe after the War will drive her inhabitants in tens 
and hundreds of thousands to seek new homes in those 
parts of South America where the development of trans- 



xii INTRODUCTION 

portation facilities has prepared the way for the populations 
necessary for the working of their rich natural products. 
Immigration to South America not only will provide a 
steadying influence politically upon Governments but a 
quickening inspiration of the industrial life of the Republics. 

The conclusions set forth in this volume formed the sub- 
ject of many conversations and joint observations. Of all 
the peoples I know, it is no exaggeration to say that the 
Colombians as a nation are the shyest, and this is due pri- 
marily to the relative isolation of the centres of popula- 
tion as regards modern means of transportation. 

In point of view of locomotion, the country is little in 
advance of the days when Sir Francis Drake appeared with 
his ships outside the walled city of Cartagena — a few jerk- 
water railways of short distances — coming from nowhere 
and going nowhere. The one railway of any consequence 
from Buenaventura on the Pacific has been built at extrava- 
gant cost, and there is no settled policy as to its ultimate ex- 
tension. 

Dr. Veatch touches, as is inevitable, on the necessity for 
trunk railways, and he points to the amazing example of 
the United States, where remote cities have been linked 
together, where government has been made secure, where 
a vast nation has been welded together, where interests 
which were once diverse have been made as one, and whence 
national well-being and prosperity have sprung. The monu- 
mental rise of the United States in strength and prestige 
may be summed up in the one word "Railways." 

The Civil War in America showed to the people of that 
country how necessary through railway communication was 
to the well-being and peace of the nation. It was during 



INTRODUCTION xiii 

this struggle that the project of building great trunk rail- 
ways across the western plains and mountains reached frui- 
tion. California and her sister states and territories were 
distant from the seat of government, mails were subject to 
many delays, communication was slow and uncertain, and 
the Government successively granted land to aid in the 
construction of three great trunk lines, one roughly near 
the centre of the country, one in the north and one in the 
south. 

These railways were built across very sparsely settled 
regions — areas in which there was not sufficient population 
to support a railway — and the ultimate success of the roads 
built depended in large measure on the settlement and de- 
velopment of the areas through which they passed. For it 
must be borne in mind that there are two general types of 
railway ventures : ( i ) the railway built in a well-populated 
region where the demands of the people already there make 
it at once a profitable business, and (2) the railway built 
through a thinly populated region, which can hope to be 
a profitable venture only by the increase in the population 
and industries of the region served. In the one case the 
investor is assured of a reasonably speedy return on his 
money, while in the other he must wait. In one instance 
the railway serves an existing population and demand, in 
the other it must create both a population and a demand 
commensurate with the cost of the undertaking. To the 
first class belong the majority of the railways in Europe 
and the Eastern United States, to the second belong most 
of the railways in new countries, notably the first lines 
across Western America above referred to. When the ulti- 
mate success of these great trunk lines was assured Canada 



xiv INTRODUCTION 

adopted the same plan to secure a great trunk line — the 
Canadian Pacific — to the Pacific Coast. These through 
lines involved enormous expenditure — expenditure which 
had to await the development of the country before there 
could be any return. 

Again, under the organised and benevolent guidance of 
the United States Government, through the creation of 
agricultural departments and experimental stations, the pub- 
lic-land States have become the most progressive and pros- 
perous in the world. All these activities have been followed 
by an immense influx of capital and people. Everything, 
in short, is possible to a vast country developed on the Ca- 
nadian and American plans. 

Dr. Veatch's chapters provide instructive reading as to 
the temperate altitudes in Colombia, where cattle raising 
and cold-storage operations might be carried out on a vast 
scale. Development on these lines can only be effectually 
handled by a systematised scheme for placing on the soil 
by means of an immigration bureau the best types of Euro- 
pean families, and subsequently by friendly nursing, guid- 
ance and protection at the hands of a benevolent Govern- 
ment. 

The rapid and amazing economic growth of Argentina 
under the inspiration of enlightened rulers who realise that 
in commercial pursuits are bound up peace, prosperity and 
national consolidation, is convincing proof that this great 
sub-continent of America is wise to seek outside co-opera- 
tion in the development of her illimitable resources. Capital 
bears no hall-mark or certificate of origin. Britain's wealth 
is due to what may be described as her "policy of the open 
door," through which has passed into her industries capital 



INTRODUCTION xv 

from all sources, and it has resulted in the enrichment of 
her people, and the betterment of the professional and 
working classes of the country. 

For the moment the European War lays a retarding hand 
on the expansion of Colombia, as it does on other young 
and ambitious nations, but if I might offer a respectful sug- 
gestion to the rulers of Colombia and Ecuador, who one and 
all showed us unexampled courtesy, hospitality and kind- 
ness, which I shall always recall with gratitude, it would be 
that they should use this unhappy interval in preparing care- 
ful plans for the future development of their rich and at- 
tractive countries. And finally, in the permanent interests 
of the Western Hemisphere, I would urge them to encour- 
age warm reciprocal relations with North America, which, 
owing to its propinquity, must not only be always one of the 
principal remunerative outlets of their foreign trade, but a 
quickening example of what pertinacity and resource can 
achieve. M. 

Elibank, 
Scotland. 

February ist, 191 7. 



CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Introduction. By The Rt. Hon. Lord Murray of 

Elibank P. C ' vii 

I. Quito to San Pablo 21 

II. San Pablo to San Gabriel 49 

III. San Gabriel to Pasto 71 

IV. Pasto to Cali 101 

V. Cali and Buenaventura 153 

VI. Cali to Bogota 181 

VII. Around Bogota 233 

VIII. The Magdalena 275 



ILLUSTRATIONS 

Stairway on a Paved Trail Frontispiece 

PAGE 

Lord Murray and the British Minister to Colombia .... vii 
Mountain Parks of Northern Ecuador and Southern Colombia 

(Map) . 26 

An Ecuadorian Hacienda Garden 30 

Views of Quito 36 

The First Day 42 

Industries of Northern Ecuador 52 

Ibarra and the Old Volcano of Imbabura 58 

The Dry Valley of the Chota 64 

The Tulcan-Tuquerres Mountain-Park 74 

Interesting Constructions 84 

Valley Plains of Western Colombia (Map) 104 

A Narino Trail 124 

Plains of the Patia and Cali 134 

Old Spanish Bridges 140 

Plain of Popayan 146 

Mule Train in Dagua Gorge 156 

Effect of Differing Rainfall on Opposite Slopes of Same Range i 64 

The Quindio Road 184 

Between Quindio Pass and the Magdalena 194 

H. E. President Restrepo 206 

Ibaque 212 

A Termite or White Ant Hill 218 

Ox Transportation 222 

On the Sabana 228 

An Andean Trail 236 

The Western Escarpment of the Bogota Tableland . . . 240 

A Hacienda Entrance Gate . 246 

xix 



xx ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAGE 

On the Way to Fusagasuga 252 

A Hacienda Near Fusagasuga 256 

Environs of Fusagasuga 262 

Mountain Tops Near Bogota 268 

The Valley of the Rio Blanco 272 

Life at Fusagasuga 280 

Distribution of Heavier Forest Growth (Map) 288 

Pottery Market 314 

On the Magdalena 322 

Structure of Andes at Bogota 338 

Outline Route Map 338 

Physical Features of Colombia 338 



ONE 
QUITO TO SAN PABLO 



QUITO TO BOGOTA 



Hacienda Cusin, 

Near San Pablo, 

Province of Imbabura, 
Ecuador. 

3rd July, 1913. 

One could hardly imagine a more fitting place than the 
Hacienda Cusin at which to prepare the first of the series of 
narratives that, from time to time as opportunity affords, we 
plan to write concerning our journey through the Andes 
from Quito to Bogota. The Hacienda Cusin is in one of 
the World's wonder spots ! Although situated only 12 miles 
north of the Equator, it is a region of temperate climate, 
with the food products of the temperate zone, but here there 
are no long hot summer days, and no winters with frost 
and snow. In London and New York at this time of the 
year the heat is becoming oppressive; many have already 
left for cooler regions, and others are planning to go : here 
on the Equator the day has been delightful, the temperature 
neither too hot nor too cold, and it will be the same next 
month, that month most dreaded in the cities of the temper- 
ate zone. 

No snow falls at the Hacienda Cusin, and there are no 
frosts to kill the summer gardens, but one has only to climb 
the nearby minor volcanic peak, from which the Hacienda 
takes its name, to see on a clear day the regions of perpetual 

23 



24 QUITO TO BOGOTA 

snow. A few miles away to the eastward is the gigantic 
snow and glacier-covered cone of the old volcano Cayambe, 
whose summit is over 19,000 feet above sea level; while 
along the same eastern side of the complex top of the Andes 
are successively to the southward the snow-covered peaks 
of Saraurcu, Antisana (18,900), Sincholagua, and Cota- 
paxi (19,500). Along the western side of the Andes 
is the nearby snow-capped Cotacachi (16,300), the more 
distant twin Pichincha peaks (15,700), near Quito, as 
well as Corazon (15,600), and Iliniza (17,400) farther 
to the south. These snow-capped mountains are the cul- 
minating points in the great broad single mountain mass 
which here forms the Andes. Its top is from 20 to 40 miles 
wide and the parallel rims are generally called the "Eastern 
Cordillera" and the "Western Cordillera" respectively. 
Cross-ranges divide the top into a number of great elevated 
basins or mountain-parks which have a mean elevation of 
7,500 to 9,000 feet, while their bordering rims have average 
heights of 11,000 to 12,000. These high basins are drained 
by rivers flowing through the ramparts, in some cases to the 
west into the Pacific, and in others to the east into the Ama- 
zon and the Atlantic. The Cerro Cusin (13,160) near the 
Hacienda is about midway between the eastern and west- 
ern rims, and on a north-lying spur of the Paramo de Mo- 
janda, which is the cross-ridge that separates the Ibarra 
mountain-park area, in which we are stopping for the mo- 
ment, from the Quito mountain-park area through which 
we have just come, and in which we have spent many pleas- 
ant days in the past five weeks. 

Both the Ibarra and Quito mountain-parks drain into the 
Pacific, the former through the gorge of the Mira and the 



QUITO TO BOGOTA 25 

latter through the gorge of the Guaillabamba, both cut 
through the Western Cordillera. On the other hand the 
mountain-park area of Latacunga, which is the one south of 
Quito, has its river outlet through the Eastern Cordillera 
into the Amazon. 

The Andes in Ecuador slope very steeply towards the 
Pacific on the west and the low-lying Amazon drainage on 
the east, and the streams that flow from the mountain-parks 
therefore have very steep gradients. Because of this and 
the steady supply of water from the adjoining mountain-top 
paramo regions, the streams have made much progress in 
trenching these basins. In those portions of the parks most 
distant from the point of outlet through the mountains this 
trenching is slight, but as the outlet is approached the depth 
of the cut in the floor made by the stream increases very 
rapidly, and in the case of the Guaillabamba, which we 
crossed only a few days ago in coming from Quito, near the 
point where it passes through the western range, the total 
depth of the cutting of the stream is over 3,000 feet, of 
which over 1,200 feet is in the form of a steep-sided narrow 
canyon. The mountain-parks of Ecuador are thus not only 
separated from each other by cross-ranges of only a slightly 
less altitude than the Eastern and Western rims, and con- 
tain minor ridges and peaks like that of Cerro Cusin, but 
near their water outlets are also broken by very deep valleys. 

These mountain-parks have a gentle rainfall; in places 
sufficient for ordinary crops, but in others requiring to be 
supplemented by irrigation, for which the mountain streams 
furnish an abundant supply, and in this respect contrast 
markedly with the outer slopes to the east and west, which 
at the same elevation as the floors of the mountain-parks, 



26 QUITO TO BOGOTA 

that is, 8,000 to 9,000 feet, are deluged with rain and are 
covered with luxuriant vegetation dripping with moisture. 
This heavy rainfall quite reaches the coast in northern 
Ecuador, but extends only partly down the western slope 
in central and southern Ecuador, where the winds from the 
Pacific are not heavily charged with moisture, and pass over 
the coastal belt without yielding heavy rains. It is only 
when they are forced to ascend the mountains that the in- 
creasing cold of elevation causes great precipitation. On 
the other hand the winds from the Amazon are charged with 
moisture, and the whole eastern slope is reported as dripping 
with water from top to bottom — the only changes being an 
increase in heat as the lower levels are approached and the 
gradual alteration of the floral aspect of the jungle forest. 

On these mountains the tree growth becomes very stunted 
above an elevation of 10,000 to 11,000 feet, quantities of 
moss and other bog-loving plants appear, and the greater 
part of those mountain tops which are below the snow-line 
are covered with a thick layer of water-soaked partially 
decayed bog vegetation. These are the "paramos" of the 
Andes, unpleasantly cold and enshrouded in an almost per- 
petual mist. Those who are unfortunate enough to wander 
from the trail suffer much from the cold and almost im- 
passable nature of the ground. We have a very vivid recol- 
lection of a night spent on the Paramo of Mojanda across 
which we passed in coming here from Quito. 

The Paramos cover not only the outer slopes of the Andes 
above 10,000 to 11,000 feet, but also the slopes of the rims 
towards the mountain-parks, as well as the cross-ranges 
which separate them. Below the paramo zone the moun- 
tain-parks may be said to be in the "rain-shadows" cast by 




West of VG^Greenwich. 



MOUNTAIN PARKS OF NORTHERN ECUADOR AND SOUTHERN COLOMBIA 

(After Rosales, Wolf, and others) 



QUITO TO BOGOTA 27 

these bordering ranges, as winds coming from the east or 
the west are by their forced passage over the elevations on 
either side robbed of most of their moisture, and it thus 
happens that the park areas themselves are regions of gentle 
rainfall. 

These greatly blessed elevated basins, with a thick, rich 
volcanic soil, were occupied by Indian Tribes who had prog- 
ressed much beyond the status of the simple savage at the 
time this country was conquered by the Spaniards. On the 
other hand, in the Amazon region the tribes were, as they 
are to-day, in a very primitive state, while those on the 
coast, from which region these mountain people had come, 
at least in part, though more advanced than the Amazon 
tribes, were handicapped by the enervating heat of the 
coastal region and by the eternal struggle with malaria. 
Certainly at the time when the Spaniards arrived those cul- 
tured aborigines, who have left many remains of their civi- 
lisation in this coastal region, had virtually disappeared, and 
in their place there were savages of whom it is recorded that 
they were regarded by one of the late Inca rulers as not 
worthy of even an effort to civilise ! 

The Spaniards were originally but a handful compared 
with the numbers of these mountain people, and even to-day 
it is stated that the Indians still form the greater part of the 
population of the northern mountain provinces of Ecuador. 
As far as we have had an opportunity of observing them, 
these Indians appear a most industrious, docile, sturdy, 
rather shy people. One cannot but be impressed with the 
marked Asiatic cast of their countenance and general 
physique. 

The Hacienda Cusin includes much land approaching the 



28 QUITO TO BOGOTA 

paramo zone, which is suitable for cattle raising, and for 
which it is, indeed, largely utilised, but one has only to look 
to the north, from our comfortable quarters, to see an al- 
most countless number of small fields extending well up the 
sides of the mountain, all subjected to intensive cultivation 
by the Indians. 

The Hacienda Cusin is situated in the extreme southern 
end of the Ibarra mountain-park at an elevation of about 
9,000 feet. The house itself is of the Spanish villa type — 
a ■ one-storied, red-tile-roofed building with an encircling 
verandah, floored and walled with the type of tiles which 
the Moors at an early date introduced into Spanish archi- 
tecture. In front is a delightful old-world garden, beyond 
which is the beautiful little Lake of San Pablo (8,850 feet 
above the level of the sea), rivalling in the blueness of its 
waters and the beauty of the surrounding country the lakes 
of northern Italy, and between the house and the lake is the 
little village of San Pablo with its three white Church tow- 
ers, a veritable bit of old Spain itself. 

One does not see any of the snow-peaks from the house, 
but one gets a glimpse of the old volcano of Imbabura 
(about 8 miles to the north and on the same ridge as the 
Cerro Cusin), which still has some snow on its summit this 
time of the year, although I am told that it is not always 
so covered. The lake is dominated on the eastern side by the 
rugged rocky slopes of Cerro Cuvilche (12,730 feet), Cerro 
Cochaloma (11,450 feet) and Cerro Cunru (10,950 feet), 
other old minor volcanic peaks, lying just north of Cerro 
Cusin, and on the western side by a rather gently sloping 
spur of the cross-range, beyond which to the northwest, 
and quite out of sight in an adjoining valley, is the town of 



QUITO TO BOGOTA 29 

Otavalo, of pleasant memories. The Hacienda Cusin is but 
one of the many centres of Spanish culture which are to be 
found throughout Ecuador. It is the homestead of one of 
the old aristocratic families, and its present owner is Mad- 
ame Lasso, the mother-in-law of the President of the Re- 
public. 

It is just ten days since we decided to return overland to 
Bogota. Lord Murray had never tried riding on a moun- 
tain trail, but his pleasant recollections of a trip by ox- 
wagon in Matabeleland,. some twenty years before, caused 
him to look forward to the adventures of the journey with 
keen anticipation. The feeling in Quito is very strong that 
Lord Murray will not succeed in making the overland trip 
to Bogota, and the betting in the Clubs of the city are long 
odds against his doing so, as even among these horse-loving 
folk this journey is to-day of rare occurrence. 

It was decided that, while it was best to purchase our 
saddle animals, it was on the whole advisable to hire a pack- 
train. With respect to the latter, we found that in these 
regions where all supplies must be so transported, there 
were naturally people who made this their occupation and 
that it was a business of individuals rather than an organ- 
ised transportation controlled by one or more large com- 
panies. This has been the method of transportation in this 
country for centuries, and naturally there are stopping- 
places commonly recognised as marking the limits of a day's 
journey. Certain groups of men work between certain 
places, and they seldom pass beyond what they consider 
their own particular beat. This is quite natural, as the con- 
tinued and successful operation of this service requires that 
those conducting it have business connections with some of 



30 QUITO TO BOGOTA 

the merchants in the cities which mark the termini of their 
rounds. In each pack-train there is commonly from six to 
twenty animals, which are usually accompanied by the owner 
or the owners of the animals and one or two helpers — all 
indiscriminately called "arrieros." We consulted some of 
the merchants of Quito and found that there is a consider- 
able trade between Quito and Tulcan, which is the north- 
ernmost Andean town of Ecuador, and that we could readily 
arrange for the transportation of our baggage to the latter 
place. This is regarded as a five- to six-day journey and is 
officially stated to be 133 miles by the trails ordinarily fol- 
lowed. As we did not plan to stop at the usual recognised 
halts, and as parts of our equipment were quite different 
from the packages of merchandise usually carried, several 
new factors were therefore introduced into the settlement of 
the terms of compensation. 

In conducting these negotiations we formed the impres- 
sion, and we gathered that it is commonly the case, that the 
compensation to those who engage in this business consists 
as much in the enjoyment and entertainment they derive 
from bartering with the prospective customer as in the 
actual money received. There is the size of the loads, the 
number of animals required, whether the owner of the pack 
train is to ride or walk, the proportion of the wages to be 
paid in advance, and many other details, which though fairly 
well settled by custom may still be brought forward as sub- 
jects for bargaining. 

There is a considerable amount of trade between Tulcan 
and Pasto, and there would be, we were informed, no diffi- 
culty in getting transportation for this stage of the journey. 
Between Pasto and Popayan the matter did not appear so 



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QUITO TO BOGOTA 31 

simple. Pasto receives its supplies either from Quito 
through Tulcan or from the Port of Tumaco, on the Colom- 
bian coast. Popayan on the other hand receives its sup- 
plies and trades almost exclusively with Cali, and there is 
thus very little trading between Pasto and Popayan (a 
seven- to eight-day journey), and consequently very few 
arrieros work between these two places. However, by tele- 
graphing to Pasto we found that arrangements could be 
made. Beyond Popayan we were assured there would be no 
trouble, for there is much trade between Popayan and Cali, 
the head of navigation on the upper reaches of the Cauca 
River, and between Cartago at the foot of the upper Cauca 
navigation and Girardot, the terminus of the railway from 
the Magdalena River to Bogota. We also learned, in case 
we should decide to follow the more direct route and not go 
through the Cauca valley, that some arrieros work direct 
from Popayan to the Magdalena River. 

We arranged for pack animals to make the trip from 
Quito to Tulcan, that is, across the Quito mountain-park, 
and through the Ibarra mountain-park into the southern 
edge of the mountain-park of Tulcan-Tuquerres. There are 
two routes usually followed from Quito to Tulcan, the more 
direct one passing across the canyon portion of the Guailla- 
bamba and the Paramo of Mojanda to Otavalo, and thence 
through Ibarra to Tulcan ; and the other, a much longer one, 
by way of the village of Cayambe, which lies at the foot of 
the old snow-covered volcanic peak of that name. At some 
times of the year a part of the direct trail across the Paramo 
of Mojanda is so wet, and cut into almost bottomless mud- 
holes, that it is virtually impassable, and then the Cayambe 
route is followed. This route circles the head-waters of 



32 QUITO TO BOGOTA 

tributaries of the Guaillabamba where they have not deeply 
trenched the mountain-park and passes through a very low 
place in the Mojanda cross-range, below the paramo level, 
to San Pablo and thence through Ibarra, and is much more 
horizontal than the direct road. There is also another route 
from Cayambe to Ibarra across the Paramo of Pesillo, but 
when the Mojanda route is impassable this is in a like con- 
dition. 

We were advised by a recent arrival from Otavalo that 
in passing over the direct Mojanda route but a short time 
before, he had found it in quite good condition. We decided 
therefore to take this route, and while the fact that we are 
now here at the Hacienda Cusin clearly demonstrates that it 
was "passable," it happened that immediately after our in- 
formant had passed over this route, a slow, steady, long- 
continued rain began and we consequently will remember 
the passage across the Paramo of Mojanda for many a day. 

This route over the Mojanda Paramo follows what ap- 
parently was once a carefully made cart road, the construc- 
tion of which must have been undertaken many years ago, 
as the wagon bridges are now in ruins and the road quite 
impassable for carts, even in dry weather. Whether it was 
ever used extensively for wagon traffic is very doubtful, for, 
although it started at Otavalo, it did not pass across the 
canyon of the Guaillabamba and so never furnished any con- 
nection with Quito, which is the natural market and source 
of supplies for this region. The passage of the Guailla- 
bamba by a wagon road along this route would involve a 
number of engineering difficulties and a considerable ex- 
penditure, and as the modern highways are gradually con- 
structed in this country, one would expect the first connect- 



QUITO TO BOGOTA 33 

ing Otavalo and Quito to pass through San Pablo and the 
low gap in the cross-range, already described, to Cayambe 
and thence to Quito. 

There has been some progress made in modern highway 
construction in the neighbourhood of Quito, but the road 
leading south from the city is the only one which goes any 
considerable distance. Before the railway running south- 
ward to Guayaquil was completed stage-coaches ran along 
this road connecting the capital with the semi-populous 
mountain-parks to the south. The three other modern high- 
ways have been completed for distances of only 10 to 15 
miles. The two going to the eastward (one to the southeast 
through Conocoto to Sangolqui and the other northeast 
through Guapulo to Tumbaco) are notable pieces of road- 
engineering. In particular the one to the southeast would 
do credit to those master-builders of mountain roads, the 
French. It first climbs 2,000 feet to the summit of the Poin- 
gasi ridge, which is a minor north-south ridge within the 
Quito mountain-park area, and then descends in long wind- 
ing curves 3,000 feet to the beautiful irrigated Chillo valley 
in which Conocoto and Sangolqui are situated. 

Considering the small extent of modern highways, one is 
astonished in Quito, as in Bogota, where the conditions are 
much the same, at the great number of automobiles, and 
when we had time only for a short motor trip the answer to 
the question of where shall we go was always : "To the top 
of Poingasi to have another look at Quito." This view of 
the city is the most satisfying and comprehensive we suc- 
ceeded in obtaining in our little journeys in the environs of 
the capital during our five weeks' sojourn there. 

Quito is situated in the narrow valley between the Poin- 



34 QUITO TO BOGOTA 

gasi ridge and the Western Cordillera. The town extends 
a little way up the slopes of the western range, on the one 
hand, and at the railroad station touches the lower slopes of 
the Poingasi ridge. The twin peaks of Pichincha, snow- 
covered most of the year, tower 6,000 feet above it to the 
west, and the Poingasi ridge rises 2,000 feet to the east. 
The valley is interrupted to the south by the steep-sided, 
conical hill, almost artificial in aspect, called the Panecillo, 
on the top of which in the days before the Spanish conquest 
stood the native Temple to the Sun. Quito is thus virtually 
a city in a pocket in the mountains, and one must ascend the 
hills on either side to obtain any comprehensive view of the 
surrounding country. 

From Poingasi ridge one finds Quito a most interesting 
and attractive white-walled, red-roofed, church-towered city 
in a rolling sea of green, without trees, except scattered 
clumps of alien eucalyptus, the gift of Australia to the 
world. The valley in which the city is situated is, because of 
its elevation — 9,350 feet above sea level — more suited for 
cattle raising than for agriculture, and many have wondered 
why this ancient capital of the Cara-Shiris and the Incas 
should have been established here rather than in the nearby, 
broad, fertile, beautiful, more temperate, agricultural Chillo 
valley, which is just sufficiently lower to take the slight chill 
out of the air which one finds at Quito. 

It is related that it was at Quito itself that the Spaniards 
first became acquainted with the cultivated variety of potato, 
which the Indians had developed from the wild native spe- 
cies. Soon after the Spaniards introduced this new vege- 
table into Europe it reached Ireland, and now, strangely 



QUITO TO BOGOTA 35 

enough, it is most commonly known in English-speaking 
countries throughout the world as the "Irish potato." 

Quito was, in the days before the Spaniards, the native 
capital of a territory very nearly co-extensive with the 
present limits of Ecuador. It became the capital of the 
Spanish Province and then of the Republic. It is between 
9,100 and 9,500 feet above sea level, and, with the present 
population of about 80,000, vies with Guayaquil in being 
the largest town in Ecuador. 

The modern road which extends north from Quito follows' 
this little valley between the Western Cordillera and the 
lower northward extension of the Poingasi range. It passes 
through Cotocollao and Pomasqui to San Antonio, a dis- 
tance of 16 miles, but during our stay in Quito one of the 
bridges between Pomasqui and San Antonio was out of re- 
pair, and we did not succeed in going by motor further than 
Pomasqui, a distance of 13 miles, along this good road. 

It is considered to be a two days' journey for a pack-train 
from Quito to Otavalo, a distance of about 50 miles, and 
when the roads are in good condition one accustomed to rid- 
ing and mounted on a good horse or mule can ride from 
Otavalo to Quito in a long day, and it is sometimes done, 
but when the roads are in bad condition it is quite another 
matter, and even at best the rider must be a good one and 
the animal speedy and sure. 

Saddle mules are generally preferred to horses for travel- 
ling on mountain trails in Ecuador, because of their greater 
sure-footedness and their toughness, and to judge from all 
accounts we had secured the most famous saddle-gaited 
mules of the country. President Plaza had most courteously 



36 QUITO TO BOGOTA 

sent his own favourite white saddle-mule for Lord Murray's 
personal use as far as the boundary of Ecuador. 

On Tuesday, the first day of July, at 7 a. m., after a last 
look at the great drawing-room with its Parisian furnish- 
ings, a last breakfast in the delightful flower-encircled din- 
ing-room, in the very heart of the house, between the two 
patios or courtyard gardens, we left the Casa Bonifaz, and 
motored rapidly through the streets of Quito, down the hill 
past the Church of San Agustin to the Plaza of the Theatre 
and then up again past the houses of the British Minister 
and the Colombian Minister, near the beautiful park of the 
Alameda, and out upon the north road — the "Carretera 
Nacional del Norte." 

The North Road is very nearly level as far as Cotocollao 
(9,200 feet), a distance of seven miles. It follows along 
the foot of the eastern slope of the Western Cordillera and 
is flanked by a belt of flat land about a mile wide. This high 
level, although but the northward extension of the Quito 
level, here assumes the aspect of a high terrace rather than 
a valley as at Quito, but it is all one feature and represents 
the first or high level of the Quito mountain-park. Its gen- 
eral relation to the other features of this park may be 
grasped by considering a profile extending from the crest of 
the Western to that of the Eastern Cordillera. There is 
first the steep eastern slope of the Western Cordillera, then 
this flat bench, a mile or two wide, of a mean elevation of 
something like 9,300 feet (9,000 to 9,600), then a steep 
slope to the level of the wider plain, which is the extension 
of the Chillo and Tumbaco plains, somewhat trenched by the 
streams crossing it and with a mean elevation of about 8,300 
feet representing the second or middle level of the moun- 




Showing the general location of the city in a narrow valley in the 

mountains, with the extinct volcano of Pichincha in the 

background. Quito is 9,350 feet above sea-level and 

the highest point of Pichincha 15,700 




A portion of the city 



VIKWS OF QUITO 



QUITO TO BOGOTA 37 

tain-park, beyond which there is a similar sharp rise of 
1,000 feet to the eastern representative of the high level 
9,300-foot bench in the region of Cayambe and then a steep 
up-slope to the crest of the Eastern Cordillera. 

This first or high level bench extends along the western 
edge of the mountain-basin from Cotocollao through Quito 
to Tambillo and Machachi, a distance of 30 miles. The 
hard rocks of the Poingasi ridge have prevented its destruc- 
tion by the waters of the Machangara stream at Quito and 
by the Rio Machachi in the region of the place of that name. 
Remnants of this first or high level are also found on the 
eastern edge of the park around Cayambe and on its north- 
ern border along the south side of the Mojanda cross-ridge. 

At Cotocollao we reached the headwaters of the Rio Po- 
masqui, and the road entering this drainage begins to de- 
scend rapidly. At first the high level bench shows on either 
side of the road, but as the stream valley grows wider it 
quite disappears, and after a descent of 1,000 feet we ar- 
rived at Pomasqui, near the beginning of the second or 
middle bench, and saw the flat lands of this level extending 
north to San Antonio and beyond. 

The arrival of foreigners aroused much interest in the lit- 
tle town of Pomasqui. Several persons hurried forward of- 
fering to conduct us to our waiting animals, but when we 
reached our men we learned that the two mules which were 
to have been delivered at this place had not arrived. A by- 
stander, with the courtesy characteristic of these people, of- 
fered to see what was the matter, and mounting his horse, 
disappeared in a cloud of dust round the corner, while we 
busied ourselves with the readjustment of saddles and 
equipment. After a time the two mules arrived and we 



38 QUITO TO BOGOTA 

started north along the trail which follows the bench on the 
east side of the stream. 

At first the Rio Pomasqui makes only a slight indentation 
in the plain, but as we go north cuts deeper and deeper and 
is soon in a gorge with the plain level high above it. The 
trail follows for some miles along this plain which, repre- 
senting a portion of the 8,300-foot terrace of the mountain- 
park, is enclosed here by the Western Cordillera and the 
northern extension of the Poingasi ridge. We reached and 
crossed the Equator, and the Chilian Minister, who is riding 
with us to the frontier, indicated the exact point in the gap 
in the hills just back of San Antonio through which the line 
of the Equator was determined to pass by the French Scien- 
tific Equatorial Mission. San Antonio lies on the west side 
of the Rio Pomasqui in a wide and undissected portion of 
this gently sloping plain of the second level. About Quito 
everything was green, while here it is much dryer and cacti 
begin to appear along the trail; however, there are green 
fields around San Antonio, and in the bottom of the 
Pomasqui gorge we get glimpses of tiny little patches of 
irrigated land. 

Immediately north of the Equator the Rio Pomasqui 
strikes the hills which bound the valley on the east, and here 
the plain level is entirely destroyed ; and the trail is cut out 
of the rock and debris of the hillside, just a narrow track 
with the waters of the Pomasqui a thousand feet below. 
From here we caught glimpses of a very interesting modern 
bridge, with the roadway far above the stream, which con- 
nects the trail we are now travelling with San Antonio. 

After a few miles we reach the edge of a steep escarpment 
and look down on the flat land of the third or last level of 



QUITO TO BOGOTA 39 

the Quito mountain-park, which, over 1,000 feet below the 
level of San Antonio, has an elevation of slightly less than 
7,000 feet, and is cut through the centre by the deep gorge 
of the Guaillabamba. All three levels of the Quito moun- 
tain-park are gently sloping rather than absolutely plane 
surfaces, but they are rather sharply separated from each 
other, and although they vary somewhat in elevation, it will 
be convenient to think of them as the 7,ooo-foot, 8,000-foot 
and 9,000-foot levels. Of the three the middle is the most 
extensive and the lowest the smallest. 

This lowest level is represented by terraces of limited ex- 
tent along that portion of the Rio Guaillabamba which is 
near its outlet from the mountain-park, and is perhaps best 
seen along the route we are now following. It is rather 
more arid than the second level and except where reclaimed 
by irrigation, is covered with characteristic arid vegetation. 

From the top of the escarpment, above the Hacienda 
Providencia, we see many irrigated fields, to which we soon 
descend 900 feet by a very steep zigzag trail and pass into 
the courtyard under an arch made of sugar-cane decorated 
with bunches of oranges. It is a feast day of the Indians, 
who, fantastically dressed and under the leadership of one 
equipped with a gorgeous red umbrella, do a slow shuffling 
dance accompanied by the music of several three-stringed 
instruments somewhat like a guitar. 

Leaving the Hacienda Providencia, we crossed the ter- 
race and descended by a well-constructed trail 1,250 feet to 
the bridge across the Guaillabamba. This stream is here in 
a narrow gorge that cuts through the volcanic material, 
forming almost the whole surface of the basin, into the older 
underlying sedimentary rocks, here rather metamorphosed. 



40 QUITO TO BOGOTA 

The stream has a very steep gradient, and hard rock walls 
in many places offer most excellent dam sites that could be 
developed to yield an abundance of electric power, which 
will unquestionably be done when this region reaches the 
stage, as it will, when such power is required in large quan- 
tities. 

It seems even dryer in the bottom of the canyon than on 
the Providencia bench, and this with the character of the 
vegetation on the middle level near San Antonio and Po- 
masqui, as well as on the upper level near Quito, suggests 
that the intensity of the rain-shadow cast by the surrounding 
mountains varies in different parts of the park inversely ac- 
cording to the depth below the level of the enclosing ranges. 
That is to say, the amount of rainfall received within the 
park gradually becomes greater the nearer we approach the 
paramo zone. 

Beyond the bridge of the Guaillabamba the trail zigzags 
up -again to the 7,000-foot plain, which here, as at Provi- 
dencia, has irrigated fields. On this side of the river there 
is a little collection of Indian huts called Alchipichi, beyond 
which the trail zigzags up 2,000 feet to an extensive area of 
flat land representing the upper or 9,000-foot level. The 
middle terrace is not represented on the north side of the 
river and the climb is therefore equal to the slope above the 
Providencia Ranch with the addition of that from Pomasqui 
to Cotocollao. The trail however follows a small tributary 
valley and the climb, though twice the height of that near 
Providencia, is not so steep. The upper level is about four 
miles wide where we crossed it in approaching the small 
group of adobe houses called Malchingui (9,500 feet) situ- 
ated at the foot of the mountain on the edge of the plain. 



QUITO TO BOGOTA 41 

The country about it is extensively cultivated, and we saw 
large fields of excellent wheat just ripening, although the 
dominant crop is maize. 

We stopped at the little inn and asked for food, but there 
was nothing left from the midday meal. They had plenty 
of meal, flour and meat and would be glad to prepare some- 
thing for us, but a fire must first be made and it would 
take, say, two hours. In the opinion of the innkeeper it was 
much too late in the day to start for Otavalo, and really he 
thought we should stay with him for the night. However, 
if we could not wait he would give us what he had, which 
consisted of three small pieces of bread, some native cheese 
and bottles of the excellent beer made in Quito, and having 
consumed this, we continued our journey at 4 o'clock. As 
we came up the zigzag above Alchipichi, we had seen the 
rest of our party descending the zigzag above Providencia 
and knew that they were probably an hour behind us. Al- 
lowing for the stop we had made, we told the innkeeper that 
they would arrive in a short time and should be told to 
follow immediately. We learned afterwards that they ar- 
rived in half an hour and were informed that we had left 
instructions that they should stay the night there and pro- 
ceed to Otavalo the next day ! 

Beyond Malchingui the trail begins at once to climb the 
cross-range which separates the Quito from the Ibarra 
mountain-park and soon enters a region of low scrubby tim- 
ber, indicating greater rainfall and the approach of the 
paramo level. It climbs the hills at a rather easy gradient, 
having originally been a carefully laid out and well-con- 
structed cart road, and soon passing around a spur becomes 



42 QUITO TO BOGOTA 

a notch hewn in the side of the mountain above a stream 
valley whose bottom is visible 2,000 to 3,000 feet below. 

For some miles after leaving Malchingui the trail is very 
good, but after a time we began to find mud-holes, particu- 
larly at those places where the road had been cut through 
little ridges and lay between banks rising from 5 to 1 5 feet 
on either side. At these places, because of the steepness of 
the slopes of the mountains and the tangle of paramo vege- 
tation, it is virtually impossible to go around, and the con- 
stant traffic along this route has worn the trail into a series 
of cross-ridges. Each mule puts his foot in the same places 
as his predecessor and so cuts depressions with intervening 
ridges. The depressions hold the water and each passing 
mule churns the mud a little deeper. The drivers try to 
guide their animals to one side or the other of the central 
track, but the distance between steps is still the same and the 
ridges with their hollows in time extend entirely across the 
road. When these mud-filled hollows become 12 to 24 
inches deep the poor animals have a hard time of it, even in 
daylight. After a time there are only hidden remnants of 
the ridges in a sea of mud, and when the animals stumble on 
these and fall into the mire, pack, saddle, rider and all, the 
trail is considered impassable ! 

We passed through a few places in the road which we 
thought were bad, and just about dusk came to a shelter 
where a number of pack-trains were spending the night. It 
was suggested that we stop here till morning, but the Chilian 
Minister, who had been over this trail several times, and 
whose method of measuring his position on a trail was, as 
we learned, not with reference to landmarks, but by the 
hours on the trail, said it was quite impossible to stay here, 




Lord Murray and His Excellency Senor Eastman Cox, Chilian Minister to 

Ecuador, on the trail north of Pomasqui Ecuador, showing semi-arid 

vegetation of this portion of the Quito mountain-park. 



ISli 




The plain of San Antonio — trenched by the gorge of the Rio Pomasqui 



THE FIRST DAY 



QUITO TO BOGOTA 43 

that Otavalo was just around the next bend, and in 30 min- 
utes at most we should see the lights of the city, and so we 
continued. It was now rather dark and we soon came to 
mud-holes, which convinced us that those we had seen be- 
fore hardly deserved the name. The Chilian Minister would 
flounder through on his great horse, shouting warnings and 
directions, and then the rest would follow as best we could. 

After several trials in which our animals narrowly es- 
caped stumbling and falling flat in the mud, we tried step- 
ping from ridge to ridge and leading our animals through, 
which we found very difficult, as the ridges were not only 
very sharp but wet and slippery. We tried going round in 
some places where others had done so before, but this was 
even worse than the mud-holes themselves. After a fall of 
one of us down a 12-foot bank this method was abandoned. 

How we escaped serious accidents in these perilous places 
is the source of no little wonder to us, for when the rest of 
our party came through in daylight the next morning two 
members went down into the mud, when their animals fell, 
and one of the poor beasts so injured himself that he died 
here at the Hacienda Cusin to-day. 

Interspersed with the mud-holes were bridges, just wide 
enough for one animal, crossing mountain ravines, which 
seemed on so dark a night to yawn to unfathomable depths, 
and our animals were very tired. We thought at least that 
they were arches of stone and so, though narrow, quite 
strong. However, the remainder of our party who' saw 
them in daylight found them to be made of nothing but 
small logs covered with a little brushwood and earth and 
paved with stone, poor makeshifts for the wider bridges 
built when this trail was constructed as a cart road. 



44 QUITO TO BOGOTA 

And so we went on hour after hour, floundering through 
mud-holes in the dark and trusting to the sagacity of our 
animals on the narrow bridges. From time to time a con- 
sultation was held and it was suggested that we stop and 
wait for daylight, but each time the response of the Chilian 
Minister was that Otavalo was just around the next bend, 
and in 15 to 20 minutes at most we would see the lights of 
the town, and each time, hoping that he was right, we strug- 
gled on. Finally, at 11 o'clock, and after four hours of 
precarious going in the dark, Lord Murray said that Ota- 
valo was the most elusive city he had ever tried to reach and, 
for his part, he proposed to stop and spend the night on the 
very spot where he was standing. The Chilian Minister 
again gave the 15-minute promise, but the majority vote 
was to stop. 

Fortunately there were two Indian saddle blankets on our 
animals and we each had ponchos. In addition there was a 
small tent on the Chilian Minister's extra horse. His two 
horses were great pals and each would follow the other 
without being led. The Minister wished to break them into 
packing, and when he rode one he placed a light pack on 
the one which followed. We spread one side of the tent on 
the surface of the road and pulled the other over us to keep 
oft" the cold paramo mist which we found very penetrating 
here at an elevation of over 12,000 feet. We tried to light 
a fire, but every dead bit of vegetation was filled with water 
to its very core and the attempt was abandoned 

Morning disclosed that our improvised camp site was 
within a few hundred feet of a most frightful series of 
mud-holes and that about half a mile beyond the road- 
grade led up to the abutments of a bridge across a moun- 



QUITO TO BOGOTA 45 

tain stream, but that the bridge itself had been entirely car- 
ried away. Following this road-grade in the dark, we 
would most certainly have ridden straight into this chasm. 
In daylight we easily found the new trail, crossing the 
stream by a very devious rocky detour. 

This camp was just over the crest of the range on the 
northern slope and within the crater of the old volcano of 
Mojanda, and we soon passed between the two little lakes 
that lie in the lowest part of the crater, which is almost 
three miles in diameter. A night in the crater of a volcano 
in the Andes of Ecuador has a rather romantic sound, and 
one would not expect to suffer from cold in such a situation, 
but the fires of this volcano have been dead for many, many 
ages, as man counts time, and the cold paramo was just the 
same as it would have been had this mountain been pro- 
duced by other causes. 

At daybreak we continued the descent along the con- 
stantly improving trail, and soon were met by a horseman, 
who told us that preparation had been made in Otavalo for 
our reception the night before, and so much concern was 
felt at our failure to arrive that men had slept along the 
road waiting us. He galloped off to announce that we were 
safe and well, and also to have the automobile, which is the 
pride of the town, meet us at the point on the road three 
miles from Otavalo which marks the limit of the portion 
that is still passable for carts. I understand this car is a 
Ford and that it had been brought in pieces from Quito over 
the mountain trail. But this day, with the utter depravity 
of inanimate things, it refused to run. 

This old cart road across the Mojanda from Otavalo to 
Malchingui stands as much a monument to the lofty am- 



46 QUITO TO BOGOTA 

bitions and energy of those who were responsible for it as it 
does to their impracticability and want of judgment. Im- 
provement in the means of transportation, particularly the 
construction of railways and cart roads, should be the 
slogan of all the people of this region, but it would seem 
that, in the present state of development of the country, the 
energy and money expended on a cart road from Otavalo to 
Malchingui could have been utilised in directions which 
would have given more permanent and useful results. Ow- 
ing to the lack of adequate means of communication, the de- 
velopment of this rich northland of Ecuador has apparently 
remained stationary for at least 50 years. 

At 9 o'clock, when we were about three miles from the 
town, we were met by a delegation of gentlemen on horse- 
back consisting of the Jefe Politico (District Governor), 
the Commandante of the detachment of troops stationed at 
Otavalo, a prominent lawyer of the town named Senor 
Doctor de la Torre, and other persons of importance. The 
Jefe Politico and the Commandante informed Lord Mur- 
ray that the President of the Republic had specially in- 
structed them to show every possible courtesy to him and his 
party. Dr. de la Torre stated that his friend Dr. Victor 
Manuel Penaherrera had wired him of our expected ar- 
rival. Doctor Penaherrera, of whom we saw much in 
Quito, as Lord Murray's legal adviser in his negotiations 
with the Ecuadorian Government, is one of Quito's noted 
lawyers, Professor in the Faculty of the Law School, and a 
man greatly admired for his ability and respected for his 
integrity. He is a native of Ibarra, which is the capital of 
the province of Imbabura, in which Otavalo is situated, and 
we found our high regard for him but echoed the senti- 



QUITO TO BOGOTA 47 

merits with which his own people and neighbours of this 
north country regard him. 

During an official breakfast the Regimental Band played 
in the courtyard, and at two o'clock we visited the Barracks, 
where the troops had been paraded in honour of Lord Mur- 
ray and the Chilian Minister. After the inspection of 
troops, we mounted our animals and proceeded with a num- 
ber of gentlemen, including two of the officers, along a 
modern highway across the low ridge which separates 
Otavalo from the Lake of San Pablo, and then along bridle- 
paths between the small plots of land belonging to the In- 
dians, to a landing-stage on the shore of the lake. Here 
there was a large skiff, with a capacity of 8 to 10 persons, 
which was an object of local pride quite equal to that felt 
for the automobile ; and well it might be, for this boat was 
brought from Guayaquil to San Pablo before the railway to 
Quito was begun. The labour of bringing so heavy and un- 
wieldy an object the 325 miles involved in this journey, 
from the sea level up over mountain-passes 14,000 feet 
high, as on the old Guaranda-Mocha trail, is prodigious, 
and can be fully appreciated only by those whose pleasure 
or duty has carried them over the mountain-paths of the 
Andes. 

There were several flocks of duck on the lake, and part 
of the entertainment offered was duck-shooting from this 
boat. As the equipment for this shooting expedition con- 
sisted of one shot-gun, one Winchester rifle, two Army 
rifles, and two automatic revolvers, some of them in the 
hands of very excitable sportsmen all ready to fire at the 
same time and in any direction, the shooting part of the 
day's entertainment was both amusing and exciting. 



48 QUITO TO BOGOTA 

San Pablo Lake is about three miles long and about a 
mile wide, and is reported to be between ioo and 275 feet 
deep. Its depth suggests a crater lake, but the general 
aspect of the surrounding topography does not lend weight 
to this idea, but rather to the hypothesis that it was formed 
by the damming of a stream by volcanic debris. We rowed 
across the lake to a point near the village of San Pablo, 
where our saddle animals had been taken to await us, and, 
as there was no landing-stage here, each of the party was 
carried ashore on the back of a sturdy Indian. The ability 
of these Indians to pack weights of several hundred pounds 
over rough mountain trails is almost incredible. We rode 
through the little village of San Pablo up to the house of 
the Hacienda Cusin. In a field just west of the house we 
saw a number of truncated-pyramid mounds, which suggest 
that this was also a favourite spot of the former Indian 
rulers of this country; as well it might be! — There is the 
house itself, with its garden and the adjoining great stable- 
courtyard and buildings, the whole connected by high walls 
into a compact enclosure such as is seen in Spain and some 
of the older English manor houses. 

To-day has been a quiet one with walks in the garden and 
on the neighbouring hills. Our packing has been over- 
hauled and rearranged, and everything is ready for the re- 
sumption of our journey to-morrow. 



TWO 
SAN PABLO TO SAN GABRIEL 



Hacienda El Vinculo, 
near San Gabriel, 

Province of Carchi, 
Ecuador. 

7th July, 1913. 

We reached this Hacienda at noon yesterday, and such 
is the hospitality of these people that they expected us to 
spend at least two weeks with them, and had arranged 
various excursions to points of interest in the neighbour- 
hood. We compromised by agreeing to wait until to-mor- 
row morning. This house is of much more recent construc- 
tion than the one at the Hacienda Cusin. The owner, Sefior 
Don Ignacio Fernandez Salvador, spends much of his time 
in Paris, and is indeed there at this moment, and it is there- 
fore quite natural to find his own rooms in the house fin- 
ished and furnished in the modern French style, very com- 
fortable and with a large library of the best French works — • 
scientific and literary, and a profusion of modern French 
novels. 

The front of the drawing-room is almost wholly of glass 
and gives a comprehensive view of a very peaceful, restful 
landscape. In the foreground, and occupying a depression 
in the rolling plain, is a lake half a mile long with flocks of 
wild duck and with surrounding paths and flowering shrubs, 
and small conifers which promise to add to the effect of this 
landscape gardening. The artificial embankment at the end 
of the lake is hidden by a turn in the stream valley and 

Si 



52 QUITO TO BOGOTA 

there is no jarring feature in the view from the drawing- 
room window. In the distance, miles across the grass-cov- 
ered plain to the east, is the rather regular, seemingly low, 
vegetation-covered mountain rim, which we know, immedi- 
ately beyond, plunges with rain-dripping, jungle-forest 
slopes, thousands of feet to the low-lying Amazon drainage. 

The Hacienda Cusin was in a rather narrow valley at 
the very southern end of the Ibarra mountain-park with 
rugged rocky volcanic peaks nearby, the Hacienda El Vin- 
culo, on the other hand, is near the opposite or northern end 
of the mountain-park in the midst of a broad, gently un- 
dulating plain, whose surrounding mountains, rising only 
2,000 feet above it, are rounded and without rocky cliffs 
and jagged outlines. To the north and west are the Para- 
mos of Angel and of the Altos de Boliche, on the other side 
of which is the Tulcan-Tuquerres mountain-park, partly in 
Ecuador, but to a greater extent in Colombia. 

The high plain on which we are now has a mean eleva- 
tion of about 9,300 feet and is, on the whole, a trifle higher 
than the first or high-level of the Quito mountain-park, of 
which it is the representative in this basin. Although the 
remnants of the high-level in the Quito park fringe the edge 
of that basin, its total area is much less than the second- 
level, while the high-level of the Ibarra park is of impor- 
tance only in the northern end of the basin, where it is 
broad and extensive, covering about 250 square miles, and 
is quite as important as the second-level which is rather 
interrupted and contracted not only by the stream valleys 
which trench its surface, but by the inter-basin peaks and 
ranges. 

This second plain, with a mean elevation of 7,500 feet, 




Sheep on the Equator 




Ecuadorian cattle land — the great grass-covered upper level of the 
Ibarra mountain-park in the vicinity of San Gabriel 



INDUSTRIES OF NORTHERN ECUADOR 



QUITO TO BOGOTA 53 

is rather lower than its counterpart in the Quito basin, and 
we observed no representative of the third or lowest ter- 
race, though there seems reason to suspect its presence in 
the region of Salinas, with a rather lower elevation than the 
third-level of the Quito park. Between the upper and mid- 
dle level, in a deep canyon, flows the Rio Chota across the 
middle of the basin in an east-and-west direction and joins 
the Ambi, which represents the drainage coming northward 
from Otavalo to the Mira. This stream passes in a north- 
west direction towards the Pacific in a trench cut in a broad 
structural valley in the mountains, and the second plain 
extends for some distance in this direction along the sides 
of the Mira valley. 

There is some difficulty in connecting the so-called West- 
ern Cordillera chain across the Mira valley with the moun- 
tain-knot which lies to the north and east, and the concep- 
tion of the Andes of Ecuador as a double chain requires 
modification in the sense of considering it rather as a single 
chain in whose complex top these mountain-parks are situ- 
ated. 

We left our pleasant stopping place, in the southern end 
of this mountain-park, about 9 o'clock on the morning of 
the 4th of July, having started the men with the cargo ani- 
mals about an hour before with instructions to wait for us 
at Ibarra, where we planned to spend the afternoon and 
night. We passed through the village of San Pablo, where 
with commendable civic pride the citizens had just begun 
the paving of the streets, and along the shores of the lake 
with its mirrored reflection of the adjoining peaks. Then 
over a spur of the Cerro Cunru by a narrow trail through 
small Indian fields and finally through larger ones of wheat, 



54 QUITO TO BOGOTA 

barley and alfalfa, into the broad graded highway which 
leads from Otavalo to Ibarra and along which one could 
easily drive in an automobile from the one city to the other, 
were it not for two broken bridges. 

Passing along, we found ourselves in the plain of the 
second-level stretching away to the northward, and lying 
between the Western rim and the mid-basin series of peaks 
of which Imbabura marks the northern terminus. The 
crest of the Eastern rim lies 25 miles away, and we are 
separated from it not only by the Cusin-Cunru-Imbabura 
chain of peaks, but by a spur running north from Cayambe. 
We are therefore in the western third of the Ibarra basin. 

To the left and beyond the depression of the Rio Blanco 
are the church towers and buildings of the pretty village of 
Cotacachi, while beyond and to the northwest, rising as a 
symmetrical snow-covered cone, slightly above the mass 
which forms the western range, is the old volcano of the 
same name (16,300 feet). In the distance to the north 
there is another peak rising above the general level of the 
western mountains, Yana-urcu or the Black Mountain, so 
called because its top is composed of black volcanic rock 
which forms a notable contrast with the snow cap that from 
time to time during the year mantles its summit. 

But the dominating feature of the landscape is the old 
volcano of Imbabura on the right of the road, that follows 
around its foot, first on the west and then on the north, 
into the town of Ibarra, which lies seven miles northeast of 
the summit. Imbabura, though over 1,000 feet lower than 
Cotacachi in absolute elevation, is the more imposing moun- 
tain, as Cotacachi rises but a little above a great mountain 
range and cannot impress the eye as Imbabura, which tow- 



QUITO TO BOGOTA 55 

ers over 7,000 feet above the plain that encircles it. The 
snow-cap on its summit, which we saw a few days ago, is 
much smaller to-day and will soon disappear. It is due to 
the same period of wet weather which gave us reason to re- 
member the crossing of the Paramo of Mojanda. There is, 
however, still enough snow remaining to accentuate the very 
black plug-like mass of volcanic rock which forms the crest 
of the peak. Cultivated fields are found not only on the 
plain but extend far up the sides of Imbabura, and we 
passed many scattered fields of wheat and barley. The soil 
is a rich volcanic one and seems capable of producing many 
times its present output. 

It is related of Imbabura that it has in historic times dis- 
charged great quantities of mud filled with innumerable dead 
fish of the species peculiar to the high Andean region and 
locally called "Prenadilles." The historian Velasco who, 
in 1765 or 1766, was stationed at the Jesuit College at 
Ibarra, relates that the volcano had had several eruptions 
of water so full of this fish that the plain of Ibarra was 
polluted with their dead bodies, and that on one occasion he 
narrowly escaped drowning when he was high on the side 
of the mountain during one of these eruptions. Humbolt, 
solely on a statement made by a native over a hundred years 
after the event is supposed to have taken place, relates that 
in 1 69 1 there was a large escape of mud from Imbabura 
which contained so many prenadilles that their rotting bod- 
ies polluted the whole region and occasioned malignant 
fevers among the inhabitants of the neighbourhood. These 
marvellous tales were investigated and disproved by Dr. 
Theodoro Wolf, who was for some years professor in the 
Polytechnic School in Quito, and Government Geologist 



56 QUITO TO BOGOTA 

of Ecuador, and to whom Ecuador is indebted not only for 
the best map of the Republic which has yet been prepared, 
but for a masterful treatise on the geography and geology 
of the country, all done with characteristic German care 
and thoroughness. Dr. Wolf visited the crater of the vol- 
cano in 1 871 and found that it had clearly been extinct for 
many centuries. He points out not only that it is certain 
that there has been no eruption of Imbabura in historic 
times, but that the prenadilles do not live at an elevation 
greater than 10,000 feet, and that the crater of the volcano 
is several thousand feet higher. He observed that land- 
slides were a common occurrence on the slopes of the moun- 
tain, particularly during earthquakes, and the basis of these 
tales appears to be that bodies of water temporarily im- 
pounded by landslips have quickly accumulated in sufficient 
quantities to sweep away the soft barriers, and the mass of 
water filled with volcanic debris rushed down the mountain 
side, gathering momentum and material as it went and en- 
trapping a few fish when the mountain flood reached the 
lower levels where these fish live. They are not found in 
large quantities even in these mountain streams, and so 
would be virtually lost in the mass of mud. That their 
destruction could ever have polluted the air and caused 
disease in the country should be dismissed as a product of 
the imagination. During the great earthquake of 1868, 
which entirely destroyed all the houses in Ibarra, Cotacachi 
and Otavalo, many such landslips occurred on the sides of 
the old volcanoes of Imbabura and Cotacachi, and one of 
these on Cotacachi gave rise to the same sort of incorrect 
tale of volcanic activity. 

As we followed the high road around the foot of Imba- 



QUITO TO BOGOTA 57 

bura we passed under a series of arches extending across the 
road at a little village. These arches were covered with the 
light green moss and lichens from the paramos and deco- 
rated with flowers, and led in each direction up to a central 
construction consisting of four pillars surmounted by a 
dome, all representing a part of the Indian celebration of 
the fiesta of the 1st of July which we saw in progress at the 
Hacienda Providencia on the first day's journey from Quito. 
In time we reached the village of San Antonio, 7,800 feet 
above sea level and five miles, a little south of west, from 
Ibarra. Here we were met by Sefior Jose Ignacio Peha- 
herrera, a cousin of our Quito friend, Dr. Victor Manuel 
Pehaherrera, who informed us that he had a house to place 
at our disposal and a luncheon waiting for us at Ibarra. 

The new road from San Antonio to Ibarra leaves the 
village of Caranqui some distance to the right, and the town 
was pointed out to us as founded on the site of an Indian 
village of great importance and antiquity, at which, it is 
alleged by some, Atahualpa, the last of the Incas to exer- 
cise any power, was born. It was his father, the Xlth Inca 
Huayna Capac, who is stated by some historians to have 
completed the conquest of the Indian kingdom of Ecuador, 
which was originally a confederacy of Indian tribes, each 
maintaining its own language, and approaching in impor- 
tance and civilisation the Inca's own kingdom of Peru, 
which was an amalgamation of tribes that had been forced 
to adopt the language and customs of their rulers. The 
chiefs of the Ecuadorian confederacy bore the title of Shiri 
and had Quito as their capital, while Inca was the title of 
the rulers of those who either naturally or perforce spoke 
the Quichua language, and had their capital at Cuzco. 



58 QUITO TO BOGOTA 

Over a hundred years before the arrival of the Spaniards 
the Inca undertook the conquest of the Shiri's kingdom, and 
there followed many years of bloody warfare. According 
to one story, the last or XVth Shiri was defeated in 1476 
in a series of battles on the very plain across which we have 
just passed, and died of wounds received in the final strug- 
gle on the hill of Atuntaqui, which we saw to the left of 
the road about two miles west of San Antonio. After this 
battle the Xlth Inca took as one of his wives Paccha, the 
daughter of the XVth Shiri, and, according to some, Ata- 
hualpa was the son of this union, born at Caranqui. Pres- 
cott represents Atahualpa as the favourite son of his father 
and states that the father on his death in 1525 divided his 
kingdom into two parts, giving the southern portioii with 
Cuzco as its capital to his legal heir, Huascar, ancf the 
northern part with Quito as its capital to Atahualpa. 

Whether or not the Xlth Inca ever attempted to divide 
his kingdom in this manner, Huascar and Atahualpa were 
at war soon after his death. Huascar's forces were finally 
defeated and Atahualpa acknowledged the one ruler in the 
year 1532, the very year in which the Spaniards reached the 
coast of Peru. The Spaniards therefore found the Indians 
exhausted by a hundred years' constant and bitter warfare 
and disrupted by the struggle between the two Inca brothers. 
Had the Spanish invasion occurred a hundred years earlier 
when both the Inca and Shiri kingdoms were in the height 
of their power, or a few decades later when Atahualpa had 
had time to consolidate his position, the history of the Span- 
ish conquest of these regions would, in the opinion of some, 
which I do not entirely share, have been a very different 
tale. 




The Plaza and Municipal Building 




The Hospital and Market Place 



IBARRA AND THE OLD VOLCANO OF IMRABURA 



QUITO TO BOGOTA 59 

The Indians were really appalled by the horses of the 
Spaniards, and many accounts are given of their fleeing at 
the sight of them. Cieza de Leon relates how the crafty 
chief of Otavalo used this fear for the undoing of the chief 
of Caranqui. He says : "The natives of Caranqui are very 
hostile to those of Otavalo for the following reason : When 
the news of the arrival of the Spaniards was spread abroad 
in the provinces of Quito, together with the imprisonment 
of Atahualpa, the people were filled with wonder and fear, 
and were particularly astonished at what they heard con- 
cerning the swiftness of the horses. Thus they awaited 
their arrival, thinking, that as they had overthrown the Inca 
their Lord, they also would be subjugated. At this time the 
Lord of Caranqui had a great quantity of treasure in his 
charge, and he of Otavalo observed that his neighbour was 
in great fear and perturbation for the safety of the precious 
treasure. The chief of Otavalo then called together his 
people and, selecting those who were most agile and cun- 
ning, ordered them to dress in shirts and long mantles, and, 
with wands in their hands, to mount their best sheep 
(llamas) and to climb up into the heights, so that they could 
be seen by those of Caranqui. He, with most of his people 
and some women, in the meantime fled to Caranqui with 
great demonstrations of fear, saying that he was flying from 
the fury of the Spaniards, who had reached his villages on 
their horses, and that he had left all his valuables behind, 
to escape from their cruelty. This news caused great ter- 
ror, and it was received as certain, because the Indians, 
mounted on sheep (llamas), could be seen on the hills, so 
the people of Caranqui began their flight. Otavalo pre- 
tended to do the same, but he and his people returned to 



60 QUITO TO BOGOTA 

Caranqui, and stole all the treasure they could find, which 
was not little. When those of Caranqui returned, at the end 
of a few days, the deceit was discovered. This strange rob- 
bery caused much agitation among the people of Caranqui, 
and they had several debates among themselves ; but, as the 
captain Sebastian de Belalcazar, with the Spaniards, entered 
the provinces of Quito a few days after this occurrence, 
they dropped their quarrels in order to defend themselves. 
Thus the people of Otavalo retained what they had robbed, 
as is stated by many Indians of these parts, and the feud has 
not ceased amongst them." 

The reputed birth of Atahualpa at Caranqui is not in 
accordance with the record of Sarmiento de Gamboa, which 
represents the sworn statements of the descendants of the 
Incas living at Cuzco in 1572. Cieza de Leon, who visited 
Caranqui ten or fifteen years after the Spaniards first ar- 
rived at this locality, does not credit the story; but he re- 
ports that the town had been a very important Inca fortress, 
with a large garrison, and the seat of the administration 
of the country to the north which the Incas had conquered. 
According to his account there was here a great palace of 
the Incas, made of stones neatly fitted together without ce- 
ment. Within there was a basin of cut stone, and nearby a 
great Temple of the Sun, of which enough was left to show 
that it was once a very important structure. According to 
the accounts he received, this temple had been held in very 
high esteem, was attended by 200 maidens, analogous to the 
Vestal Virgins of the early Roman civilisation, and had its 
inner walls covered with plates of gold. 

As we rode towards Ibarra with Senor Pefiaherrera, other 
gentlemen who had ridden out to meet us joined the caval- 



QUITO TO BOGOTA 61 

cade, and about a mile from the town we were met by an 
automobile containing the Governor of the Province of Im- 
babura and members of his staff, who officially welcomed 
us to the capital city of the Province. Ibarra was founded 
in 1606, seventy-two years after the Spaniards first entered 
Quito, under the direction of Sefior Don Miguel de Ibarra, 
the Xlth President of the Real Audencia de Quito, after 
whom it was named. Unlike many of the cities founded by 
the Conquistadores, it does not appear to have been built 
on the site of an important village, such as the nearby 
Caranqui and Atuntaqui undoubtedly were, but the flat plain 
with the excellent drainage afforded by the small stream, the 
Rio Taguando, makes of it an excellent site. 

The city was entirely destroyed by the earthquake of 
1866, which is reported to have caused the death of 20,000 
people in the Ibarra mountain-park, and is regarded by 
Wolf as the most disastrous which has been experienced in 
Ecuador. The city of to-day which has risen out of the 
ruins of yesterday is characterised by broad, straight, well- 
paved streets and rather pretentious buildings. Before the 
earthquake it is said to have contained 15,000 people, but 
the present population is nearer 10,000, among whom there 
are a few negroes from the neighbouring warmer valley of 
the Chota. 

The quarters placed at our disposal faced the Plaza, which 
is prettily planted with palm trees and has a fountain in the 
centre. Near us was the Cathedral and Palace of the 
Bishop, across the Plaza the well-built Government Build- 
ing, and on the other side the Municipal Building, quite an 
important structure and affording a particularly pleasing 
sight from our window with the palms of the Plaza in the 



62 QUITO TO BOGOTA 

foreground and the cloud-encircled Imbabura towering up 
behind, looking as though it were on the very edge of the 
city instead of seven miles away. 

Lord Murray received a card of welcome from the Bishop 
of Ibarra on his arrival and subsequently called on His 
Eminence. The Bishop was most cordial and said that he 
hoped the Firm would construct the Pailon railway. This 
project involves a line from Quito across that basin to 
Cayambe, and thence to Ibarra and down the valley of the 
Mira to El Pailon Bay, which is a well-sheltered harbour 
with deep water on the Pacific coast just south of the Colom- 
bian boundary. The Bishop felt that the construction of 
the railway was essential to the progress and welfare of the 
country and especially of these northern mountain Prov- 
inces with their great and relatively undeveloped agricul- 
tural possibilities. He gave us a letter of introduction to all 
the priests of his diocese, which extends from Ibarra to the 
frontier, and expressed the hope that we would return to 
Ecuador at an early date and assist in the development of 
the country. 

On the following morning we crossed the modern bridge 
over the Taguando, were soon on the shores of a little lake, 
the beautiful circular Yaguar-cccha whose surface is 7,300 
feet above sea-level and less than 100 feet above Ibarra, 
whose inhabitants find it a favourite pleasure resort. This 
lake is about three-quarters of a mile in diameter and oc- 
cupies the crater of an old volcano which in its last violent 
eruption, centuries ago, blew out almost the whole of its 
western side. To the eastward the cliffs above it are very 
steep and culminate in the peak of Ventanillas, 10,000 feet 
high. The western rim is not high, but the remnants of the 



QUITO TO BOGOTA 63 

rock masses which once formed this side of the volcano are 
seen sticking through the plain level beyond the Rio Tagu- 
ando, where they were thrown by the last explosion. The 
Indian words Yaguar-cocha signify "the lake of blood" 
and commemorate the battle fought here about the begin- 
ning of the sixteenth century between the Inca and the re- 
bellious Caranquis. Following the defeat and death of the 
XVth Shiri, the Caranquis who formed a part of the Shiri's 
kingdom rendered allegiance to the Inca, but subsequently 
during the absence of the Inca in his capital city of Cuzco, 
they rose in a rebellion which was so drastically suppressed 
on his return, it is said by the early Spanish chroniclers, that 
the blood of 20,000 Caranquis dyed the waters of this lake 
and gave it the name, Yaguar-cocha. 

The trail climbs along the northern rim of the lake to the 
group of buildings known as Aluburo, and from here, 1,000 
feet above the lake, there is a magnificent panorama of the 
fertile, well- watered lands of the Imbabura-Otavalo region. 
Immediately beyond we cross the crest of the range which 
extends into the Ibarra basin from Cayambe, and begin the 
long descent of 3,000 feet into the valley of the Rio Chota. 
The country as we approach the river becomes more and 
more arid, drifting sands appear and the whole landscape, 
with its stunted thorn-bushes and many species of the cacti 
family, is of desert character. The conditions here and 
through the Ibarra park confirm the hypothesis suggested 
by observations in the Quito basin, that in these high An- 
dean valleys the amount of rainfall decreases with the depth' 
of the valley below the level of the encircling mountain rim. 
The valley of the Chota is about a mile wide, and all along 
its course are flat lands capable of irrigation, for which the 



64 QUITO TO BOGOTA 

stream would furnish an abundant supply of water and 
which will some day be covered with fields of sugarcane and" 
cotton and groves of oranges and other tropical fruits. It 
is very warm and we ride slowly through the two rows of 
hovels which constitute the settlement of Chota (5,080 feet 
above sea-level) to the bridge across the river. We had 
arranged that the mule with the luncheon basket should 
await us, and we had luncheon on the rocks under the bushes 
by the bridge. 

This has been a favourite crossing place for many years 
and rumour has it that the Spaniards found an Indian bridge 
at this place. However that may be, we observed the ruined 
abutments of two old bridges below the present structure. 
The river, which above has a rather wide channel between 
soft banks, here passes through a narrow, steep-sided cut in 
the rock with the bordering hills closing in on both sides. 
An excellent stone arch bridge of modern construction now 
spans this gap, and the water in its narrow rock-bound chan- 
nel is 25 to 30 feet below. Small rocky knolls rise 10 to 15 
feet above the level of the bridge on the sides of this cut 
and the road passes between two of them on the south bank. 
This contraction in the valley affords a very good dam-site 
where it would be easy to construct a dam rising 60 
feet above the present water level. . The hill on the south 
is of solid rock and the spillway would necessarily be here, 
as the hill on the north is of soft material. Such a dam 
would afford water for the irrigation of the fertile bench- 
lands along the stream valley below, and would yield power 
for the woollen mills which in time will be built and oper- 
ated in the higher portion of the uplands of Ecuador. The 
wool-growing capacity of parts of this mountain region ap- 




Village of Chota, Ecuador 




The Bridge of the Chota 



THE DRY VALLEY OF THE CHOTA 



QUITO TO BOGOTA 65 

pear enormous, but there is to-day no transportation which 
would enable it to compete in the markets of the world. 

The Chota valley "enjoys" at the present time the repu- 
tation of a veritable plague-spot second only, in the North- 
ern Andes of Ecuador, to the depths of the Guaillabamba. 
Friends in Quito said it would be nothing short of suicidal 
to spend a night in the valley of the Chota, and at Ibarra we 
were again warned that we must on no account fail to reach" 
the uplands on the north side of the river by nightfall. The 
Chota here has an elevation of 5,000 feet above sea-level, 
which is 2,000 feet higher than the famous Cauca valley in 
Colombia, and we may perhaps be pardoned for thinking 
that the reputation of the Chota is hardly due to any in- 
herent evil quality and that it will become, with only reason- 
able care, a pleasant home for man. From the bridge of 
the Chota there are two roads to San Gabriel ; the one most 
commonly followed passes up the valley of the Rio del An- 
gel, which enters the Chota just below the bridge, through 
Mira to Angel (which with an elevation of 9,800 feet is 
situated on the edge of the high-level plain), and thence 
across the plain to San Gabriel. We were, however, in- 
formed that this road was now in bad condition, and as we 
did not feel that our education would be particularly in- 
creased by a further acquaintance with the mud-holes of an 
Andean trail, except by the possible addition to our vocabu- 
lary of certain Spanish words of not altogether a conversa- 
tional type, we turned sharply to the. right at the bridge and 
entered a little-used trail which constitutes the alternative 
route. 

This follows the north bank of the river almost due east 
for three or four miles where, just beyond a half -deserted 



66 QUITO TO BOGOTA 

collection of miserable negro huts with small irrigated 
patches of sugarcane, it starts to climb the north wall of the 
valley. The trail here is really a very well-constructed one, 
but the climb is almost 4,000 feet, and although it zigzags 
back and forth, it is perforce steep and in many cases but a 
narrow ledge hewn out of the rock. We met several cargo- 
trains coming down, and the passing of these in some of the 
more narrow places was decidedly awkward. 

As we climbed this valley wall we saw, across the Chota 
and on a low bench above it, the picturesque town of Am-' 
baqui, which we were informed was surrounded by coffee 
plantations and sugarcane and cotton fields. Further to the 
south, along the valley of a tributary of the Chota, is Pi- 
mampiro on a bench at about the same level as Ibarra, and 
nearby is the lake of Angas-cocha ("Blue Lake"), appar- 
ently another crater lake like Yaguar-cocha, which is almost 
due west of it on the opposite side of the subordinate basin- 
range which we crossed between Ibarra and the Chota. 
Ambaqui and the region south of the Chota are in the 
Province of Imbabura, but we are now in the Province of 
Carchi, which is the northernmost division of Ecuador in 
the Andes, as is signified by the name itself, derived from 
the Indian words meaning "the end" or "border." 

We finally complete our climb up the hills on the north 
side of the Chota valley and find ourselves at the edge of the 
first or high-level plain, a beautiful, green, cool, well-watered 
region in marked contrast to the arid valley through which 
we have just passed. The plain here rises to a low east- 
and-west ridge which is appropriately called "the edge of 
the valley of the Chota," and has an elevation of 10,000 feet. 
From this point the plain, which has a mean elevation of 



QUITO TO BOGOTA 67 

about 9,300 feet, slopes away to the northward and eastward 
and then up again to the edge of the bordering mountain 
rim. Our road follows along the eastern edge of this low 
ridge above a deep stream valley draining the plain. It is 
now almost dark and we see ahead a group of buildings 
which we imagine is the place selected for the night's halt. 
In the gloaming it looks only a short distance, but instead 
of the road going straight, it passes from the hill-points 
sharply up little hidden valleys and out again, causing just 
the sort of delays in reaching one's destination which are 
irritating at the end of a long day's ride. 

Just after nightfall we reached the buildings, which abut 
upon the road, and passing through a great gateway with 
massive wooden doors, entered a large torch-lit square en- 
closure, which is really a great red-tile-roofed building in 
the shape of a hollow square with the centre open to the 
sky. On two sides rooms have been finished under the roof, 
but on the other two the roof forms a shelter for the ani- 
mals. We found the last of the packs just being removed, 
and when the saddles were taken from our own mounts and 
they had been fed with barley and maize from the supply 
kept for sale to travellers, the whole band of horses and 
mules were driven out to pasture for the night. We opened 
out our bedrolls and set up our folding canvas beds, much 
to the surprise and interest of the few Indians standing 
round, and for the first time on the trip broke into our pro- 
vision boxes and prepared our evening meal. 

This place is known as Chulunguasi and is a well-recog- 
nised stopping place, or "Tambo," for cargo-trains and 
travellers. Five miles beyond is the town of Bolivar, which 
is 8,700 feet above sea-level. Formerly this place was called 



68 QUITO TO BOGOTA 

Pistu or San Bias de Puntal, but more commonly simply 
Puntal. The name has but recently been changed to Bolivar, 
with the same patriotic regard for the common hero of 
Ecuador, Colombia and Venezuela which gave the name of 
Washington to innumerable villages, towns and cities in the 
United States. It is said that the inscription on the ancient 
Church which was destroyed by the earthquake of 1868 in- 
dicated that the town is on the site of an Indian village 
whose chief was known to the Spaniards by the name of 
Martin Puntal, whence the old name of this settlement. 

As we rode into the outskirts of Bolivar on the morning 
of the 6th of July we saw coming down the street a gentle- 
man on horseback followed by two Indian horsemen driving 
a dozen horses. When he approached we learned that he 
was Senor Carlos Nicholls who, though the son of an Eng- 
lishman, speaks only Spanish. He is the manager of the 
Hacienda El Vinculo and had ridden the eleven miles from 
that place in order to welcome Lord Murray and his com- 
panions and bring horses so that we might have fresh 
mounts in case our own beasts had been tired by the jour- 
ney. He turned and rode with us through the town and 
across the undulating plain. For the most part it is a great 
pasture land covered with a thick white-clover sod, but here 
and there with fields of barley and wheat and occasionally 
maize. In some places areas, considerable in themselves, 
but small compared with the total extent of the plain, are 
quite denuded of their soil by faulty methods of cultivation 
and the bare rock is exposed. 

We turned aside from the main highway a few miles to 
the southwest of San Gabriel (formerly Tusa) and entering 
the Hacienda El Vinculo, rode for over an hour through its 



QUITO TO BOGOTA 69 

fields before reaching the headquarters and principal dwell- 
ing house. This property contains about 60,000 acres or 
approximately 100 square miles, almost wholly pasture land, 
and is one of the most important estates in the temperate 
region of Ecuador. We saw excellent cattle, but while their 
number was in the aggregate large, they represented but a 
small fraction of the number this rich pasture land is capable 
of supporting. When we commented on this, the reply was : 
"Why raise more? There is no market and they will but 
disappear in the next revolution. As it is, we drive 5,000 
head a year to Quito, but the journey is, as you know, over 
very rough mountain trails, a distance of 100 miles, and the 
cattle so lose in weight that the net return per head is very 
small. Of those which reach Quito 1,000 are shipped by 
rail to Guayaquil to supply the local demand there. This is 
the extent of the market under existing conditions of trans- 
portation. We could increase our output many times, but 
what would we do with it?" Sefior Nicholls felt that the 
future of this region, however, lies more in sheep than 
cattle raising, and stated that should the Pailon railway be 
constructed, everyone in that region would at once go into 
sheep-breeding on a large scale. 

Arriving at the dwelling house, we found a delightful 
luncheon awaiting us, and this was scarcely finished when 
the officials from San Gabriel and other local notabilities 
called to pay their respects. They at once impressed on 
Lord Murray the urgent need of the Pailon railway, without 
which they thought this portion of Ecuador could not de- 
velop, and expressed the hope that we would not only 
undertake its construction, but would purchase the El Vin- 
culo estate, which they thought could be acquired on reason- 



70 QUITO TO BOGOTA 

able terms, and so become personally interested in the future 
of the region. They stated that this estate, like the rest of 
the country, was virtually undeveloped, only a portion of its 
lower ground being utilised on what was a very small scale 
compared with its possibilities. 

The horses of El Vinculo are of sturdy Chilian stock, 
having a great reputation as mountain climbers, and we de- 
sired to purchase some of them, but Senor Nicholls said he 
would not sell them to us, but we could take as many as we 
liked and use them for saddle purposes to Bogota itself, if 
we desired, and we finally arranged to use four as far as 
Pasto. 

The cargo train with our saddle mules left here this after- 
noon in order that they may pass over the Altos de Boliche 
to-morrow morning and arrive at Tulcan at noon, where, 
thanks to the fresh horses supplied by Senor Carlos Nicholls, 
we expect to catch up with them. The papers and letters 
we have prepared here yesterday and to-day will leave by 
an Indian runner for Quito at 3 o'clock to-morrow morning. 



THREE 
SAN GABRIEL TO PASTO 



Pasto, 

Departamento de Narino, 
Colombia. 

13th July, 1913. 

We learned from a telegram en route that the Indian 
runner who left the Hacienda El Vinculo with our papers 
at three o'clock on the morning of the 8th of July reached 
Quito and delivered them as directed the afternoon of the 
following day. We were informed by Senor Nicholls that 
he would do this, but as the distance is an even hundred 
miles and there are the gorges of the Chota and the Guail- 
labamba, as well as the Paramo of Mojanda, to pass on 
the way, it seemed hardly credible. The speed of these 
native messengers is very remarkable, and it was by half- 
league relays of such runners that the Incas maintained a 
regular postal service between Cuzco and Quito, as well as 
between these cities and the other important military sta- 
tions of their kingdom. The usual charge to-day for a mes- 
senger of this kind between El Vinculo and Quito varies 
from five to ten sucres, that is $2.50 to $5.00, and as the 
messenger will return by easier stages, it represents the 
wage for very special exertions covering a period of from 
five days to a week during which the messenger defrays all 
of his own expenses. 

Our departure from El Vinculo was made some hours 
after the messenger started for Quito. We entered the 
main road again near San Gabriel, the centre of a popula- 

73 



74 QUITO TO BOGOTA 

tion of about 8,000 and the most important town in the 
high-level of the Ibarra basin. This town is 9,400 feet 
above sea-level and at the foot of the slopes which lead up 
to the Paramos of Angel and Altos de Boliche. These 
slopes are not very steep, and being well-rounded, are cov- 
ered with many fields. The best pass across the paramo, 
however, occurs a little farther east, and the road there- 
fore follows along the base of the hills for ten miles to 
the village of Huaca, at the extreme northeastern corner 
of this high-level plain at an elevation of 9,700 feet. It has 
so far escaped the epidemic for changing the old Indian 
names to modern ones, which has affected most of this 
region north of the Chota. 

Leaving Huaca, we began the ascent of the Altos de 
Boliche on a very well-constructed, carefully laid-out high- 
way, along which one could easily drive in an automobile. 
On the Huaca side of the ridge, one gets views of the plain 
we have just crossed and the surrounding mountains, but 
the road is, for the most part, in depressions between the 
low spurs of the range, and the ascent is so gradual that 
we were surprised upon turning a small knoll, nine miles 
from Huaca, to find ourselves on the divide at an elevation 
of 11,400 feet with the great agricultural basin-upland of 
Tulcan-Tuquerres spread out at our feet, fifteen hundred 
feet below. It is a wonderful sight, a great rolling sea 
of green with villages dotting its surface here, there and 
everywhere, no marked forest, just grazing-land broken 
occasionally by now yellowing fields of grain. At the foot 
of the gentle slope of the Altos de Boliche, and six miles 
distant, is Tulcan, then a low-rounded mid-basin ridge and 
beyond, twenty-five miles away, the bordering mountain- 



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QUITO TO BOGOTA 75 

rim, with the dark cones of the old volcanoes, Mallama and 
Azufral (13,400 feet), set in a gap in the range, near which, 
and on the northern border of the basin, is Tuquerres. 

The Tulcan-Tuquerres mountain-park is the last and 
northernmost of the series of elevated mountain basins 
through which we have been passing. North of it the 
mountains break into three very distinct chains, in one of 
which, about Bogota and to the northward, there are sev- 
eral elevated mountain-basins. However, in the region of 
Bogota, popular geography, and it seems to me quite rightly, 
considers these as but features of the complex top of a 
single range, and it is really one of the vagaries of nomen- 
clature that the mountains about Bogota should be consid- 
ered a single range, while the chain through Ecuador with 
the same high-level parks and with possibly a less aggre- 
gate width, should be considered a double one. 

A rather more correct idea of the broad relation of the 
Andes of Ecuador to those of Colombia, may be obtained 
by thinking of the Andes of Ecuador as a single chain, 
rising steeply from the Pacific and sinking with equal 
abruptness to the Amazon drainage, and in whose very top 
there are these high parks. This single range breaks into 
three very distinct parts in southern Colombia: the Cor- 
dillera del Choco, the Cordillera del Quindio and the Cor- 
dillera de Sumapaz, or the Western, the Central and the 
Eastern Andes, respectively. 

The Cordillera del Choco is the coast range in the south- 
ern half of Colombia and, extending northward, its last 
low spurs die out against the shore of the Caribbean Sea, 
between the mouths of the Atrato and the Magdalena. 
North of Buenaventura there is a low coast range, the Ser- 



76 QUITO TO BOGOTA 

rania de Baudo, which is the southern end of the chain 
extending from North America and through which the 
Panama Canal has been cut at the Isthmus. In Colombia 
it is separated from the Western Andes by the broad allu- 
vial valley of the Choco, which is occupied by the Atrato 
and San Juan rivers, the one flowing north into the Atlantic 
and the other south into the Pacific. This valley forms 
the topographic break between North and South America, 
and on physiographic grounds the North American Conti- 
nent extends along the Pacific coast almost as far as Buena- 
ventura, with the line between the two running through 
this Choco valley. It is related, but as often denied, that 
the Spanish priests soon after the conquest cut a small 
canal through the flat lands of this valley between the pres- 
ent head-waters of the Atrato and San Juan and passed in 
their canoes through the first inter-oceanic canal on the 
American Continent. This is, however, of more academic 
than practical interest, for the building of a ship-canal by 
this route was long ago condemned, and for very adequate 
reasons, in favour of the line along which the great canal 
has been built. 

The Cordillera del Quindio, or Central Andes, lies be- 
tween the Patia-Cauca valley and the Magdalena valley. 
It is rather the highest of the three, but does not extend 
as far north as either of the other two, and its last low 
northern spurs disappear above the junction of the Mag- 
dalena and Cauca rivers, 170 miles from the sea. 

The Cordillera de Sumapaz or Eastern Andes lies be- 
tween the valley of the Magdalena and the great low-level 
plains which are drained by the tributaries of the Amazon 
and the Orinoco. First a simple ridge, it widens into a 



QUITO TO BOGOTA 77 

complex range in the region of Bogota, and for a distance 
of 250 miles contains high-level parks similar to those 
through which we have just passed and then, in an entirely 
analogous manner, breaks into two ranges, one extending 
eastward along the coast of Venezuela into Trinidad, and 
the other northward along the line between Colombia and 
Venezuela, and disappearing as a marked range before 
reaching the coast. The northward prong of the Eastern 
Andes is separated by the alluvial valley of Upar from the 
enormous snow-covered pyramidal mountain-mass of the 
Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, which, situated just east 
of the mouths of the Magdalena river and with the waves 
of the ocean beating against its northern cliffs, is one of 
the magnificent sights of a journey by ocean steamer along 
the northern shore of South America. This mountain 
is by some considered to be an extension of the Central 
Andes, and while there may be some geologic basis for this 
view, it is topographically and geographically a mountain 
standing alone, like the mountains of our childhood dreams. 
The Tulcan-Tuquerres mountain-park is separated from 
that of Ibarra by the Altos de Boliche, sometimes called 
the mountain-knot of Huaca. From this knot a mountain- 
rim extends to the northeast, forming the eastern boundary 
of the basin, in the same way as the range extending to 
the south, and which we have referred to in previous de- 
scriptions by the local name of the Eastern Cordillera of 
the Andes, forms the eastern boundary of the Ibarra park. 
On the west and north the Tulcan-Tuquerres basin is 
limited by ridges which, starting from the western end of 
the Huaca mountain-knot, contain the string of volcanoes 



78 QUITO TO BOGOTA 

of Chiles (15,675), Cumbal (15,700), Azufral (13,400) 
and Galera, or the Volcano of Pasto (14,000). 

The water outlet of the Tulcan-Tuquerres park is through 
the north side of the basin by means of the gorge of the 
Rio Guaitara, between the volcano of Galera and the Para- 
mos of San Roque and Frailejon. It differs in this 
respect from the parks to the south whose drainage is to 
the east or west and whose waters flow down the slopes of 
the Andes directly into the Pacific on the one hand, or the 
Amazon drainage on the other, but the waters from this 
northernmost park of the series flow into the trough which 
separates the Cordillera del Choco or Western Andes, from 
the Cordillera del Quindio or Central Andes, from which it 
eventually finds its way into the Pacific. 

The basin consists essentially of the same first or high- 
level which we observed in the Quito and Ibarra parks, 
but which here has a mean elevation of 9,800 feet. This 
level has been very greatly trenched by stream channels, as 
in the other basins, but the erosion has progressed rather 
farther, with the result that the topography is for the most 
part well-rounded and the relief, while great, is of a less 
precipitate character than immediately along the Guail- 
labamba and Chota, and the hillside, from the very bottoms 
of the valleys to the paramo line above, are covered with 
fields. It is a magnificent country. 

From the summit of the Altos de Boliche to Tulcan is 
six miles, and the descent fifteen hundred feet, but the road 
has been very well laid out and the gradient is therefore 
a relatively gentle one. We had proceeded only a short 
distance when we were met by a great cavalcade, including 
the Governor of the Province of Carchi, the Commandant 



QUITO TO BOGOTA 79 

of the troops stationed at Tulcan, accompanied by several 
officers and many local notables. We subsequently visited 
the barracks, and while the appearance of the troops at 
Otavalo was one of great smartness, the precision of the 
drill here was perfect. These are soldiers of which any 
nation might well be proud. The present high standing 
of the organisation of the Ecuadorian army is the work of 
Colonel Cabrera, a Chilian officer, loaned by that country to 
Ecuador for the purpose of training its army, and who 
seems to have inspired the Ecuadorian officers with his own 
efficiency. Col. Cabrera played a very important part in 
the last civil war, and was not a small factor in the success 
that General Plaza achieved, resulting in his election as 
President of the Republic. 

The Chilian influence in the western part of South Amer- 
ica is very far reaching, very subtle and very effective. 
We understand that five more Chilian officers are to be 
added to the Ecuadorian army, and at Bogota we found 
other Chilian officers in charge of the training of the Colom- 
bian Army. Chili's diplomatic representatives and army 
officers are men of ability and power. Their influence is 
very much for good, and the amalgamation of the Andean 
States of South America into one Republic appears much 
more reasonable and possible than the union of these Repub- 
lics or any part of them with any other nation. Certainly 
neither the United States of North America nor Great 
Britain have any desire whatever for territorial acquisi- 
tions in South America, nor is it possible for Germany to 
expand in this direction, even though her diplomats never 
cease their activities. The great and progressive Republic 



80 QUITO TO BOGOTA 

of Chili has a very strong as well as singular national motto : 
"Por la razon 6 por la fuerza" (By reason or by force!). 

Tulcan is essentially a town of one street about a mile 
and a half long. The Plaza and Government buildings are 
near the northern end, and the town is here broader, con- 
taining a number of cross and side streets. It is said to 
contain a population of 10,000 to 15,000, but these figures 
perhaps relate to the population of the parish, which covers 
a considerable surrounding area, rather than to the town 
itself, which apparently has a population not half so great. 
Its elevation, according to the Intercontinental Railway 
Commission, is exactly 10,000 feet above sea-level. The 
most striking topographic features visible from the neigh- 
bourhood of the town are the twin snow-covered volcanoes 
of Chiles and Cumbal, whose summits lie twelve to fifteen 
miles to the northwest. Almost exactly the same height, 
both perfect cones, each rising 3,000 feet above the level 
of the surrounding mountain mass and 6,000 feet above 
the Tulcan-Tuquerres plain, and with occasional streamers 
of vapour from their glistening white, summits, they are 
indeed noble mountains. According to Wolf, no eruption 
of these volcanoes is known in historic times, but there 
are occasional discharges of steam and sulphur vapours 
which deposit free sulphur in the deep crater of Cumbal. 

Two and a half miles north of Tulcan is the boundary 
between Ecuador and Colombia, here following the course 
of a little stream called the Rio Carchi. It is a singularly 
unnatural frontier line, throwing as it does a small frag- 
ment of this great mountain-park into Ecuador, and the 
larger part into Colombia. Why the boundary between 
the two modern Republics should have been fixed here 



QUITO TO BOGOTA 81 

rather than along the summit of the Altos de Boliche, we 
do not know, but the Indian name of the little stream, which, 
as has been pointed out, means the "limit" or "border," 
suggests that the present international line is but the sur- 
vival of the boundary between Indian tribes. There is 
indeed evidence for considering it the northern boundary 
of the Inca Kingdom. However this may be, the twelve 
miles along the course between the stream junction, just 
below the little settlement of Chiles, and the natural bridge 
of Rumichaca, is the only part of the hundreds of miles 
of boundary between these two Republics which is not the 
subject of dispute. Toward the Pacific, Ecuador claims 
that the boundary passes to the north of Chiles and down 
the Rio San Juan and the Mira to the sea, while Colombia 
holds that it runs to the south of Chiles and that all of 
the San Juan and the Mira below the juncture of the 
former stream belongs to it, together with a strip of terri- 
tory on the south of the San Juan-Mira line. 

To the east the claims of the two countries are even more 
divergent. Ecuador would have the boundary run from 
the bridge of Rumichaca directly to the eastern mountain- 
rim and follow it north to the latitude of Pasto, where it 
would turn eastward, but Colombia holds that it runs almost 
due south from this bridge and along the eastern side of 
the Ibarra and Quito parks to the summit of Cayambe and 
then eastward. 

On the morning of the 9th of July, after changing our 
money at the Custom House in Tulcan and receiving the 
silver currency peculiar to the southern part of Colombia, 
we left the city and, going northward, were soon on the 
banks of the Rio Carchi, which we followed, in part on the 



82 QUITO TO BOGOTA 

highway just being built and in part along the older trail 
to the "Puente de Rumichaca" (9,020 feet). This is a 
natural bridge, one of the wonders of this region, and has 
been the crossing place on this route from time imme- 
morial. The stream gorge is here 100 feet deep and about 
40 feet across, but since the natural bridge which spans 
the chasm is nearly as wide as long, one rides over it with- 
out any feeling of danger or insecurity. Its use for wagon 
traffic, as is planned in connection with the new road from 
Tulcan to Ipiales, seems quite feasible, both because of its 
great width and the thickness, at a minimum twenty feet, 
and the apparent solidity of the natural arch. The best 
views can be obtained from the top of the cliff just east of 
the bridge. The upper part of the sides of the ravine are 
overhanging massive white cliffs fifty feet high, and one 
uneroded portion of the thick rock layer which forms the 
cliffs makes the natural bridge — beneath are darker, softer 
beds, and at the bottom is the turbulent mountain stream 
coming out of the shadow of the bridge and boiling among 
the rocks far below. 

According to the Jesuit historian, Velasco, this bridge 
was built by the Incas, which conclusion, considering the 
massive character and natural origin of the bridge, is only 
to be regarded as a token of the high regard felt by the 
Spaniards for the ability of these native peoples. 

The Incas' conquest of the tribes north of the Huaca 
mountain-knot was incomplete at the time of the arrival 
of the Spaniards, which followed so soon after the Inca 
invasion of the southern portion of Colombia that here 
little or nothing had been accomplished in the way of 
Inca civilisation. Traces of the Inca incursions are found 



QUITO TO BOGOTA 83 

in a few words, such as "Cocha," which is the Quichua 
word for "lake," and is applied to the great mountain lake 
which lies east of Pasto on the eastern slopes of the Andes. 
The name of the natural bridge across the Carchi is itself 
composed of two Quichua words "Rumi" (stone) and 
"Chaca" (bridge), and if Velasco had given the matter 
a little more consideration, he would perhaps have found 
the name "The Stone Bridge" a rather singular one to be 
applied by a people, who had considerable ability as masons, 
to a bridge of their own making. 

Cieza de Leon, who recognised the entirely natural charac- 
ter of this bridge, reports that it was here that he first saw 
the Inca highway. He also mentions the ruins of an 
Inca stone fort nearby, and the fact that this was the ter- 
minus of the Inca highway, taken in connection with the 
fact that a tributary of the Guaitara which joins it to the 
east on a direct prolongation of the line of the Carchi 
still bears the name of "Angasmayo," suggests that the 
stream now called the Carchi or "Limit" is the Ancas-Mayu 
or "Blue River," so frequently referred to by the Spanish 
chroniclers as the recognised northern limit of the Inca 
Kingdom, although various battles appear to have been 
fought north of it with some of the Pasto tribes. In this 
lies the obscure origin of this singular boundary line between 
Colombia and Ecuador. 

According to the early Spanish explorers, there were on 
this great Inca highway, which extended through Ecuador, 
Peru and Bolivia into Northern Chili, some notable ma- 
sonry bridges, as well as a number of ingenious stream 
diversions. The method in the latter case was to tunnel 
through a hill-spur and divert the stream from its normal 



84 QUITO TO BOGOTA 

channel through this tunnel. The whole stream-bed was 
then filled up and the road passed over this pseudo-natural 
bridge. The same method was adopted by the Spanish, and 
it is therefore not always possible to say with certainty 
whether such a "natural" bridge antedates the coming of 
the Spaniards or is subsequent. We saw one such bridge 
across the Rio San Pedro, on the cart road to Tumbaco, 
in our little journeys around Quito. The road surface here 
is about 30 feet above the stream, the thickness of the 
natural rock and earth at the crest of the narrow arch is 
fifteen to twenty feet, and the water flows through a tunnel 
whose top is ten feet above ordinary water level. It is 
attributed to the Incas, one of whose main highways is said 
to have passed along this route. It is used to-day for all 
the traffic of the country, and while the bridge is composed 
of natural rock, in place, the opening through which the 
water flows was cut by man, in which respect it differs from 
the natural bridge of Rumichaca. Another natural bridge, 
though not used as a roadway, is reported two miles north 
of Rumichaca, spanning the Rio Carlosama, a tributary of 
the Carchi. 

Crossing the bridge, we were again on Colombian soil 
after an absence of two months. When we sailed out of 
the magnificent natural port of Cartagena, last May, we 
little thought that our return would be through the Andes, 
across the southern boundary and along the general route 
followed by those who made the first Spanish settlements 
in the interior of Colombia. At the bridge there is a small 
building which is the border Custom House of Colombia 
and here were a few soldiers in uniform. 

Following the well-beaten road for about two and a half 




fed 



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QUITO TO BOGOTA 85 

miles, we reached the town of Ipiales which is at the same 
elevation as Tulcan. The Prefect, by special instructions 
from the President of the Republic, welcomed us back to 
Colombian soil. Ipiales, formerly called "Pastos," is the 
southernmost town of Colombia and is on the site of an 
ancient village which was the chief town of the tribe whose 
name it now bears. It is the centre of a population of about 
15,000 people and vies with Tuquerres in being the most 
important town in the Colombian portion of this mountain- 
park. It is a town of departed glories, twice the capital 
of one of the departments of Colombia, at one time for 
eleven years and again for a few months, it is to-day the 
capital of one of the eight divisions of the Department of 
Narifio and is much less of a town than Tulcan with its 
clubs and smart soldiers and two-storied buildings entirely 
surrounding the Plaza. 

Colombia is to-day divided into departments which corre- 
spond to the provinces of which Ecuador is composed. 
At one time there were thirty-six major divisions in Colom- 
bia, called provinces, and at that time Ipiales was the capital 
of the Province of Tuquerres. Now, the term "Province" 
is no longer applied to the major divisions as in Ecuador, 
but to the subordinate divisions of the departments corre- 
sponding to the "cantons" of Ecuador. These Provinces 
are subdivided into "municipios," which are of the same 
relative importance as the Ecuadorian "parroquias." In the 
Colombian National Census of 191 2 the smallest division 
is the municipio and it is therefore not possible to deter- 
mine the exact urban population of any village, town or 
city in contradistinction to the rural population which is 
tributary to it and under the same governmental division. 



86 QUITO TO BOGOTA 

We left Ipiales very early on the morning of the ioth 
of July, but despite the early hour and a gentle rain, a 
number of horsemen joined us. The hospitality of these 
people is beyond all praise. As we rode over the hills one 
of our escorts pointed out the location in the valley below 
of the famous "Capilla de la Laja" or "the Chapel of the 
Stone," also called the "Sanctuary of the Virgin of the 
Stone." Here there is a much venerated picture of the 
Virgin of the Rosary painted on a smooth rock, to which 
is attributed such miraculous powers that it is the object 
of pilgrimages, not only from all of Western Colombia, 
but from Ecuador and Peru as well. Its fame in Colombia 
is equalled only by the shrine of the Virgin of Chiquinquira, 
sixty miles north of Bogota. Not very distant from the 
imposing church which has been built to cover this holy 
picture, we were told that there was a very beautiful water- 
fall with a sheer drop of 250 feet on one of the tributaries 
of the Rio Guaitara. This is known as the "Salto del Ex- 
comulgado" or the "Waterfall of the Excommunicated One" 
because of the suicide here, soon after the conquest, of 
a Spanish priest on whom the anathema of the Church had 
been pronounced. 

Along the road are occasional banks composed of well- 
defined moranic material, indicating a period geologically 
not long distant, when glaciers covered this region. A 
number of the high snow-peaks of the Andes have small 
glaciers comparable to those of the Alps, but the largest of 
these on Cayambe does not extend below an elevation of 
13,600 feet. As we rode along, we saw a fertile, compara- 
tively well-populated region. The country around El 
Vinculo had impressed us very greatly with its agricultural 



QUITO TO BOGOTA 87 

and grazing possibilities, but this country north of the divide 
•is even better. It lacks only easy communication with the 
rest of the world to make it a perfect human habitation. 
The more we travel through the high Andean region of 
Colombia and Ecuador, the more we are impressed with 
its great potentialities and its but partially developed natural 
agricultural wealth. It is to-day supporting but a small per- 
centage of the population which it seems capable of sus- 
taining. Its industries yield the meagre amount required 
for the necessities of the people, but the difficulty of bring- 
ing the products to any large market at present precludes 
full development. The cattle fill but a small percentage of 
the pastures, there are a few scattered sheep where, with 
a market for the superior wool they produce, there would 
be thousands upon thousands and many relatively nearby 
regions are supplied with grain brought long distances by 
ship, which these mountain-parks are capable of producing 
but are excluded by lack of adequate transportation. Owing 
in large part to this cause, the development of this region 
has been virtually stationary or even retrogressive for the 
last century, and it will rise from this period of quiescence 
to the full realisation of its potentialities, only when a 
through trunk railway line is constructed, as some day it 
will be. 

Neither Colombia nor Ecuador have the financial re- 
sources for the construction of great trunk railway lines, 
nor would their construction in the present stage of the 
development of these countries offer a sufficient guarantee 
of immediate return on the capital invested, to warrant the 
finding of the huge sums necessary for such undertakings. 
It might be feasible, however, to find the capital on a land- 



88 QUITO TO BOGOTA 

grant principle, similar to that which enabled the construc- 
tion of three great lines of railway across the plains and 
mountains of the western United States, as well as one 
across Canada. 

The railways in Colombia are almost all built to cater 
to local needs only — if they are successful, they succeed 
because of the population already existing — they do not tend 
to materially add to the population of the country. The 
great need of Colombia, if she is to consolidate herself com- 
mercially and take the place among the Nations of the 
World which her natural resources entitle her to hold, is 
through trunk railways — railways connecting the distant 
parts of the country, railways which the present population 
cannot support, but which will bring the population neces- 
sary to fill the land and create the industries to make it 
prosperous. 

In the first trunk-line across the mountains of the western 
United States, the Government not only gave lands, but 
guaranteed the bonds of the company at a generous rate 
per mile. Colombia has already involved her national credit 
by subsidies and bond guarantees for railway construction 
and this plan does not seem best for the country nor is it 
feasible. The best of the agricultural lands are already 
held by individuals, and it would therefore be necessary to 
have the grant include all minerals in the areas which are 
given to the railway companies. 

Since leaving Ipiales, we have been gradually descending 
and we now reach the banks of the Guaitara, which is the 
main stream draining the Tulcan-Tuquerres park. In its 
headwaters it is called the Carchi, lower the name changes 
to the Males and finally the Rio Guaitara. It is here a 



QUITO TO BOGOTA 89 

rushing mountain stream, 2,000 feet below the main level 
of the park, but with well-rounded slopes extending down 
to its very edge, all suitable for cultivation. Here is the 
little settlement of San Juan, which impresses one as all 
church and no town. There are three or four small dwelling 
houses and an enormous, partly finished church, which 
would seem more appropriate in a town of several thou- 
sand. In a few places in Colombia the excessive desire of 
the priests for "big" churches has rather exceeded the 
resources and abilities of their parishioners. A friend in 
one of the Government offices showed me photographs of 
the foundations of an enormous building, which, he ex- 
plained, was all that now remained of a considerable settle- 
ment. The priest's demands on the labour of his people 
for the construction of this grandiose dream were so great 
that finally, in desperation, they migrated one after another 
to other parts, and the foundations of this church are all 
that remain to tell the tale. 

Immediately below San Juan the river enters a more 
gorge-like phase and as this region has not yet reached 
the stage of development warranting carefully graded roads 
everywhere, the trail ascends a little tributary valley to the 
prosperous town of Contadero (8,300 feet), possessing a 
pleasing church, quite in keeping with the size of the town, 
and then up by steep zigzags to the crest of the hill immedi- 
ately overlooking the village. From here there is a view of 
a great expanse of country. 

Further along, as it was now well on in the day, our 
last companion returned to Ipiales and we began the final 
descent into the valley of the Guaitara. Terrace-form 
benches of small extent appear along this stream, and across 



go QUITO TO BOGOTA 

the main valley, on one of them is the town of Funes. A 
number of villages in this part of the valley are located at 
about the same elevation (7,900 feet) and suggest a feeble 
representative in this park of the second-level observed in 
the Quito and Ibarra basins. 

Late in the day we reached the Hacienda of Capuli, 
picturesquely situated on a minor bench on the hillside 
near the junction of the Guaitara and the Sapuyes, which is 
the main stream of the Tuquerres end of the basin. The 
valley is a mile or more wide near the junction of these 
streams, and as we have now descended to an elevation 
of 6,000 feet, it is much warmer and also dryer, recalling 
the dryness of the Guaillabamba and the Chota, and here 
are irrigated fields of sugar cane. The proprietor of Capuli 
had arrived only this afternoon from Pasto, where he lives 
most of the year, and did everything to make us comfortable 
for the night. He had heard rumours of an impending 
revolution and had hurried down to his estate to arrange 
for the sale of all of his cattle as a precautionary measure. 
One of these days, when the country is bound together with 
railway lines and the people are not so isolated by the 
difficulties of communication, the uncertainty in which they 
now live will cease. 

Immediately below Capuli the valley is again contracted 
and the trail is in many places cut out of the rock some 
distance above the water-level. On the other bank of the 
river, we see a well-graded and carefully constructed trail 
which, we are told, leads to Funes. We cross the river on 
a suspension bridge, very shaky and very narrow, of which 
the supporting cables are composed of many strands of 
barbed-wire bound together, and ascend by a zigzag to a 



QUITO TO BOGOTA 91 

well-graded track, blasted out of the rock, which after a 
time turns up the valley of the Rio Guapuscal. At this 
turn in the road one has an excellent view of the very- 
interesting Guaitara rock-gorge which begins abruptly just" 
below the mouth of the Guapuscal. This gorge is so nar- 
row that it looks as if one could almost jump across it at 
the top, it certainly cannot be more than 25 feet from edge 
to edge, and great masses of rock which have fallen down 
the neighbouring mountain slopes have become wedged in 
many places between the irregular walls. The sides are so 
far from the perpendicular and so uneven, that one could 
not drop a stone from the surface to the water-level 500 
feet below, without it hitting the walls in its descent, and 
a person at the water-level would not be able to see the sky. 

This narrow rock-gorge has been selected for the site of 
the bridge across the Guaitara on the modern wagon-road 
which is in course of construction between Pasto and Bar- 
bacoes near the Pacific coast, a distance of about a hun- 
dred and thirty miles, from which place it is possible to go 
in small boats down the Telembi and Patia and along the 
coast to the port of Tumaco. The road-grading has been 
virtually completed from Pasto to this rock-gorge, and from 
our trail on the south bank of the Guapuscal we see this new 
road blasted out of the rock of the mountain. We cross 
the Guapuscal near the little settlement of El Placer, so 
named from some gold workings in the neighbouring 
streams, and enter this highway along which we proceed to 
Pasto. It is a magnificent piece of road engineering rival- 
ling the excellent French road-construction in Algeria. 

After coming through Tengua we pass around the south- 
ern base of Galera, more commonly called the Volcano of 



92 QUITO TO BOGOTA 

Pasto, through a great pasture-land and see across a small 
ravine the town of Yacuanquer (9,000 feet) in the plain 
at the foot of the volcano. This was the site of the first, 
settlement made by the Spaniards in the interior of Colom- 
bia and, originally called "Villa de Madrigal," was aban- 
doned when Pasto was settled and the subsequent town took 
the older Indian name. Settlements were made on the 
Caribbean coast of Colombia by the Spaniards as early as 
1 5 10 and 15 1 1, but strangely enough, the first Spanish set- 
tlements in the interior of Colombia were not made from 
the Atlantic, but by way of the Pacific and Ecuador, along 
the route we have just come. The foundation of Villa de 
Madrigal, Popayan and Cali, all antedate the foundation 
of Bogota. 

Beyond Yacuanquer we passed through a low gap in the 
northern rim of the Tulcan-Tuquerres mountain-park, at 
an elevation of 11,700 feet, and entering the valley pasture- 
lands in which Pasto is situated, began the descent around 
the eastern foot of the Volcano of Pasto. A few miles 
from the city we were met by a large party of gentlemen 
on horseback, including the two British residents of Pasto, 
Mr. Alfred Hodges and Mr. George Prescott. Mr. Hodges 
is a British mining engineer, who has lived in Southern 
Colombia for twenty-seven years and is interested in a 
number of gold properties in the Western Andes. Mr. 
Prescott is the manager of the business of Delfin Martinez, 
which is perhaps the largest mercantile establishment in 
Southern Colombia. We are under great obligation to them 
for their hospitality and for much information regarding 
the region. 

Yesterday and to-day, the 12th and 13th of July, have 



QUITO TO BOGOTA 93 

been spent in Pasto. Lord Murray here received many 
telegrams welcoming him to Colombia, including messages 
from the President, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, and 
the Minister of Public Works. The President particularly 
expressed the gratitude of the Government to Lord Mur- 
ray and his companions for undertaking such a journey in 
order to study the country, which knowledge, he was sure, 
would result in good to the Nation. Telegrams were also 
received from residents of Popayan and Cali and it was 
urged that we should not miss the Valley of the Cauca. 
Among the deputations received by Lord Murray was one 
from the Municipal Council asking that he use his good 
offices to have the firm undertake the building of an aque- 
duct to the city, as well as other municipal improvements. 
Other delegations discussed the construction of a railway 
connecting Pasto with the port of Tumaco, and altogether 
our two days here have been very fully occupied. 

Pasto, the most important town in Southern Colombia, 
is an old-fashioned Spanish settlement situated in the middle 
of a broad plain in the mountains at an elevation of 8,430 
feet, and the Municipio, of which it is the centre, contains 
27,760 inhabitants. Founded in 1539, it received the name 
of Villaviciosa or San Juan de Pasto, which name signifies 
"St. John of the Pasture Land." The name was, however, 
almost at once abbreviated to "Pasto" and the general term 
of "Los Pastos" is often used in a geographic sense, and 
most appropriately, to apply to this upland region of south- 
ern Colombia. The town is almost square, with numerous 
well-paved streets intersecting each other at right angles. 
There are no underground sewers and all the refuse of the 
town is conveyed in open gutters in the centres of the streets 



94 QUITO TO BOGOTA 

through which little streams of water flow. The houses 
are well-built and the town prides itself that most of these 
are two stories high. The account of the town, published in 
the report of the 19 12 census, even makes special mention 
of two buildings which have three stories. 

In the Plaza, which is prettily planted as a park, there 
is a statue of the brilliant Colombian patriot, General An- 
tonio Narino, a native of Bogota, who was imprisoned by 
the Spanish authorities for circulating, in the first years of 
the nineteenth century, a translation of the Declaration of 
the Rights of Man, as framed by the Paris Convention of 
the French Revolution, and for which Colombia has given 
him the title of "Precursor." Facing the park on one side 
of the Plaza is the old cathedral bearing the royal Spanish 
arms and the Spanish crown. 

Pasto is the capital and chief city of the Department of 
Narino, which because of its relative isolation is less in 
touch with the National Government than any other settled 
part of the Republic. The inhabitants pride themselves 
more on their residence in this Department than on their 
Colombian citizenship, just as the people of Scotland object 
to being called "English." They are people of force and 
decision, quite centred in the affairs of their own region, 
and have resisted for years the introduction of the national 
currency which circulates in the rest of the Republic, indeed 
all transactions are in the assortment of old silver coins 
which forms their unique currency. 

There is, naturally, a national Custom House on the 
boundary between Narino and Ecuador, but there are like- 
wise Custom Houses on the line between this Department 
and its neighbour on the north, both in Colombia, and 



QUITO TO BOGOTA 95 

while this is due to a difference in the duties charged on 
imports at Buenaventura and Tumaco, the two Pacific ports 
of the Republic, and is designed to prevent goods imported 
at a lower tariff through Tumaco from invading the terri- 
tory more naturally tributary to the higher duty port of 
Buenaventura, the fact serves to emphasise the independence 
of Narifio. The people, naturally, would like to be connected 
by railway with Quito on the one hand, and with Popayan, 
Cali and the rest of Colombia on the other, but what they 
really have their heart in, is a railway of their very own, 
connecting their capital, Pasto, with their port of Tumaco. 

Pasto was a royal stronghold in the days of the Revolu- 
tion and is one of the few regions which stubbornly re- 
mained loyal to Spain after the Declaration of Independ- 
ence. It is even said in the town that there are those who 
to-day, like the Jacobites of old, quaff a health to the name 
of "the King across the water." 

The currency of Narifio consists of the most wonderful 
collection of old silver coins in circulation in any part of the 
world. Narifio' enforces a self-made silver standard, whereas 
Ecuador and the rest of Colombia are on a gold basis, but 
although Narifio refuses to use the present legal tender of 
Colombia, she naturally has not issued money of her own, 
and the currency consists therefore of a hetereogeneous 
assortment of silver coins of all nations, particularly those 
which are no longer current either because they have been 
outlawed or because of the establishment of a gold stand- 
ard, under laws which do not permit the exchange of the 
old silver coins at their face value. Silver coins of any 
nationality and any issue are accepted in Narifio at approxi- 
mately their silver value. They are graded by size and are 



96 QUITO TO BOGOTA 

reckoned in reales or pesos (dollars) silver basis. The real 
is considered as 10 cents silver, and the only difficulty 
which arises with this mass of differing coins is in determin- 
ing whether a coin shall be considered a 50-cent piece or a 
4-reales piece (40 cents), a 25-cent piece or a 2-reales piece, 
because the old 2- and 4-reales pieces are sometimes rather 
larger than the newer 25-cent and 50-cent pieces. Usually 
the figure stated on the coin is accepted. However, if this 
should be in some other unit, it is fixed by a comparison of 
size, if an old coin with those of ancient date, if modern, 
with those of recent date. 

The most abundant coins are the old 8-reales pieces of 
the first years of the Independence, particularly the coins 
bearing the Indian head and the pomegranate and the words 
"Republic de Colombia, Cundinamarca, Bogota," and dated 
1820 and 182 1. This was the time of "La Grande Colom- 
bia" when the country was composed of three great di- 
visions: Cundinamarca (including all the present Repub- 
lic), Venezuela and Quito. Only slightly less abundant are 
the 8-reales pieces of the Republic of New Granada, which 
was the name adopted in 183 1 after the Republics of, Vene- 
zuela and Ecuador became separate nations. There are also 
five-tenths (50 cents), 20 cents and one-tenth pieces of the 
"United States of Colombia," which was the name of the 
country in 1861, some minted at Bogota and some at Medel- 
lin, and varying in fineness from 0.835 to 0.900, and finally 
the ten-, twenty-, and fifty-cent pieces of the Republic of Co- 
lombia, usually 0.835 fi 11 ^ Du t in some cases 0.666, which 
immediately preceded the present issues. The Colombian 
silver coins prior to 1909 are not exchangeable for gold at 
their face value and are no longer current in other parts of 



QUITO TO BOGOTA 97 

the country. The new Colombian silver, of a fineness of 
0.900 and exchangeable for gold at face value, is not cur- 
rent in Narifio. 

The old silver issues of Cundinamarca, the Republic of 
New Granada, the United States of Colombia and the Re- 
public of Colombia prior to 1909 form about two-thirds of 
the Narifio currency. The remainder is made up of old 
Spanish pieces in circulation at the time of the Indepen- 
dence, of old Ecuadorian, Bolivian, and Peruvian real- 
pieces and multiples thereof and great quantities of Chilian 
silver flaunting the motto, "Por la rason 6 por la fuerza." 
In addition there are some Peruvian sols and peseta pieces 
(which pass for two reales), and occasional coins of other 
nations. We saw a number of French franc pieces (which 
pass for two reales), and some silver coins from the United 
States of North America and Canada; all the latter have 
holes in them and would not be accepted in the countries of 
their origin. 

A large percentage of the older coins are likewise per- 
forated, some are worn quite smooth, and when this sort of 
money was offered to us at Tulcan in exchange for Ecua- 
dorian gold and notes we naturally protested and desired to 
take only unperforated pieces and ones on which the inscrip- 
tions were still legible. The supply of such pieces was, 
however, limited, and we were assured that there would be 
no difficulty with the coins, whether or not perforated, and 
whatever their state of preservation, and this was indeed the 
case. The rate of exchange at Tulcan was $11.50 silver for 
one pound sterling, or $4.86 American. 

The present basis of the currency of Ecuador and Co- 
lombia is a gold coin of the weight and fineness of the Eng- 



98 QUITO TO BOGOTA 

lish sovereign. In Ecuador this is equal to 10 sucres, and 
the country has issued a number of 5- and 10-sucre gold 
pieces which are however relatively few in number com- 
pared with the English sovereigns in circulation. In Colom- 
bia English gold is used almost exclusively. 

The Colombian Government, finding that Narifio paid no 
attention to the national law requiring acceptance of the 
modern Colombian silver and paper, has sought to make a 
beginning in currency reform by introducing gold. This is 
effected by paying the troops in sovereigns and providing 
that each of these sovereigns will be received by the Gov- 
ernment in payment of custom duties at the rate of $12.50 
silver. Under this inducement the merchants of Pasto 
readily cash the soldiers' sovereigns at the prevailing rate of 
$11.50 and then repay them to the Government at the en- 
hanced rate. There is thus some gold in Pasto and on the 
coast, but in the smaller towns of the Department most mer- 
chants still refuse gold. The inhabitants of the country will 
not accept it in payment for goods delivered to the merchant, 
and he finds it only a source Of annoyance, as he must carry 
it to Pasto or to the coast to get its value ! Naturally under 
these conditions the one Bank of the Department, the Banco 
del Sur of Pasto, reports its capital, deposits, etc., in silver 
money. 

During our stay in Pasto we have visited several of the 
little manufactories of the famous Pasto wooden bowls. 
While in Quito I found, in some of the native shops, wooden 
bowls commonly eight to ten inches in diameter and two 
to three inches deep which are of a dull red colour and 
decorated on the inside with various designs in blue, yellow 
and gilt, the whole covered with what I took to be a sort of 



QUITO TO BOGOTA 99 

varnish. I thought they were of local manufacture — for 
show rather than use — and was surprised to learn that the 
coating was of such a character that the bowls would serve 
for all the purposes for which plates or dishes are used, and 
as they are not so liable to break they are much sought after 
by the natives. I was also informed that they were not 
made locally but came from Pasto, which was the only place 
where the peculiar gum with which they are covered could 
be obtained. Along the trail from Quito we passed several 
cargo-trains -on their way south carrying loads of these 
bowls, which, we were informed, were sold even far to the 
south of Quito. Here we learned that the demand extends 
over a wide area, even to Popayan and into the upper Mag- 
dalena Valley. 

The coating of these bowls is the "Barniz de Pasto," the 
product of a woody shrub belonging to the Rubiacese, which 
also includes the Madder. This shrub does not grow at the 
elevation of Pasto, but in the neighbouring, warmer regions. 
According to the noted Colombian botanist, Santiago 
Cortes, it is found throughout the Republic, and its product 
is called "cera" in the region of Sumapaz, near Bogota, 
and "lacre" in Socorro and Antioquia. It is, however, most 
generally known by the name "Barniz de Pasto," as it is 
only in this locality that it is used to any considerable ex- 
tent. 

Through the kind offices of Mr. Prescott we have secured 
two saddle horses of sturdy mountain stock, with a 'great 
reputation as hill-climbers. The Indians who accompanied 
us from Quito have returned and have been replaced by one 
Jose, a black-eyed, black-haired, black-moustached, energetic 
individual of the old pirate type, who is supposed to know 



ioo QUITO TO BOGOTA 

every inch of the trail for many miles. We are warned that 
while very faithful and loyal, he is rather fond of "aguar- 
diente." And so everything is ready for our start in the 
morning for the seven- or eight-days' journey to Popayan. 



FOUR 
PASTO TO CALI 



Cali, 

Departamento del Valle del Cauca, 
Colombia. 

28th July, 1913. 

For the past two weeks we have been travelling through 
the great valley-plains which lie between the Cordillera del 
Choco, or Western Andes, and the Cordillera del Quindio, 
or Central Andes. When these two chains finally disen- 
tangle themselves from the knotted mass of mountains com- 
prising the single chain, in whose complex top there are the 
high mountain-parks of Southern Colombia and Ecuador, 
they continue northward for some distance as relatively 
simple parallel ranges whose crests are 40 to 50 miles apart. 
Between these there is, first, the steep broken land sloping 
down from the rim of the northernmost park, and then a 
great plains-region, somewhat dissected by stream erosion, 
elevated well above sea-level, but still much lower than the 
high mountain parks. This has a uniform width of twelve 
to fifteen miles and, bounded on either side by the steep 
slopes of the mountains, extends northward for 250 miles. 
Here the plain-lands end, and though the two ranges still 
continue northward, they lose the simple single ridge char- 
acter and become rather more complicated and the depres- 
sion between is broken by spur ranges from the main chains. 
In this region the Central Andes loses its height and be- 
comes a complex broad upland, relatively well populated. 
The third and last phase of the depression between the two 

103 



104 QUITO TO BOGOTA 

ranges is a low-lying river valley bounded on either side 
by the gradually disappearing ridges of the central chain 
and a low spur of the western range, and then becoming 
an indistinguishable part of the great Magdalena- interior- 
delta plain. 

The three great physiographic provinces between the 
Cordillera del Choco and the Cordillera del Quindio are 
thus : — 

First — The inter-mountain plains of the present Depart- 
ments of Cauca and Valle del Cauca which occupy the first 
250 miles of the depression. 

Second — The region of hills and valleys which lie be- 
tween the two chains along the Cauca River in the Depart- 
ments of Caldas and Antioquia. The Cauca River, after 
traversing a portion of the southern plains, flows in this 
second division of the inter-mountain depression through a 
series of gorges. 

Third — The river-plain of the lower Cauca, in north- 
central Antioquia and southern Bolivar, which, bounded by 
the gradually disappearing spurs of the mountains, soon 
amalgamates with the great low plain of the Magdalena 
River. 

The southern plains area of this inter-mountain depres- 
sion is divided into three parts : the Plain of the Patia, the 
Plain of Popayan, and the Plain of Cali. The Plain of the 
Patia occupies the southern quarter of this area, the Plain 
of Popayan the next quarter, and the Plain of Cali the 
northern half. The last is thus about 125 miles long and 
15 miles wide. 

Of these, the plain of Popayan, with a mean elevation of 
about 6,000 feet, is the highest, and contains the divide be- 




West of Greenwich 



VALLEY PLAINS OF WESTERN COLOMBIA 

Based on the relief model by the Colombian artist, 
Sr. Jose Miguel Rosales 



QUITO TO BOGOTA 105 

tween the waters of the Atlantic and the Pacific. However, 
there is no marked hill mass between the two drainage 
basins, such as we had inferred from published maps and 
accounts, and one of the surprises of the journey was to 
find that in the Plain of Popayan we had crossed from the 
tributaries of the Rio Patia, which flows into the Pacific 
through a great gorge in the Western Andes at the very 
southern end of the Plain of the Patia, to the tributaries of 
the Rio Cauca, which flows into the Atlantic by way of 
the hill country of Antioquia, without having appreciated 
that we had passed across the hydrographic divide between 
the two oceans. One would naturally expect in the Andes 
of South America that the divide between two great river 
systems, tributary to different oceans, would be a marked 
mountain crest, and it is perhaps this wholly natural pre- 
conception which has led to the showing on a number of 
maps of such a mountain range across this plain between 
the head-waters of the two streams and has caused rather 
misleading statements in many geographic descriptions. 

We found the divide to occur here in a rolling plain 
where the low elevation between the two river systems is of 
less topographic importance than the elevations between 
certain tributaries of either river. Looking across the 
plain from either of the mountain slopes, it would be 
impossible to say with certainty, in many cases, which little 
tributary belongs to the Cauca and which to the Patia. The 
line of this inter-oceanic divide crosses the plain of Popayan 
in an east-west direction. On the west it mounts to the 
summit of the Western Andes and then turning abruptly 
northward, follows it very closely on the western side of 
the plains area; while to the east it climbs the other chain 



106 QUITO TO BOGOTA 

and, turning abruptly south, follows the summit of the 
mountains on the east side of the Popayan and Patia Plains. 

There is in this general plains-region the suggestion of a 
remnant of a cross-range, but it does not lie between the 
Cauca and Patia drainages, but near the northern end of 
the Plain of Popayan, and a number of miles north of the 
head-waters of the northward flowing Cauca. It is some- 
what near the boundary between the Plains of Cali and 
Popayan, but the separation of these into distinct units 
rests on a marked difference in elevation rather than on this 
feature. Perhaps at one time in the geologic past this 
remnant of a cross-range was an important feature in the 
drainage systems of this region, and while it is certainly 
not so to-day, its presence adds but another feature to the 
physiographic history of the Cauca River, which will some 
day be unravelled. 

The Plains of Cali and Patia lie some 3,000 feet below 
the Plain of Popayan, and the latter is therefore deeply 
trenched towards its northern and southern borders by the 
streams which cross it on their way to these lower levels. 
The Plain of Cali has suffered very little erosion. It is 
slightly concave, sloping up to the mountains on either side, 
and between its southern end, thirty miles south of Cali, 
and its northern limit, near Cartago, it has a slope of about 
four feet per mile, and may be regarded as a plain between 
3,000 and 3,500 feet above sea-level. The Cauca River 
flows through the Cali Plain from end to end, and the level- 
ness of the land, together with the gentle rainfall and the 
healthy warm character of the region, have all combined to 
cause it to be regarded as one of the garden spots of Co- 
lombia. When a Colombian affectionately refers to the 



QUITO TO BOGOTA 107 

"Valley of the Cauca," or simply to "The Valley," he 
means, not the great drainage basin of the river, but 
merely this particular level portion of the valley which I 
have called the Plain of Cali. I was very much mystified 
in Bogota when an engineer and geographer corrected a 
chance remark that Popayan was in the Cauca Valley, with 
the unqualified statement that it was not. As all of the 
maps show this City in the drainage of the Cauca River, 
as indeed it is, I naturally concluded the statement had been 
carelessly made. It now appears, however, that he was 
using the name "Valley of the Cauca" in the peculiarly re- 
stricted sense just mentioned, and it is to avoid this con- 
fusion, rather than in any attempt to establish the use of a 
new term, that I shall use the equally descriptive and more 
exact designation of the Plain of Cali for this one part of 
the great area which in an ordinary geographic sense con- 
stitutes the Cauca Valley. 

The local and restricted usage of the words "Valle del 
Cauca" (Valley of the Cauca) have found expression in the 
name of the Department created in 19 10 of which Cali is 
the capital. The new Department includes all of the Plain 
of Cali except a small portion to the southwest, together 
with a strip extending across the Western Andes down to 
the Pacific Ocean, and including the Port of Buenaventura, 
which has since the beginning of the written history of this 
country been a sort of commercial appendage to Cali. 

The Plain of Cali has many of the aspects of an old lake 
basin rather evenly filled with detritus washed down from 
the surrounding mountains, and it is generally attributed 
to such an origin. The City of Cali is slightly above the 
level of the Plain on an alluvial fan of gentle inclination 



108 QUITO TO BOGOTA 

formed of material brought down by a tributary stream. 
The ponding of the water for this lake-stage might have 
been produced by a damming of the valley below Cartago 
with volcanic material from some of the old craters of the 
Central Andes or by local deformation of the strata, but 
the fact that the level of the deposits in the Plain of Cali 
corresponds very closely with the upper level of the Plain 
of the Patia, to which a similar lake-origin has been 
ascribed, rather suggests the possibility of a great subsi- 
dence of the country during which these deposits were laid 
down in bays or arms of the sea. This Would involve a 
subsidence and uplift of this region in relatively recent 
geologic times of 3,000 to 4,000 feet. 

The Patia Plain has a mean elevation of about 3,500 
feet, and like that of Cali it slopes up to the mountain, but 
unlike the latter it is deeply trenched by the streams which 
cross it, as would naturally be expected owing to the rela- 
tively short distance which the Rio Patia travels through 
the western mountains in reaching the sea. The maximum 
depth of the depressions below the upper level of the Plain 
is similar in amount and character to that in the northern 
and southern edge of the Plain of Popayan, that is to say, 
1,000 to 2,000 feet. The lowest portions along the stream 
valleys are thus 1,500 to 2,000 feet above sea-level, and 
these lower portions of this- section are quite warm. The 
Patia Valley has a very evil reputation from the standpoint 
of health as compared with its sister plain of Cali, much 
worse than other regions of the country with an elevation 
lower than even its lowest parts. Perhaps this is in a meas- 
ure due to the fact that in early days negro slaves from the 
gold workings along the coast on the lower Patia, and its 



QUITO TO BOGOTA 109 

tributaries, found it easy to pass up this river, and so have 
settled and lived in this section for a long period without 
any regard to the laws of hygiene. The white population 
of the Andes, as a whole, is really very small compared with 
the agricultural possibilities and the area of the country, 
and it is not very surprising that this region, where no sys- 
tematic endeavour has ever been made to safeguard the 
health of the people, should in time grow to have a bad 
reputation. Most of it is, however, very excellent pasture 
land. It is warm, but owing to the low rainfall there is 
no tropical vegetation to fight. The soil is reputed not to 
be so good as in the Popayan and Cali Plains, but judging 
from the character of the sugar cane we saw growing with- 
out any attention or cultivation in small spots where it 
could get a little extra moisture, we are rather inclined to 
regard the matter as not lack of fertility so much as lack 
of systematic cultivation and irrigation, for which purpose 
the streams that could be made available by modern engi- 
neering would furnish an abundant supply. On the whole, 
from a necessarily cursory examination, we are inclined to 
believe that in the fulness of time, when this section be- 
comes really accessible in a commercial sense, the Patia 
Valley will outgrow its present reputation and become one 
of the prosperous regions of Colombia. 

All three plains are in a rain-shadow cast by the western 
mountain range, and the distribution of the rainfall follows 
much the same law as that suggested by the facts observed 
in the mountain-parks, namely, that the amount of rainfall 
varies inversely with the depth below the bordering moun- 
tain-rim, thus the lowest portions of the Patia have least 



no QUITO TO BOGOTA 

rainfall, the amount increases in its upper portions and in 
the Cali Plain at the same level, and is greatest in the 
Popayan Plain, which is least depressed. 

The heights of the chains of the Andes on the two sides 
of these Plains are very dissimilar. The effective elevation 
of the Western Range, so far as it influences rainfall dis- 
tribution, is about 8,500 feet, while the Central Range is 
about 13,000 feet, with a number of permanently snow-cov- 
ered peaks rising to a much greater elevation. The height 
of this last range is such that these plains can receive no 
rain from the east. The precipitation is therefore wholly 
dependent on winds from the west. These saturated winds 
coming from the Pacific are first forced to ascend the West- 
ern Andes, and from sea-level to the very crest of the moun- 
tains there is a moisture-dripping jungle-forest. Surmount- 
ing the summit the moisture-laden winds give only gentle 
rain to the intervening slopes and valley. The forest- 
growth stops short as if cut by a knife at the very crest of 
the range, and the slope toward the plains is barren of trees, 
but when these winds strike the higher mountains on the 
eastern side of the plains they are again forced to ascend 
and yield their remaining moisture, and this gives rise to 
two things, firstly, there is produced on this western side of 
the Central Andes a tree-belt which extends from the cor- 
responding level of the summit of the Western Andes, that 
is, about 8,500 feet, up to the Paramo line, and has points of 
forest-growth extending down the stream channels toward 
the plains below, and, secondly, almost all the important 
streams which flow into the plains come from these moun- 
tains and, as a result, the master streams of the Valley of 



QUITO TO BOGOTA in 

the Patia and the Cauca are forced over to the western side 
of the plains. 

The two dominating cities in this series of inter-moun- 
tain plains are Cali and Popayan, and, as is common be- 
tween cities in the same general region with differing claims 
to greatness, there has been no little rivalry between them, 
assuming an aggressive form in the more commercial of the 
two which proves rather amusing to the more philosophic. 

There is even a question as to which is the older city, 
both representing foundations older than any others in the 
interior of Colombia which have survived continuously to 
this day. Before they were established there were attempts 
at foundations at six points on the Caribbean shore of the 
Atlantic Ocean, two of the settlements had ceased to exist 
even before the foundation of Cali and Popayan, which 
cities were established not by expeditions from these settle- 
ments on the Caribbean, but by those which came by way 
of the Pacific and through Peru and Ecuador. It was Se- 
bastian de Belalcazar, the Conqueror of Quito and the 
founder of the Spanish city at that place, who was respon- 
sible for the first permanent conquest in the interior of Co- 
lombia and for the foundation of these two cities. Sending 
his Captain, Juan de Ampudia, and his Lieutenant, Pedro 
de Anasco, early in 1535, he followed in September of that 
year as far as the place where Cartago now stands. They 
advanced after many bloody battles with the Indians — the 
conflict for the Popayan locality alone resulting, it is said, 
in the death of twenty thousand. 

In this campaign, late in 1535, a settlement was estab- 
lished some miles south of what is now Pasto, called Villa 



ii2 QUITO TO BOGOTA 

de Madrigal, but it was abandoned in a few years. The 
next settlement was established some miles from the present 
site of Cali on the 25th of July, 1536, while Popayan 
was founded on its present site in December of that year. 
There is thus this grain of truth in the pointed statement of 
the gifted son of Cali in his resume of her history, in the 
report of the 19 12 census of Colombia, published in Bogota 
in the same year, that "Popayan was founded six months 
later." 

Cieza de Leon, who reached Cali about 1538, however, 
fixed the date of the settlement on the present site as 1537, 
in which he is in a measure corroborated by Pascual de 
Andagoya, a less careful chronicler, who fixes it in 1538. 
The first town, and the one to which we are inclined to 
think the date of 25th of July, 1536, applies, was founded in 
the "midst of the Indian villages of the plain," whereas, 
as Cieza de Leon very correctly says, the present town is 
on a platform above it. The first settlement is regarded 
by the authorities of Cali as having been on the banks of 
the Jamundi, which is 14 miles south of the present site. 
In some of the early chronicles this first settlement is called 
Cali, in others, Ampudia. The name of the present town 
is derived from a corruption of the spelling of the Indian 
word Lili or Lile, and its full name, as expressed in the 
Royal Warrant creating it a "most noble and loyal city" 
and granting it a coat of arms, was "Santiago de Cali." 

On the whole it would seem that the foundation of the 
present Cali was subsequent to Popayan, and the list of the 
Colombian towns and cities which have persisted to the 
present day is therefore in the order of their foundation as 
follows : 



QUITO TO BOGOTA 113 

Dates of Foundation of early Colombian Cities. 

Santa Marta 1525 

Cartagena 1533 

Toiu 1535 

Popayan 1536 

Cali 1537 

Timana 1537 

Bogota 1538 

Pasto 1539 

Tunja 1539 

Of these Popayan, Cali, Timana (which is in the Upper 
Magdalena Valley) and Pasto represent foundations made 
by way of the Pacific and Ecuador, while Bogota and 
Tunja were founded by an expedition coming from Santa 
Marta on the northern coast. 

Although Belalcazar undertook this conquest as a subor- 
dinate of Pizarro, his ambition caused him at once to claim 
it as his own, and after a trip to Spain he was confirmed 
in his claim to the governorship of the whole of the Prov- 
ince and returned to his capital city of Popayan late in 1540 
or early in 1541. Cali lays claim to having been the first 
seat of the Government of the Province of Popayan, but 
this appears to rest on no better authority than that of the 
historian Velasco. Even before the governorship was con- 
firmed to Belalcazar by the Spanish Crown the seat of 
Government of the newly conquered region was at Popayan, 
for we find that it was here, in 1538, that Vadillo, who num- 
bered among his followers the careful author Cieza de 
Leon, found Aldafia the Governor appointed by Pizarro in 
Belalcazar's absence. 

On account of the manner in which this region was con- 
quered the relations of the cities of this Province were with 



ii4 QUITO TO BOGOTA 

Quito and the south rather than with Bogota and the 
"Nuevo Reino de Granada," founded as a result of the ex- 
pedition of Quesada. Some years later, in 1563, the Presi- 
dencia of Quito was established, comprised of the Province 
of Quito, that is, modern Ecuador, and the Province of 
Popayan. The latter then extended from the junction of 
the Nechi and the Cauca rivers, in what is to-day northern 
Antioquia, to the present boundary of Ecuador, and from 
the Pacific Ocean to the Amazon and Orinoco rivers. It 
touched the Magdalena River for 170 miles below the mouth 
of the Rio Negro and, in the district of Choco, extended 
up to the banks of the Rio San Juan. The capital city of 
this enormous area was Popayan. It was the seat of the 
civil and church governments and the centre of wealth and 
culture; here was the Governor and his staff, the Bishopj 
and other officials of the Administration of the Church ; here 
was a royal mint, and here lived the owners of the rich gold 
mines of the coast and the mountains. 

Cali was, during this period, but one of the cities of the 
Province, although a growing and pre-eminently a com- 
mercial one, thanks to its location near a low pass in the 
western mountains which by singular good fortune was 
proved, after the city's foundation, to lead to the excellent 
harbour of Buenaventura, discovered by Andagoya in 1539, 
or two years after the foundation of Cali. Thus by acci- 
dent this city found herself in command of the route to the 
best harbour on the western coast of Colombia. 

With the final creation of the viceroy alty of Santa Fe, 
the Presidencia of Quito came nominally under Bogota, 
but the immediate centre of the civil administration of all 
this western and southern portion of the present Colombia 



QUITO TO BOGOTA 115 

still remained at Quito, and the Church affairs were left as 
before in the ecclesiastical domain of Peru and did not come 
under the control of the Metropolitan Church of New 
Granada, that is, Bogota. It is therefore by no means sur- 
prising to find that when, in 1830, Ecuador separated from 
the original Republic of Colombia, which was composed of 
the present nations of Venezuela, Colombia and Ecuador, 
this western and southern portion of Colombia adhered to. 
Ecuador and was only returned to Colombia after a short 
war between the two nations, by the treaty of the 8th of 
December, 1832. 

In the war of the Independence Cali at once pronounced 
in favor of the patriots, but Popayan, by reason of the con- 
nection of many of its principal families with the Spanish 
Government, was not so ready to embrace the new ideas. 
The patriots of Cali, with forces sent from Bogota, marched 
upon Popayan, defeated the royalist forces in the battle of 
Palace on the 28th of March, 18 12, and entered the city. 
It changed hands many times during the next eight years, 
but the activity of Cali in the "Great War" caused Bolivar 
to issue on the nth of May, 1820, a decree declaring that 
whereas "the best and principal part of the Province of 
Popayan" was composed of settlements located in the warm 
"Valley of the Cauca," and that this town had made great 
sacrifices for the liberation of the country from the domin- 
ion of the King of Spain, the Province should thereafter 
be called the Province of Cauca and its capital should be 
the city of Cali in recognition of the signal services of this 
town to the Republic. 

The Department of Cauca was established by law on the 
8th of October, 1821, but Cali does not appear to have re- 



u6 QUITO TO BOGOTA 

mained the capital city for any considerable time, as Col. 
J. P. Hamilton, who was the Chief of the Commission sent 
by the British Government to the Republic of Colombia in 
1824, found Popayan the capital and seat of the Governor 
of this Department. 

In the history of Colombia there have been many changes 
in the size, shape and names of its major political divisions, 
but during most of this period Cali has been a town in the 
division of which Popayan was the capital. The exceptions 
cover two periods, during one of which Cali was the capital 
of the Department of Buenaventura, and during the other 
of the Department of Cali, and at the same time Popayan 
was likewise the capital of a Department. Since 1910 Cali 
has come into her own and is now, most appropriately, the 
seat of the Government of the Department of the Valley of 
the Cauca, while Popayan is the capital of the much- 
shrunken Department of Cauca, which has retained the 
old name that once covered all of western and southern 
Colombia. 

Outwardly the two cities are to-day much the same, al- 
though Cali has perhaps twice the population of its old rival. 
Each is composed of buildings of the usual white-walled, 
red-tile-roofed type, and each has notable churches in the 
old Spanish style of architecture, but in inherent spirit they 
are very different. In Cali there is the feverish hurry and 
jostle of modern business. Its whole life has been a com- 
mercial one, and now that the long-deferred hope of a 
railway connecting it with the port of Buenaventura is rap- 
idly approaching realisation — some say that in six months 
the first train will run from Cali to Buenaventura — the price 
of real-estate is mounting rapidly, and everywhere there is 



QUITO TO BOGOTA 117 

the exuberant spirit of a boom town. It seems not a little 
appropriate that our own apartments are here in the "Grand 
Club," which, reflecting the restless commercial spirit of 
the town, is never still. 

The contrast with the peaceful house which was placed 
at our disposal in Popayan is very great. Popayan has the 
quiet and peace and dignity of an old university town where 
the scholar and poet can follow his thoughts undisturbed. 
In Popayan preparations had been made that we would at 
least spend a week in the city, and would then go on a 
round of visits to the large and delightful haciendas of the 
principal families, and the announcement that we must 
hurry was not considered altogether satisfactory. On the 
other hand, the statement here that we can allot only two 
days to Cali is accepted without protest, not that the in- 
habitants of this place are any less hospitable than those of 
Popayan, but merely that their point of view is different. 

The southernmost metropolis of Colombia, Pasto, is given 
in the 1912 census as having a population of 27,760 or 13 
more persons than Cali, but the comparison seemingly af- 
forded by the census is by no means an exact one, as the 
population given is that of the Municipio or smallest politi- 
cal division of which the town named is the seat of local 
Government and may include a very large percentage of 
rural population. Pasto impressed us as a much smaller 
city than Cali. Though much less commercial than Cali it 
is more so than Popayan, but lacks the charm of the old 
university atmosphere. 

Our departure from Pasto had been fixed for early on 
the morning of the 14th of July. We had been advised by 
friends at Quito that we should carry provisions from Pasto 



n8 QUITO TO BOGOTA 

for the seven days' journey to Popayan, as there would be 
little opportunity of replenishing our stores en route. Tele- 
grams were accordingly despatched stating the time we ex- 
pected to arrive at Pasto and asking that a supply of bread 
and cooked meat and chickens be prepared for us. When 
our schedule was altered, owing to longer stoppages than 
contemplated at interesting points, we telegraphed, giving 
the change in the date of our arrival and stating we would 
spend two days in the city, naturally expecting that the 
cooking of our provisions would be done while we were 
there. On our arrival we saw the individual who had been 
communicated with, and having asked him if everything 
would be ready for our start on the 14th, felt quite satis- 
fied with his answer. 

When, however, we came to start we found that the food 
had been cooked according to the original programme and 
that we were starting on a week's trip with perishable pro- 
visions already seven days old ! We hurried round the city 
in an attempt to secure tinned meats, but all we could ob- 
tain were three or four tins which had found their way 
here as samples! Fortunately the store of provisions we 
had brought from Quito was virtually untouched and our 
subsequent experience showed that some supplies could be 
obtained en route. 

Finally we got under way about noon, and notwithstand- 
ing the drenching rain, the Acting Governor, Sefior Angel 
Martinez Segura, and General Jimenez, the Commandant 
of the Forces, as well as several other gentlemen, insisted 
on escorting Lord Murray for the first few miles of the 
journey. Crossing the small stream called the Rio Pasto, 
which flows along the northwestern side of the city, we were 



QUITO TO BOGOTA 119 

soon across the little plain in which Pasto is situated, and 
began the steep ascent of the range which bounds this val- 
ley on the north. This is generally referred to as the Alto 
Aranda and rises some 2,000 feet above the city or over 
10,000 feet above sea-level. It was on these heights, as we 
were informed by one of our companions, that General 
Narino, who had advanced here after defeating the royalist 
forces at several points to the north, was captured, and he 
thus entered the city, which was afterwards to become the 
capital of the Department named in his honour, as a pris- 
oner of the forces of the King of Spain. 

We were much disappointed that the inclement weather 
prevented our having a good view of the Volcano of Pasto. 
Along the route which we had followed in coming from 
Ipiales, we did not at any point obtain a comprehensive view 
of this conical mountain, and not much of it is to be seen 
from the town of Pasto itself, but we were told that when 
we started on the route north we would, from these heights, 
obtain a view which would entirely satisfy us. Of the 
several elevations which have been determined for the sum- 
mit of this mountain, that obtained by Reiss and Stubel is 
accepted by the Colombian geographer Vergara as the most 
accurate. This gives to the peak an elevation of 13,986 
feet, and its summit thus towers 5,500 feet above Pasto. 
Although the top is from time to time covered with snow, 
its altitude is not sufficient to give it a permanent snow-cap. 
The last eruption of this volcano was in 1727, and it still 
discharges a little steam and gases. Even during the great 
earthquake of 1834, which virtually destroyed the city, it 
is reported to have shown no increase in activity. Cieza de 
Leon, writing in the middle of the XVIth century, describes 



120 QUITO TO BOGOTA 

it as "a. volcano which sends forth quantities of smoke at 
intervals, and in times past the natives say it threw out 
volleys of stones." 

The road for the first few miles from the city is not in a 
very good state of repair — it is old and unimproved — but 
beyond this point and extending to the Mayo River, which 
is the boundary line on the route we followed between the 
Departments of Narino and Cauca, the road is noteworthy 
both for the excellence of its construction and the engineer- 
ing skill with which it has been laid out. In many places 
the location is entirely new, and this is particularly true of 
the high ground, of a paramo nature, which extends from 
the heights above Pasto for a number of miles toward 
Buesaco. From the character of the vegetation on this 
elevated ground we should say that this locality is so situ- 
ated with reference to the prevailing winds that it receives 
a much greater rainfall than the town of Pasto. The sur- 
face is covered with a peaty vegetable muck two or three 
feet thick, and this thickness is independent of the slope of 
the hill. Here good trail-making is by no means an easy or 
simple task, but the energy and skill with which this sturdy 
independent mountain people of Narino have attacked the 
problem within the last few years is very much to their 
credit. The Department of Narino was only established in 
1904; it lapsed for a short time in the multiple divisions of 
the Republic made in 1908, but was re-established on a 
firmer footing in 1909. Its first care, as a separate political 
division of the country, was to improve the means of com- 
munication between its distant parts and Pasto, and be- 
tween Pasto and the port of Tumaco on the Pacific coast, 
improving and rebuilding in the last six years over 823 



QUITO TO BOGOTA 121 

kilometres of trail. We have already noted the important 
cart-road which is being built to connect the capital with the 
sea, and which, in much of its route, replaces only recently 
improved mule-roads, and we have had the opportunity of 
passing over the many notable improvements between Pasto 
and the northern boundary of the Department. 

This progressive spirit is all the more marked because of 
its contrast with that in the Department just to the north, 
of which Popayan is the capital. When we passed across 
the Rio Mayo into the Department of Cauca, we found we 
had left the region of improved roads — where the primitive 
ones had been relocated with modern engineering skill and, 
where necessary, had been blasted out of the walls of the 
gorges — and entered a region in which the ways of com- 
munication were but little more than "cattle-paths." 

At Popayan there are two rather pretentious cart-roads 
of modern construction, one leading northeast and the other 
southwest from the city, both extending about four miles 
and then ending abruptly and serving no particular pur- 
pose other than possibly satisfying the inhabitants of the 
capital city that they possess cart-roads. In contrast with 
this, the practical people of the south have directed their 
energy to the improvement of the more distant trails. The 
old roads near Pasto will be improved in time, but the people 
very correctly say that more practical results can be ob- 
tained by improving the worst portions of the roads first, 
as, for example, that leading over the rain-drenched, ele- 
vated ground immediately north of the city. 

In these mountains we were surprised to see great num- 
bers of large and beautiful tree-ferns. We had always sup- 
posed that the tree-fern was one of those survivals of past 



122 QUITO TO BOGOTA 

geologic time peculiar to Australia and New Zealand, and 
we would, on account of other preconceptions, have been 
less surprised at finding them in the lower warmer regions 
than in this situation 9,000 to 10,000 feet above sea-level. 
Here again we saw deposits of probably glacial origin simi- 
lar to those at the same altitude near Ipiales. 

The rain which had hampered our start was but a shower 
that passed away when there was no longer any possibility 
of our seeing the volcano, but still soon enough to enable 
us to fully enjoy this tree-fern forest with its innumerable 
pink ground-loving orchids. If there were ever any of the 
glorious orchids with which imagination clothes the Tropics, 
they have been collected from this long-established trail. 

Buesaco is a small village of a few hundred inhabitants 
20 kilometres from Pasto, and consists of one long, narrow 
street on the top of a ridge at an elevation of 6,560 feet. 
Arriving here just before nightfall, we applied to the Al- 
calde for a place to spend the night. The usual stopping 
place to which we were first conducted was not exactly a 
paragon of cleanliness, and we finally secured a building 
which was just being completed, and so had not been oc- 
cupied. In this we piled our belongings and opened and set 
up our folding beds on the great clay floor, while the ar- 
rieros drove the animals into a nearby field for the night. 

There are two routes usually followed between Pasto and 
Popayan; one keeps up along the slopes of the mountains 
through a number of settlements and is known as the route 
"Por los Pueblos," while the other passes through the Plain 
of the Patia, and is known as the way "Por el Valle del 
Patia." The former is the rougher and longer of the two, 
but is generally followed when the stage of the water in the 



QUITO TO BOGOTA 123 

Dos Rios, a tributary of the Patia, which must be crossed 
on the route through the Patia Plain, is such as to make 
crossing dangerous. Had we been going "through the vil- 
lages" we could have turned to the right at Buesaco the fol- 
lowing morning and proceeded toward El Tablon and La 
Cruz, but as we had been advised that we could make 
quicker time by La Union and the Patia, we turned to the 
left and followed along the excellent "Camino," which we 
soon saw stretching before us as a white-line of easy gradi- 
ent, chiselled out of the rugged side of the mountains, with 
the waters of the Juanambu in a narrow rugged mountain- 
enclosed valley 2,000 feet below. After a few miles the 
road begins the main descent to the river by a series of 
switch-backs blasted out of the face of the mountain. The 
old zigzag, which this new one replaces, would in much of 
the Andes through which we have passed have been con- 
sidered quite good enough, but it was very steep, and the 
progressive people of Narino finding that it could be im- 
proved, did so. 

The Juanambu is crossed by an excellent masonry bridge, 
4,000 feet above sea-level, built only a few years ago and 
called the "Puente de Socorro" or "Bridge of Socorro." 
Immediately above this bridge the river passes through a 
very narrow rock- walled gorge, perhaps half a mile long 
and several hundred feet deep, which would make an ex- 
cellent dam-site. Beyond the bridge the trail divides, one 
branch going up the valley in an easterly direction, and our 
arrieros told us that in going by the route through the vil- 
lages, on account of these new improvements, they would 
prefer to cross the Juanambu by the Puente de Socorro and 
take this trail up the valley which strikes the main way to 



124 QUITO TO BOGOTA 

La Cruz somewhat to the north of El Tablon. The other 
branch of this trail follows the valley westerly, and gradu- 
ally ascends the mountain on the north side until it reaches 
a little settlement called "Canada," where it turns north- 
ward into a tributary valley. The old bridge across the 
Juanambu was just below Canada, and so about four miles 
below the Puente de Socorro, and it was near this old bridge 
that General Narirlo defeated the royalist forces in 1814 
during his march on Pasto, which ended in his capture on 
the heights to the north of the city and his entering it as a 
prisoner in chains. 

From the turn of this road near Canada one has a very 
comprehensive view of the great grass-covered terraces, 
underlain by conglomerates composed of volcanic materials, 
which tower above the Juanambu on either side, and here, 
having an elevation of 5,000 feet, slope to the westward. 
Three miles beyond Canada is Berruecos, situated in a 
mountain valley, 7,300 feet above sea level. This is a much 
neater town and a more thriving-looking community than 
Buesaco, and it was in the nearby mountains that General 
Sucre was assassinated on the 4th of June, 1830, as he was 
leading the Colombian forces against Ecuador in connection 
with that country's claim to the western and southern part 
of Colombia after its secession from "La Grand Colombia." 
It was to Sucre more than to any other that Ecuador owed 
its independence, and the acknowledgment of gratitude to 
him found expression in later years in the name given to 
its monetary unit, the "sucre" (two shillings — about half 
a dollar), even as Venezuela recognised "The Liberator" 
in the name of its unit, the "bolivar" (ten pence or one franc 
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QUITO TO BOGOTA 125 

turns of fortune that General Sucre, who, on the 22nd of 
May, 1822, won the battle on the slopes of Pichincha, near 
Quito, which finally destroyed the Spanish power in Ecua- 
dor, should only eight years later be marching against that 
country at the head of a Colombian army (not because 
Ecuador had seceded, but because the southern and western 
part of Colombia had joined it), and should meet his death 
at the hands of an adherent of Ecuador. Such an incon- 
gruous happening is by no means peculiar to any one coun- 
try of the world, the gratitude of a nation is not always 
lasting, and in every nation and every section there are 
necessarily differing views as to what is best for the 
country. 

Beyond Berruecos we ascend the Montana de Berruecos, 
in which there is a little valley marked "Los Muertos" on 
a map prepared by the Colombian geographer, General 
Francisco Vergara, and this is probably the site of the 
death of General Sucre. The road then begins the descent 
to La Union, which is reached after passing over a spur 
called "Cerro Alpujarra." La Union is situated on the 
slopes of the mountain toward the River Mayo at an eleva- 
tion of something like 5,000 feet, and is a progressive and 
prosperous town of well-built two-storied houses, the centre 
of a thriving Panama hat industry ,and of a population, ac- 
cording to the 19 12 census, of 9,139 people, although we 
should say that the town itself certainly does not contain 
a quarter of that number. 

We reached the town about 6 o'clock in the evening of the 
1 6th of July, and would have arrived much earlier had we 
not lingered at the Bridge of Socorro to enjoy the rugged 
mountain scenery, and been tempted by a clear little moun- 



126 QUITO TO BOGOTA 

tain stream, with deep pools, to enjoy a bath in its cold and 
refreshing water. Lord Murray had a very finely woven 
Panama hat which he had purchased in a shop in Jermyn 
Street before leaving home, and when this was examined by 
the Prefecto, who was one of the Panama hat experts of the 
town, he unhesitatingly pronounced it, from the nature of 
the weaving and certain peculiarities of the fibre with which 
he was familiar, as undoubtedly a product of La Union, 
and it might be added that the retail value of this hat in 
London was not very different from the retail value of a 
hat of similar quality at the place of origin. 

La Union is the northernmost town of the Department 
of Narino along this route, and one must change his 
Narino currency here — or at Mercaderes, the corresponding 
town in the next Department, 20 miles distant — for the cur- 
rency of the rest of Colombia. The rate of exchange varies 
considerably between La Union and Mercaderes, and as we 
had been informed at Pasto that the rate at La Union was 
for the moment better, we exchanged the greater part of 
our money here. It was, however, necessary to retain some 
of our Narino silver, as our present lot of arrieros, being 
natives of Pasto, insisted that when we reached Popayan, 
the terminus of their route, our account with them must be 
paid in the silver current in Narino ! 

The money of the Colombia of to-day consists of notes 
and silver based on a gold coin of the weight and fineness 
of the English sovereign, which has a value of $5 gold or 
500 paper pesos. The paper peso is thus equivalent to one 
cent or a halfpenny. The paper money is commonly of the 
denominations of 50 pesos (50 cents), 100 pesos ($1) and 
1,000 pesos ($10), though we received a few of lower de- 



QUITO TO BOGOTA 127 

nominations, notably one peso, which are, however, no 
longer being issued. The origin of the present seemingly 
anomalous equivalent of the paper peso to the cent is found 
in the reckless issue of unsecured paper money, particularly 
during the Revolution which extended from 1898 to 1903. 
This was an era in which money was pre-eminently "made 
with a printing press," and the value of this fiat money 
rapidly dropped until at one time two and six-tenths (2.6) 
paper pesos were required to make the value of one cent. 
The legal equivalent of the paper was, however, finally fixed 
at the present value, and the work of the Junta de Amorti- 
zacion, and more particularly of its successor the Junta de 
Conversion, charged with the redemption of the paper and 
its exchange for new notes and for the new nickel and silver 
issues which are redeemable in gold, has established the new 
meaning of the word "peso paper" to be "one cent." 

The modern nickel coins of Colombia are "1 peso p/m." 
(1 cent), "2 pesos p/m." (2 cents) and "5 pesos p/m." (5 
cents), all bearing a head of liberty on which there is the 
almost indistinguishable word "Paz" (Peace). The silver 
pesos are of a fineness of 0.900, in which they differ from 
the baser coins of the immediately preceding issues (0.835 
and 0.666 fine), and have values of "diez centavos" (10 
cents), "veinte centavos" (20 cents) and "cinquenta cen- 
tavos" (50 cents). These new silver coins, being exchange- 
able for gold at their face value, do not circulate in Narino, 
where all coins pass for approximately their actual bullion 
value. 

What with exchanging money and the kind insistence of 
our hosts that we must have dejeuner, we did not get away 
from La Union until 12 o'clock on the 16th. The trail 



128 QUITO TO BOGOTA 

gradually descends to the Mayo, which is crossed by a pic- 
turesque old masonry bridge at a point where the stream 
emerges from a very narrow rock-gorge several hundred 
feet deep, cut in a hard conglomerate stratum. We man- 
aged to go a little way up this canyon along a ledge, and 
saw a small cataract in the stream and heard the noise of a 
much larger one which we presume was the "Salto del 
Mayo," which is described as a cataract with a fall of 65 
feet. 

The Mayo has been regarded by a number of writers as 
the "Ancas-mayu," or Blue River, of the early chroniclers. 
It, however, seems to us that the Ancas-mayu of these ac- 
counts is the stream now called Rio Carchi. Carchi means 
"limit" or "border," and forms the present international 
boundary between Colombia and Ecuador, and the ultimate 
origin of the peculiar location of the boundary between 
these two countries in the high mountain-parks rests on this 
obscure fact. The upper tributaries of the Rio Guaitara 
form with that stream a letter "T"; the stem part of the 
letter is the Guaitara, while the top is formed of the two 
streams which are to-day called the Carchi and Angasmayo. 
The important fact, however, which points to the identity 
of the Carchi with the Ancas-mayu of the history of the 
Incas is the statement of the old chroniclers that the Inca 
highway terminated on the north at the Ancas-mayu, and 
Cieza de Leon, who traversed this region in the first decade 
after the Spanish conquest, states that he found the termi- 
nus of this highway at the bridge of Rumichaca, between 
Ipiales, in the present Colombia, and Huaca, in what is 
to-day Ecuador. The first building of Inca workmanship 
which he observed was a ruined fort at this bridge, and he 



QUITO TO BOGOTA 129 

describes the Indian tribes north of the Carchi as without 
the Inca civilisation. 

Sarmiento de Gamboa's account, which is based on the 
sworn statements of the descendants of the Incas living at 
Cuzco in 1572, says that Huanya Capac, the Xlth Inca, 
"established his boundary pillars at the limit of the country 
he had conquered on the river called Ancas-mayu between 
Pasto and Quito, and that as a token of grandeur and as a 
memorial he placed certain golden staves on the pillars." 

There is no doubt that the forces of the Incas invaded the 
country north of the Carchi several times, and according to 
the record of Sarmiento, in one of these raids which was 
made after the establishment of the boundary pillars on the 
Ancas-mayu, their forces "reached a dry region where 
there was little water," from which it is clear that these in- 
vading forces starting from the modern Carchi passed be- 
yond the River Mayo into the dry plain of the Patia. From 
the Plain of the Patia they appear to have passed down the 
Patia to the sea, where it is said they secured rich spoils, 
emeralds, turquoises and mother-of-pearl. 

According to Sarmiento's account, Atahualpa was de- 
feated somewhat later, but before the death of his father, 
while on an incursion into the Pasto country. Had the 
Spanish conquest been delayed it is quite probable that the 
Incas would have consolidated their hold over the high 
region of the Tulcan-Tuquerres park and the region of the 
modern Pasto, but at the time of the conquest the recog- 
nised boundary of the Inca Kingdom would appear to have 
been the Carchi or "limit," which name became a synonym 
for the old name of Ancas-mayu. It is the feeling that the 
Mayo north of La Union represents a natural northern limit 



130 QUITO TO BOGOTA 

to this upland extending through Ecuador into southern 
Colombia, which the Incas did in fact to a large extent 
control, as well as the sound of the name which has led a 
number of Colombian writers to accept the Mayo as the 
equivalent of the Ancas-mayu of Inca History. 

Even as it was, the Rio Carchi boundary line included 
certain tribes of northern Ecuador, such as those of Huaca 
and Tusa, which were considered by Cieza de Leon as be- 
longing to the ethnologic group of the Pasto Indians. Ac- 
cording to his account the Incas were much disgusted with 
the lack of cleanliness of the Pasto tribes, and he relates the 
story that when the Inca was fixing the tribute to be paid by 
one of the tribes and they protested they had nothing to give, 
he laughingly replied that their tribute should be a basket- 
ful of lice which he thought they might easily collect! 
Thereafter he sent them some "sheep" (llamas) in order 
that they might improve their condition and clothing, and 
furnish to him a part of the offspring of the animals as a 
tribute. 

The Spaniards overran the country occupied by the King- 
dom of the Incas without much opposition. However, when 
they passed north of the Carchi, they met a more determined 
resistance and the slaughter of the natives in the Pasto 
region and more particularly in the Plains of the Patia, 
Popayan and Cali, was correspondingly greater. In the 
plains the Indians were almost completely destroyed and the 
lands depopulated. 

The River Mayo, which we crossed just north of La 
Union, forms at this point the boundary between the present 
departments of Narifio and Cauca, and the difference be- 
tween the state of the road development was soon evident. 



QUITO TO BOGOTA 131 

Ascending the slight rise from the river to the little group 
of buildings called Sombrerillos, we found ourselves on 
what was scarcely more than a sheep-path, and almost 
thought we had lost our way, but as we could see by the 
hoof-prints along the trail that our cargo-animals were still 
on the track we were following, we soon decided that the 
point at issue resolved itself simply into a difference in road 
development of the two Departments. 

The present use of the name "Department of Cauca" is 
somewhat confusing. Originally derived from the re- 
stricted use of "The Valley of the Cauca" (the plain of 
Cali), it was used for all of western Colombia and was 
by no means an inappropriate name, as it then included 
this important part of the Cauca River Valley as well as 
the headwaters of the stream. Of this great Department 
Popayan was the capital, but in the new divisions of to-day 
the old Department of Cauca is split into ten parts, one of 
which bears the name "Departmento del Valle del Cauca," 
with Cali as its capital, and another, with Popayan as its 
capital, retains the old name. The present Department of 
Cauca is quite as much in the valley of the Patia as in the 
drainage of the Cauca, and it extends across the mountains 
to the east into the drainage of the Caqueta on the one hand 
and the drainage of the Upper Magdalena on the other. 

From the little rise near Sombrerillos we got our first 
extensive view of the upper levels of the Plain of the Patia. 
The portion here visible has the aspect of a great alluvial- 
fan of gentle inclination originating in an opening in the 
mountains. Two Patia tributaries issue from this opening ; 
one, the modern Mayo, with a large volume of water, flows 
to the southwest, and the other, turning northerly, finally 



i 3 2 QUITO TO BOGOTA 

reaches the mouth of the Mayo after a roundabout journey 
of sixty miles, partly through the Patia. This flat fan must 
have originally extended, towards the southwest, to the 
east- west spur-range, 8,000 to 10,000 feet high, over which 
we passed between Berruecos and La Union, but this portion 
of the plain has been almost entirely destroyed by the 
erosion of the modern Mayo. It must likewise have ex- 
tended across the valley to the Western Andes, but to-day 
it is here separated from that chain by the deep, rather nar- 
row cut of the River Patia, which has trenched this plain- 
level to a depth of over 1,500 feet. The stream flowing 
northward from the gap, having less water, has cut a nar- 
rower trench, and the remnant of the alluvial fan stands 
to-day as the very extensive Mesa of Mercaderes, which is 
connected with the mountains only by the narrow neck at 
Sombrerillos. 

Near the opening from the mountains the deposits are 
naturally coarse, masses of conglomerate show on the sur- 
face in much of the area around Sombrerillos, the soil is 
thin and of little value, but as we go from the mountains 
the deposits become finer and are more suggestive of de- 
posits laid down in a body of water. This level portion has 
a mean elevation of about 3,500 feet, and is a great grazing- 
land covered with luxuriant grass. Occasional ridges of 
older deposits, for the most part metamorphic or igneous 
rock, stick through this valley-filling, but in the upper levels 
they are not of sufficient importance to affect the topo- 
graphic aspect of this as a great flat plain, trenched by 
streams. 

This level extends northward from Sombrerillos for 
about eighteen miles. It is then crossed by important 



QUITO TO BOGOTA 133 

streams from the east and northeast, and here there is a 
broken plains-region with an elevation of about 1,800 feet. 
For about twenty miles the upper plain-level is entirely- 
absent in the central part of the valley, though it probably 
will be found on the flanks of the mountains on either side. 
To the north of this depressed area of the crossing of the 
stream we climb at Bordo to a rolling plain, sometimes 
called "the Llanos of the Patia," which has the same mean 
elevation as the Mesa of Mercaderes, and extends north- 
ward for sixteen miles until interrupted by the Alto de San 
Francisco and succeeding hills representing the southern 
edges of the Plain of Popayan. 

Passing through Sombrerillos and out over the plain, we 
arrived about nightfall at the village of Mercaderes, which 
has a population of a few hundred. However, we pushed 
on, and as the night was clear, camped in the open without 
tents. The following morning, the 17th of July, we con- 
tinued along the upper level of the Plain for some miles and 
then descended by a series of terraces into the low-levels 
along the Patia. Here we were only 1,800 feet above sea- 
level, and it was so dry and hot that we found a plunge in 
the relatively cool waters of the Dios Rios, which we reached 
in the afternoon, very refreshing. 

Two rivers of considerable size, each with a multitude 
of tributaries, originate in the mountains to the east of the 
Plain of the Patia. These are the Rio San Jorge and the 
Rio Guachicono, the one coming from the southwest and 
the other from the northeast. They unite in the centre of 
the Plain of the Patia and their waters form a single stream 
called the "Dos Rios" (Two Rivers), which after a course 
of about four miles joins the Rio Patia. The crossing place 



134 QUITO TO BOGOTA 

of the Dos Rios (i,755 feet) is just below the juncture of 
the San Jorge and Guachicono, and as the stage of the water 
prevented fording, we with our saddles and all equipment 
were conveyed across the river in a great canoe made by 
hollowing out the trunk of an enormous tree. The canoe 
made several trips, and altogether an hour and a half was 
consumed in the crossing. The animals on account of the 
swiftness of the current and the depth of the water had 
some difficulty, but after a little encouragement all reached 
the northern bank. We camped for the night near a few 
negro huts, called Manguita, on a bluff overlooking the Rio 
Guachicono — a picturesque though virtually deserted spot. 
Cieza de Leon records that on the route between Popayan 
and Pasto there was a village which was "great and very 
populous in ancient times as well as when the Spaniards 
discovered it, and where the Indians lived in deep and lofty 
ravines." He says that the Spaniards called the place where 
this village was "El Pueblo de la Sal" — the Village of the 
Salt — and he described it as at a point where the valley of 
the Patia becomes very narrow and on the western side. 
This suggests the narrows where the Patia passes through 
the Western Andes, but the only two important salines be- 
tween Popayan and Pasto of which we have been able to 
learn are : ( I ) along the San Jorge and its tributaries near 
the edge of the mountains which border the Plain of the 
Patia on the east, and (2) along the Mayo south of Merca- 
deres. In both of these places there are "deep and lofty 
ravines," and since the Spanish conquest they have pro- 
duced a great many tons of salt. The salines of the San 
Jorge are the more important, and we are inclined to regard 
this as the site of "the great and populous city" of El Pueblo 




The plain of the Patia, with the Central Andes in the background. 
This is the Mesa de Mercaderes, the upper level of this plain 




The plain of Cali at its southern end, where it meets the northern 
dissected edge of the plain of Popayan 



PLAINS OF THE PATIA AND CALI 



QUITO TO BOGOTA 135 

de la Sal. We could see the rugged mountain slopes near 
this locality from our camp at Manguita. 

We continued our way northward on the 18th along the 
old and unimproved trail between the Rivers Patia and 
Guachicono. The settlement of Patia, 1,850 feet above sea- 
level, is a small collection of miserable structures with a 
population of less than 100 people. It is a locality which 
offers such irrigation possibilities that we expect this almost 
deserted section to become in time a thriving and populous 
centre. Beginning about two miles north of the present 
village of Patia and extending south for ten or twelve miles 
along the way we have come, there is a belt of land averag- 
ing about half a mile in width which lies between two very 
low ranges of hills. The range to the east is relatively con- 
tinuous, while that to the west is broken by valleys through 
which the drainage from this strip passes to the Patia River 
some miles distant at the foot of the western mountains. 
The soil seems deep and fertile and the slope of the land is 
such that if an irrigation ditch were carried along the foot 
of the hills to the east the water could be easily handled 
and there would be no danger of accumulation of alkalies. 
The water for such a project would come from the Guachi- 
cono River, which even at this, the dry season of the year, 
contains more than ample water for a project of this size. 
The canal would be led from the river along the hill-slopes 
which border it on this side, and would enter the part just 
described through a gap or short tunnel in the hills near the 
head of the little stream which flows past the village of 
Patia. 

We tried bathing in a little pool in this small stream near 
the settlement of Patia, but the water was abominably warm 



i 3 6 QUITO TO BOGOTA 

and rather stagnant. Seven miles beyond we climbed up a 
steep hill to the town of Bordo, which is slightly over 3,000 
feet above the sea and on the edge of the northern portion 
of the upper level of the Plain of the Patia. It is a pros- 
perous looking place of a few hundred inhabitants, with 
several little shops and a part white, part negro, population. 
It is not even mentioned in the 19 12 census of the Republic, 
and is doubtless included in the figures for the Municipio of 
Patia, 4,127, which probably includes all the population from 
the crest of the Western Andes to the foot of the Central 
Andes, and from the Dos Rios to the region of the Alto de 
San Francisco, over thirty miles north. A glance at the 
census might suggest that the village of Patia is an important 
place of several thousand inhabitants, instead of being an 
unimportant hamlet in the Municipio of that name which 
contains other settlements of more consequence. 

From Bordo we continued north over a rolling plain. At 
the collection of houses known as Aguasblancas, 3,247 feet 
above sea-level, according to the railway survey, we sought 
to buy some chickens and eggs, and were informed that they 
would not sell them unless we camped at that place for the 
night, which illustrates a feeling only too prevalent amongst 
certain classes throughout South America who feel that 
all products should be utilised at the point of production 
and not exported. Many a mining industry when it has 
reached the stage of exportation has experienced a local 
hostility to the shipping away of the ore. As it was only 
mid-afternoon and our cargo animals were well ahead, we 
were disinclined to stop and so plodded on until at sunset 
we reached a delightful grove on a level bit of land, with a 



QUITO TO BOGOTA 137 

turbulent mountain stream, the Rio Guachicono, on one side, 
and the Guavita, a little tributary, on the other. 

It was such a charming place that we decided to spend 
Saturday, the 19th, here in the hope that Mr. Ronald Parker 
would arrive and that we could hold our conference in this 
ideal spot. He left Bogota some time ago on the overland 
route to Quito, in order to take up his appointment there as 
a representative of S. Pearson & Son, Limited. He was 
directed to proceed overland en route, and was instructed 
to take the shortest way, which is up the Magdalena Valley 
to Neiva and then over the Central Andes to Popayan. He 
was reported to us by telegraph to have left Neiva on the 
7th, and had he not had unforeseen difficulties he would 
have reached Popayan in time to join us at this spot. 

After a delightful day in the little grove on the banks of 
the Guachicono, we resumed our journey northward on the 
20th of July. The river had undermined a portion of the 
trail, but after an exciting few moments on the sliding 
earth we reached the plain-level and soon passed two ordi- 
nary-looking houses, which bear the pretentious name of 
San Francisco. This settlement, 3,800 feet, lies at the 
southern edge of the Alto San Francisco, which, rising 
1,500 feet above it, represents the southern, much-eroded 
edge of the Plain of Popayan. The hill is of an oblong, 
conical shape, with valleys on each side, in either of which 
a road could be easily constructed that would avoid the 
steep ascent of the hill and its descent to the north, but fol- 
lowing the habit of the older trails of the country, which 
for the most part follow the crest of the ridges without any 
attempt at scientific location, our trail zigzagged up to the 
top, and then after a short time tumbled down into the de- 



1 38 QUITO TO BOGOTA 

pression to the north. Here there are a few houses at an 
elevation of about 4,800 feet, called "Los Arboles." 

We stopped some hours before nightfall on the banks of 
the Rio Esmito, which showed a number of attractive bath- 
ing pools, and setting up our folding beds in a little clump 
of bushes by the side of the trail, spent the night here. 
Someone said "snakes," so the cot of one of the party, with 
its great white mosquito-net canopy, was moved to the open 
ground on the very edge of the trail, where it proved so 
strange a sight that a train of cargo mules which came 
along about midnight became frightened and stampeded 
with a terrible din. However, they were soon rounded up 
and regrets expressed to their owners, who proceeded on 
their way quite pleased with the little present made to them. 

Beyond the Rio Esmito is the little village of Dolores 
which we passed early the next morning. It contains 40 to 
50 houses and represents a population of perhaps 300, while 
the Municipio of the same name contains 5,659 persons 
according to the census of 1912. Beyond this town we 
crossed the "Cuchilla de Dolores," a little ridge between two 
stream-valleys, cut into the Plain of Popayan by tributaries 
of the Patia. Towards noon we reached Timbio, twelve 
miles from Popayan, and here, at the very southern edge of 
the village, we met Mr. Parker. The Alcalde of the town 
being appealed to, we secured the only two-storied house in 
the place, just completed but not yet occupied. The second 
floor was one large room, reached by a stairway on the out- 
side of the building, and here we enjoyed the luxuries which 
Mr. Parker had brought from thoughtful friends at Bogota, 
including the British Minister, the French Minister and the 
American Charge d'Affaires. 



QUITO TO BOGOTA 139 

Mr. Parker crossed the Central Andes between Neiva and 
Popayan by a pass 11,550 feet high. He described the 
summit as a broad paramo, deserted and bleak, where his 
mules suffered greatly from lack of food, and he found 
them so exhausted when he reached Popayan that he was 
forced to rest for several days. It was a much thinner 
Parker than the one we had bid adieu to at Bogota some 
months ago. We propose to cross the Central Andes by 
the Quindio pass, between Cartago and Ibague, which is 
only 200 feet lower, and it is suggested that we will have 
a hard time of it. 

After luncheon on the following day, the 22nd of July, 
we proceeded toward Popayan, a foretaste of which we had 
already had in the delightfully picturesque old Spanish ma- 
sonry bridges across even the small streams. These are 
commonly of a single arch and the roadway rises sharply 
from the banks on either side to the centre of the bridge. 
These old bridges are wonderfully well made, so much so 
that they have defied time and neglect, and they stand to-day 
as striking monuments of old efficiency, often amid present- 
day neglect. Throughout the Department of Cauca, as well 
as many other parts of the Republic, the progress made be- 
fore the War of the Independence compares only too favour- 
ably with what has been accomplished since. These bridges, 
we are told, are found for many miles along the old roads 
leading from Popayan in all directions. 

Timbio is in the drainage basin of the Patia River, at an 
elevation of 5,900 feet, while Popayan is on a tributary of 
the Cauca, a few miles to the north at an elevation of 5,600 
feet, and as we rode along we were naturally on the alert 
to determine exactly when we crossed the interoceanic 



i 4 o QUITO TO BOGOTA 

divide, but were unable to do so. The slight rise north of 
Timbio is very flat-topped, and from anything we could see 
from the trail the Rio Timbio could quite as well have 
joined the Cauca as the Patia. The intervening elevation 
is much less striking than the "Cuchilla de Dolores," which 
lies between two tributaries of the Patia. 

After a time we saw in a slight depression in the plain 
the white walls and red roofs and church towers of Popayan, 
and not till then did we know that we had crossed the divide. 
Lord Murray was met some miles from the city by a great 
cavalcade of the important people of the district, among 
whom were Dr. Tomas C. de Mosquera, grandson and name- 
sake of the noted President and patriot, Dr. Guillermo Va- 
lencia, scion of an ancient family and one of the poets and 
writers of Colombia, Dr. Ulpiano Riascos, a brother-in-law 
of the Minister of Foreign Affairs in the present Govern- 
ment, and many others. We entered the city by the new cart 
road from the south over an old Spanish bridge of many 
arches, and were conducted to the charming house, on the 
Calle de la Ermita, which had been placed at our disposal. 

Popayan is situated on the banks of a little tributary of 
the Cauca, the Rio Molino, near the eastern side of a gently 
rolling grass-covered plain, which stretches away to the 
west for twenty miles until interrupted by the dark wall of 
the Western Andes, some of whose peaks rise 4,000 to 5,000 
feet above the plain. Only two or three miles to the north 
is the Rio Cauca itself, here a rather turbulent stream whose 
waters foam among the great boulders swept down from 
the mountains, while immediately to the east are the spurs 
of the Central Andes, that rise steeply to the regions of the 
eternal snow. From the environs of the city there is visible 




Bridge at the lower end of the gorge of the Mayo, near 
La Union, Colombia 




A typical example of the old bridges found for many miles around 

Popayan, the excellent construction of which is in marked contrast to 

the present condition of the connecting trails 



OLD SPANISH BRIDGES 



QUITO TO BOGOTA 141 

to the southeast the perfect cone of the extinct Volcano of 
Sotara, 14,500 feet, whose top is generally covered with 
snow. To the east is the high ridge of the Sierra Nevada 
de los Coconucos, over 13,000 feet high, with its four snow- 
capped peaks, Palatera, 15,300 feet, the two Coconucos, 
14,900 and 14,800, and the still smoking volcano of Purace, 
15,400 feet, while forty-five miles away to the northeast is 
the giant Huila, 18,250 feet, a dead volcano and one of the 
three mountains which, according to different authorities, 
is the highest in the country. Its cone towers over 6,000 
feet above the ordinary crest-line of the Central Andes, 
and its upper 3,000 feet is always covered with ice and 
snow. 

The last great eruption of Purace was in 1849, when it is 
said to have blown off over 500 feet of its summit. A lesser 
eruption on the 31st of August, 1878, scattered fine ashes 
over the city and surrounding country, but, notwithstanding 
the activity of the natural forces — for the city, according to 
Perez, suffered a hundred and twenty earthquake tremors in 
the century preceding 1862 — Popayan is a city of peace and 
quiet. It is singularly appropriate that it should number 
among its sons the scholar and scientist, Caldas, and that 
he should have conducted his experiments relative to the 
determination of altitudes by the variation in the tempera- 
ture of the boiling point of water in the nearby Paispamba, 
the hacienda of his family. It is also equally fitting that the 
city should centre around the Plaza de Caldas, and that 
there should here be a statue of this celebrated Colombian. 

In the principal Plaza at Pasto is the statue of Narifio, 
the warrior, and overlooking it from the facade of the 
cathedral there is still the crown and royal arms of Spain ; 



142 QUITO TO BOGOTA 

in Cali there is the Plaza of Independence, containing the 
park of Caicedo, recalling the first President of the first 
"Junta Republican" organised in that city and one of the 
first martyrs of the War of the Independence, but in 
Popayan is the Plaza and statue of the eminent student and 
investigator, Francisco Jose de Caldas! 

When the Spaniards first invaded the country they found 
on the site of the present town the capital city of an im- 
portant and warlike Indian tribe, who offered a very serious 
resistance to the march of the invaders. Tradition says that 
the palace of the Indian chief was on one of the two 1 rectan- 
gular hills which occur on the southern border of the pres- 
ent town. The name of this Indian tribe was Puben, 
according to the Popayan scholar, Antonio Cardenas, and 
it was owing to an incorrect pronunciation of this word by 
the southern Indians who accompanied the Conquistadores 
that it was recorded as Papyan, whence the name Popayan. 

According to the last census, the population of the Mu- 
nicipio of Popayan, which covers a very large area, is 
18,724, but only a part of this number is found within the 
city itself. It suffered severely in the earthquake of 1827, 
and many of the buildings still show the cracks produced 
by the earthquake of the 31st of January, 1906. The most 
notable buildings are the churches and the cloistered con- 
vents and monasteries built by the various religious orders. 
The latter have almost entirely been taken over for admin- 
istrative and educational purposes, which is true of such 
buildings at Bogota and generally throughout the Republic. 
The old monastery of San Francisco is now occupied by the 
Governor and civil administration of the Department, the 
old monastery of the Dominicans by the University of 



QUITO TO BOGOTA 143 

Cauca, the old convent of La Incarnation by the College 
for Young Women, the old convent of San Camilio by the 
"Mayor Seminario," while the old convent of El Carmen 
and the monastery of San Agustin are occupied by primary 
schools. 

Popayan is characteristically an old city, and although it 
suffered severely in the earthquake of 1827, it probably did 
not differ greatly a hundred years ago from what it is to-day. 
Here we saw again lingering representatives of the silver 
basins and ewers and goblets and plates — which were fairly 
common in the old Spanish days. A few are still to be 
found at other old cities like Quito, Pasto and Bogota, but 
most of them have long since gone into the melting pot. 
Popayan is the centre of a region with great agricultural 
and grazing possibilities, but is so isolated in the sense of 
modern means of communication that there is no prospect 
of its changing its character until the completion of a rail- 
way through the country, when the natural richness of the 
tributary region, now only partially developed, its tem- 
perate and healthy climate, the beauty of its surroundings 
and its abundant mountain water supply will undoubtedly 
make it a very prosperous and important city. 

There is one four-wheeled vehicle in Popayan, the great 
state coach belonging to Dr. Valencia, which has been 
brought to this place at what must have been a very con- 
siderable expenditure of energy. Dr. Valencia was most 
kind to Lord Murray and the members of his party; he had 
planned many excursions in the neighbourhood, including a 
stay at his country place, and it is one of the regrets of 
our journey that we were unable to accept his overflowing 
hospitality. When he learned that Lord Murray felt that 



144 QUITO TO BOGOTA 

he must continue his journey with only a short stay in 
Popayan, Dr. Valencia had insisted that it was only fitting 
that he should drive Lord Murray on the first stage of his 
journey in his carriage. Accordingly, at noon on the 24th of 
July, the time fixed for the departure, the great coach 
stopped before the door of our house with a liveried coach- 
man holding the reins of its two horses, who looked as if 
they did not particularly relish their unaccustomed task 
and would have infinitely preferred saddles. When we were 
all seated, the great coach moved off, with its attending 
cavalcade of horsemen, slowly over the rough cobble-stones 
and, amid the excitement of the populace, passed along the 
Plaza de Caldas, out the Calle del Humilladero and over the 
picturesque, many-arched bridge spanning the Rio Molino, 
to the new cart-road which leads northward from the city. 

The slow and steady progress of the carriage gave us a 
very delightful hour's chat with Dr. Valencia, who is an 
accomplished linguist, and we learned with much interest 
that he had a very wide and intimate knowledge of the 
English writers, and that his favourite authors were Scott 
and Kipling, complete sets of whose works he had in his 
library. 

The cart-road ends abruptly a short distance beyond 
another delightful many-arched bridge across the Cauca 
River, built in the XVIIIth century, and as the coach could 
proceed no further, we all mounted our saddle animals, and 
Doctors Valencia and de Mosquera rode with us some dis- 
tance. They expressed the hope that we would get a good 
view of the snow-capped mountains, but the clouds hung 
low and only for a few minutes did we get a glimpse of the 
white top of Purace. 



QUITO TO BOGOTA 145 

The road lies across a rolling plains-country, on the whole 
gradually ascending to a point between the Palace and 
Piendamo rivers which, according to the railway survey, 
is 100 feet higher than the divide between the waters of the 
Patia and Cauca, which we passed between Timbio and 
Popayan. At nightfall we reached the little settlement of 
Piendamo, where a family very kindly let us have the two 
rooms of their house, while they spent the night in some 
outbuilding. They were extremely interested in our folding 
beds and in the various tinned provisions, but thought that 
if they prepared us some coffee and eggs and local bread 
we would fare much better, with which we heartily agreed. 

After the meal we all lighted our pipes and the grand- 
mother of the household, after much hesitation, asked if 
she might not be permitted to inspect one of them. She had 
been told by the priest, she said, that in foreign countries 
the people smoked a very wicked drug called opium, but she 
had never before seen anyone who smoked it, or examined 
one of the pipes used for this purpose! Nearly everyone 
in Colombia smokes tobacco in the form of cigarettes, and 
the grandmother was herself smoking one at this time, but 
the pipe is never seen except in some of the larger places 
where it has been introduced by students returning from the 
United States or Europe. It is perhaps a mark of British 
conservatism that they should cling to the method which, 
borrowed from the Indians of North America, was the 
manner in which tobacco was first consumed in Europe. 

Our progress from Popayan to Piendamo, twenty-four 
miles in the afternoon, is a very good indication of the rela- 
tively level plains character of the country, as it was more 
than we had made in some full days on the more rugged 



146 QUITO TO BOGOTA 

trails. The following day we easily made the forty-two 
miles to Buenos Aires, which is on the very northern edge of 
the Plain of Pbpayan. North of Piendamo this plain is 
virtually unbroken along this route for twenty-five miles, 
when it is cut by the Ovejas, an important tributary of the 
Cauca which has trenched the plain to a depth of 1,500 
feet, and the descent into the Ovejas valley, like the ascent 
beyond, is very steep. The Cauca, which was virtually at 
the level of the plain when we crossed it near Popayan, is 
here in a steep-sided trench over 1,500 feet deep. The last 
fifteen miles of the way to Buenos Aires is rather broken, 
as it passes through the northern, dissected portion of the 
plain, and from this town, 3,800 feet, there is visible, just 
to the north, the great level Plain of Cali, here having an 
elevation of 3,500 feet. The most notable feature of the 
day's trip was the appearance of a remnant of a low cross- 
range just south of Buenos Aires, suggesting a former 
break across this depression between the Western and Cen- 
tral Andes and the possible dividing line in former times 
between the ancestral Patia and Cauca drainage systems. 

Between Piendamo and Buenos Aires is Morales, 5,450 
feet above sea-level and with several hundred inhabitants. 
It is the principal place in the extensive Municipio of this 
name, which has a population of 3,167. We reached here 
late in the forenoon and our train of pack animals with 
their peculiarly shaped loads was at once surrounded by an 
excited crowd, which melted quickly when they discovered 
we were not a travelling cinematographic troup planning to 
entertain the town. 

The strongest impression one carries away from a journey 
through these plains is that the small number of people re- 




The Plain of Popayan at Timbio in the drainage of the Rio Patia 




The plain of Popayan at Morales in the drainage of the Rio Cauca 



PLAIN OF POPAYAN 



QUITO TO BOGOTA 147 

siding in them is quite out of proportion to the character of 
the land and climate. One cannot help recalling the words 
of Cieza de Leon, written in the first decade after the 
Spanish conquest relative to this very section of country 
between the Ovejas and the Piendamo, over which we have 
just passed : "The whole of the plain was once well-peo- 
pled, but those whom the fury of the war have spared have 
retired from the road." These plains, including the famous 
Plain of Cali, are certainly supporting but a small fraction 
of the population they are capable of sustaining. The recent 
census report shows that, including the population of the 
cities and towns, there are but ten persons per square mile 
in the Plain of the Patia, but sixty in the Plain of Popayan, 
and but a hundred in the Plain of Cali. 

Arriving at Buenos Aires in the evening of the 25th of 
July, we sought for the house of Mr. Robert Lehman, to 
whom we carried a letter from Dr. Tomas de Mosquera. 
He was absent, but we were most cordially received by his 
clerk, who did everything possible for the comfort of our 
party. As we were paying the following morning for a 
number of articles purchased from the store, we saw scat- 
tered over the blotter and caught in the crevices of the desk 
a number of yellow grains, and suggesting that it looked 
like gold dust, we were informed that they purchased quite 
a little alluvial gold which negroes brought to them. While 
we were there two old negro women brought little bottles 
partially filled with gold dust, which they exchanged for 
articles from the shop. 

Our departure from Buenos Aires the next morning was 
delayed for some hours owing to difficulty in finding the 
village blacksmith to reset the shoes of some of our animals, 



148 QUITO TO BOGOTA 

but getting away about noon, we soon reached the Cauca 
River, here quite a stream, navigable for small steamboats 
for several months of the year, and crossed it in a small 
ferry-boat. This is the "Paso la Balsa," 3,542 feet above 
sea-level by the railway survey, and is the point where the 
Indians crossed the river in balsas and canoes even before 
the arrival of the Spaniards. Here the Cauca River leaves 
the great trench it has cut into the Plain of Popayan and 
enters the Plain of Cali. Toward the east there is a lobe of 
the Plain of Cali, which extends some ten or fifteen miles 
further south. In this southeastern extension is the im- 
portant town of Caloto, where much alluvial gold has been 
obtained. This place is reported to be a hundred feet lower 
than the Cauca River at the Paso la Balsa, from which we 
infer that the river is located on a broad alluvial fan. Even 
so the lands immediately along the Cauca in the southern 
portion of the plain are liable to overflow and are rather 
prone to be marshy. 

A rather low, eroded remnant of the Plain of Popayan 
extends along the west side of the river for some miles 
below the crossing, and ascending this, we passed through 
the little settlement of Cafiitas, 4,100 feet, and down into 
the bamboo-filled valley of the Rio Clara where, charmed 
with the clearness of the stream and the beauty of the great 
clumps of overhanging bamboos, we stopped for a plunge 
in- its waters. Here Lord Murray missed a very valuable 
signet-ring, which had long been in the possession of his 
family, and which he remembered to have taken off when 
we were bathing in the muddy waters of the Cauca at 
the Paso la Balsa. We accordingly decided to stop amid 
the bamboos on the Rio Clara for the night, while Jose 



QUITO TO BOGOTA 149 

returned to the crossing place to see if he could find the 
ring. 

We were told later that the place where we stopped was 
a snake infested hole, and we were also informed that be- 
cause of the snakes no one ever stopped along these roads 
except at a house. However, we saw no snakes, and I may 
add that in travels of many months through both the low- 
lands and uplands of northern South America, in this as 
well as other years, often in regions far from any settle- 
ments, I have never seen as many snakes as in certain thickly 
settled portions of the Mississippi valley. Snakes there 
are, of course, in northern South America, some very large 
ones, but they are only occasionally encountered and do not 
swarm everywhere in the manner that vivid imaginations 
have so often painted.* 

Jose returned at daylight the next morning with the ring 
which had been found by the people living there, who at 
once surrendered it to him when he asked for it. The 
Colombians are inclined to be rather sharp traders and 

* Others have likewise commented on the few snakes which one 
encounters in northern South America. In 1906 and 1907 Prof. Hiram 
Bingham journeyed overland from Caracas to Bogota, along the route 
followed by Bolivar in 1819, for much of the way over little travelled 
roads and through thinly settled regions, and his comment on a little 
coral snake seen along the road between Bogota and Honda is : "It 
seems incredible that this is only the second live snake I have seen in 
four months and a half. Judging by my own experience, New England 
appears to have far more than Venezuela and Colombia!" Scruggs 
says of an experience extending over twenty-seven years : "The popu- 
lar opinion is that these forests and jungles, and indeed those of trop- 
ical America generally, are full of poisonous snakes and reptiles; but 
although I have passed up and down the Magdalena more times than 
I can remember, and have spent whole weeks at a time in the wilds 
of the Andes, I never saw but one or two insignificant-looking snakes, 
and these were not of a venomous species." 






i 5 o QUITO TO BOGOTA 

dearly love to bargain, a characteristic which they share 
with a great many others we might mention, but their in- 
herent honesty in the matter of ordinary theft is very great. 
Mr. Frank Tracy, an Englishman, who has a large busi- 
ness in Medellin, where his firm are the shipping agents for 
a number of gold mines in that region, told us that the gold 
ingots were delivered to him by Indian carriers who packed 
from 50 to 100 pounds on their backs. Unarmed and un- 
attended, they carry this wealth for several days along 
routes, which they follow at stated intervals known to 
everyone in the country, but he did not know of a single 
instance of robbery. This is a very marked contrast with 
the conditions which have prevailed m some of the gold- 
mining districts in the United States and Australia, where 
bandits were considered a matter of course, and where gold 
was not moved without an armed escort, which on more 
than one occasion was attacked and robbed, generally with 
the loss of life. 

Immediately beyond the Rio Clara the trail enters the 
Plain of Cali, and at several places our animals experienced 
no little difficulty because of the boggy ground. Passing 
Jamundi, which is in the level plain at an elevation of 3,447 
feet, we continued northward until, finally ascending an 
almost imperceptible rise, we reached Cali about noon. 
Here we found a suite of rooms had been prepared for us 
at the "Gran Club," and never before had we had such a 
constant flow of callers. The leader of the Liberal Party, 
General Rafael Uribe Uribe,* one of the many able and 
versatile men Colombia has produced, had telegraphed to 

* Most unhappily and unfortunately assassinated on the steps of the 
Capitol in Bogota, within the past year. 



QUITO TO BOGOTA 151 

his friends in Cali, as had likewise the Minister of For- 
eign Affairs, Dr. Francisco Urrutia, Dr. Nemesio Camacho 
and many other friends at Bogota, as well as our good 
friends in Popayan, Dr. Valencia and Dr. Mosquera. 

The Municipal Council called on Lord Murray in the 
afternoon to discuss the projected water-supply, canalisa- 
tion and paving of the town, and the interest shown by 
this commercial community in the surveys which our firm 
is about to undertake at Buenaventura for the Colombian 
Government, decided Lord Murray to make a flying visit 
to that port. We accordingly plan to leave here for Buena- 
ventura to-morrow, the 29th of July. 



FIVE 
CALI AND BUENAVENTURA 



On Board the "Vapor Cabal" 
Rio Cauca, 

Departamento del Valle del Cauca, 

5th August, 1913. 

Cali is three miles from the Cauca River, and its situa- 
tion with respect to the master stream of the region is thus 
analogous to that of the other towns of the Plain of Cali, 
not one of which is on the banks of the Cauca. All are 
near the clear waters of tributary mountain streams and 
generally on the slightly elevated ground afforded by the 
alluvial- fans built into the plain by these streams. The 
stream at Cali is called on most maps the Rio Cali, but is 
more generally referred to by the inhabitants of the town 
as the "Rio Grande. " It rises in the Cordillera del Choco, 
or Western Andes, some fifteen or twenty miles southwest 
of the town, at an elevation of about 9,000 feet or 5,400 
feet above the city, and the narrow valley through which it 
flows is separated from the great Plain of Cali by a gradu- 
ally lowering mountain-spur, at the northern end of which 
is the city, partly on the last low hills, but to a greater 
degree on the slightly dissected alluvial-fan. A settlement 
was established here primarily because of the great expanse 
of fertile land with good climatic conditions, and second- 
arily because this stream gave an excellent supply of clear 
mountain water and its alluvial-fan furnished a slight ele- 
vation above the general plain level. It is historically only 
a chance happening that Cali found herself commanding 

155 



156 QUITO TO BOGOTA 

the easiest route across the Western Andes to the harbour 
of Buenaventura, the existence of which was not even 
known to the Spaniards at the time of the foundation of 
Cali. 

We were much impressed with the commercial activity 
of the town of to-day, whose importance will be increased 
by the completion of the railway from Buenaventura and 
the construction of suitable harbour facilities at that port. 
It has the usual Spanish- American type of architecture, and 
appears a town of about 15,000 to 20,000 inhabitants. Like 
Popayan, though to a lesser degree, it has suffered from 
earthquakes, the most serious of which occurred in 1765, 
others of lesser importance occurring in 1885 and 1906. 
Much English and French is spoken, and many of its busi- 
ness men have been educated in the United States. The 
town possesses electric light derived from a hydro-electric 
plant on the "Rio Grande," and a tramway connecting it 
with the Cauca River. In the city there is an old stone 
bridge across the "Rio Grande," and we were not surprised 
to learn that it had been constructed during the time of 
the Vice-Royalty. There is, also, a modern bridge, the 
Puente de Santa Rosa, a mile or two up the stream. 

We crossed the old Spanish bridge on the morning of 
Tuesday, the 29th of July, and turning to the left on our 
way to Buenaventura continued for some miles up the 
river. Along the banks there were many people washing 
clothes by the usual Colombian method of pounding them 
on stones, and notwithstanding it was early in the forenoon, 
there were many bathing in its waters. The inhabitants of 
the Plain of Cali are very fond of the water and their delight 
in open air bathing is one of their dominant characteristics. 



QUITO TO BOGOTA 157 

During our little stay in Cali we saw this stream on several 
occasions at different points above the city, and always 
found it filled with people of all classes. 

In many of the larger haciendas there are well-constructed 
stone pools fed by little rivulets diverted from the mountain 
streams, and in "Maria," that masterful picture of the life 
of the "Cauca Valley," by Jorge Isaacs, there is this descrip- 
tion of such a pool : "Somewhat later it was told me that 
my bath was ready, and I went to enjoy it. A thick and 
leafy orange tree, loaded with ripe fruit, formed a pavilion 
above the broad tank of polished stone, roses were floating 
on its water; it was an oriental bath, perfumed with the 
flowers which Maria had gathered in the morning." 

After a time the trail leaves the bank of the river and 
begins to climb the mountains along a spur between the 
"Rio Grande" and another small mountain valley which 
opens into the plain just to the north of Cali. The gradient 
is easy and the construction of a cart-road along this part 
of the route would be a relatively simple matter. This spur 
of the mountains, as well as the whole of the western slope 
of the range which is visible from it, is free of trees but 
covered with grass, emphasising the temperate character 
of the rainfall in this basin between the Western and Cen- 
tral Andes. 

Just on the eastern side of the crest of the range we 
passed through San Antonio, the health resort of Cali, which 
consists of a collection of summer cottages occupied by the 
families of the merchants of the city during the two dry 
seasons of the year and now filled with people. San 
Antonio is only four miles from Cali in a straight line, 
though the distance by the trail is much greater, and as it 



158 QUITO TO BOGOTA 

is 3,000 feet above the city, is much cooler. Its neighbour- 
ing eminences command magnificent views of the plain, 
with the contorted thread of the Cauca running through it, 
and of the Central Andes beyond, with its several snow- 
capped peaks, — the giant Huila and the lesser Barragan or 
Santa Catalina (15,560 feet) are often visible, and occa- 
sionally there is a glimpse of Purace and its associates far 
to the south and of Tolima and its sister peaks far to the 
north. 

Immediately beyond San Antonio we crossed the crest 
of the mountains through a pass whose elevation is only 
6,620 feet, and plunged at once into a dense moisture-drip- 
ping tropical forest. These western slopes of the range 
catch the winds from the ocean and forcing them to ascend, 
wring from them part of their moisture, and it is for this 
reason that there is a low rainfall and lack of tropical for- 
est on the eastern slope of the range up which we have just 
come. The descent is steep and we soon pass out of this 
forest belt into a north-south valley, which in the char- 
acter of its vegetation is but a miniature of the great plain 
region we have recently left — the Western Andes is. here 
locally composed of two parallel chains, the western one not 
quite so high as the eastern. The valley between is thus 
in exactly the same position as the main plain with respect 
to the winds from the Pacific ; the range to the west catches 
the rains and the winds float over the intervening valley 
till they strike the higher range to the east, where they 
again yield their moisture and produce the forest belt 
through which we have just passed. 

Singularly enough, it was this miniature of the Patia- 
Popayan-Cali valley, and not, as generally stated, the valley 



QUITO TO BOGOTA 159 

in which the present "Rio Grande" flows, which supplied 
the name that is now spelled Cali. Cieza de Leon says, 
"The valley of Lile is five leagues from the city to the 
west; it is a small valley closed in by mountains, where 
there are very many villages of Indians who are docile, a 
simple people void of malice, who live in large houses, and 
through the centre of the valley a river flows." The valley, 
according to his account, was filled with fields of maize and 
yucca, and there were many fruit trees. 

The stream in this valley to-day, called the Dagua, after 
flowing to the north, turns abruptly to the west and passes 
through the western chain in a great gorge known as the 
Boqueron. This valley is now rather sparsely populated; 
there is first the little group of buildings called Campoalegre 
— "joyful country" — and then El Carmen, twenty-five kil- 
ometres, or five leagues from Cali, and 4,900 feet above 
the sea. This is a place of 100 or 200 people, with several 
shops and a church, and here we stopped for luncheon at 
a little house bearing a pretentious sign which informed 
travellers that it was the "Hotel del Valle del Cauca." 
Lord Murray was delighted to find the lady of the house 
using a Singer sewing machine which, by the mark, he 
recognised as having been made at the Singer factory on 
the Clyde, and not in the United States. We then con- 
tinued nine miles to the new railway town of Caldas, which 
is on the western bank of the Dagua and in the same com- 
paratively treeless valley. Here, by the instructions of the 
President of the Board of the Railway Company, we were 
most hospitably received and entertained at the house of the 
Superintendent of the line, Dr. Juan de la R. Barrios. 

The following morning (July 30th) we were conveyed 



160 QUITO TO BOGOTA 

in a special train, with our saddle animals, a distance of 
14 kilometres to Espinal, which consists of a few houses 
situated just above where the Dagua turns to the west and 
passes through the mountains. The railway track through 
this gorge was destroyed by the great freshet of October 
last, when the Dagua rose 15 feet, or 5 feet above any 
previous flood stage. The railway had been constructed 
only a little above the old high-water mark and the swollen 
waters carried down a great mass of timber from the con- 
struction work above, which, lodging against the bridges, 
formed temporary blockades under the pressure of which 
all the bridges in the gorge, as well as several below it, 
were carried away, together with much of the connecting 
track. The great force of the freshet is indicated by the 
fact that one of the bridges weighing ninety tons was car- 
ried bodily about half a mile down the stream, where it is 
still to be seen partially buried in the river gravels. 

This portion of the railway is now being rebuilt, but 
it will be some months before trains will be able to again 
traverse it. We accordingly mounted our animals at 
Espinal, which is about 2,500 feet above sea-level, and rid- 
ing a little way through cacti and other vegetation of arid 
lands, soon climbed to the excellent and well-travelled mule- 
road along which for the last fifty years most of the 
exports and imports of Western Colombia have passed. 
The portion of trail through the gorge is on the south 
bank of the river and is blasted out of the rock face of the 
mountain, high above the foaming waters. The mountains 
here are covered with a dense forest growth, for we are 
now out of the rain-shadow and in the belt of heavy precipi- 
tation, which extends to the Pacific Coast. The main 



QUITO TO BOGOTA 161 

gorge is some 8 miles long, and we very much enjoyed our 
ride through it. From a scenic standpoint, we were glad 
that we were on our faithful animals, and not on a hurry- 
ing railway train. 

The line which is being reconstructed through the gorge 
is still perilously close to the water level. Its location 
differs only in minor particulars from the old grade which 
was wrecked by the flood, and it seems to us that a recur- 
rence of this disaster is invited, for even the height of the 
last flood cannot be taken as indicating the highest point 
to which flood waters will rise in a narrow gorge of this 
description. A higher location would, however, increase 
both the cost and the date of completion to Cali, and the 
outlay in time and money on this line has already been very 
great. 

The gorge as a marked topographic feature ends where 
the Rio Pepita joins the Dagua. Here is the old settlement 
of Juntas and across the river the new railway town of 
Cisneros, named in honour of Senor Francisco Xavier Cis- 
neros, a Cuban engineer, who is still the outstanding figure 
in the history of Colombian railway enterprise and to whom 
the inception of this line, as well as the lines to Medellin 
and Bogota, is due. Juntas (1,100 feet) was formerly a 
place of considerable commercial importance, as it marked 
the upper limit on the Dagua which was navigable in canoes. 
Before 1878 all imports were carried from Buenaventura by 
water to this point, where they were loaded on mules for 
conveyance to the interior. This strip is most graphically 
described in the later pages of "Maria." The first trails 
were very steep and led over the mountains, and it was 
only after a time that the present well-graded way was 



162 QUITO TO BOGOTA 

blasted out of the sides of the Dagua Gorge. Occasionally, 
when the water was very low, the more venturesome are 
reported to have followed the bed of the stream itself, but 
this was very dangerous and seldom resorted to. 

Below Cisneros there are still elevations of some little 
height on both sides of the river, and the trail, here on the 
north bank, has in many places been blasted out of the 
rock. Travel along this portion, as well as through the 
gorge, is rather slow since the trail is filled with trains of 
mules carrying goods, and in some places it is not safe to 
pass owing to the narrowness of the track and the precipi- 
tous nature of the descent to the river below. To warn 
others of their approach the mule-train drivers carry cow- 
horns fashioned like the old-time horns used on the Scot- 
tish borders, which they sound constantly. On hearing 
the horn one must perforce seek a wide part of the trail and 
wait until the whole cargo-train has passed by. 

Four miles below Cisneros we stopped at the division 
headquarters of the railway engineers, where luncheon had 
been prepared for us. After two hours' ride we forded 
the Dagua to the railway station called "Valor." Here our 
animals were sent back to feed in the railway company's 
pastures while we continued in a special train to Buena- 
ventura. This was the first passenger train to go over the 
new track between Valor and San Jose since the destruc- 
tive flood of October, 19 12. At San Jose, which is on the 
north bank of the river, the station and all of the surround- 
ing ground was piled high with goods and the earth had 
been cut into a veritable sea of mud by the hoofs of the 
mules delivering the exports of the region to this temporary 
railway terminus and then loading goods for the interior. 



QUITO TO BOGOTA 163 

The whole region below Cisneros, with its river and 
luxuriant tropical vegetation, is very picturesque and of an 
entirely different character from the mountains through 
which we travelled from Quito to the beginning of the 
Dagua gorge. We are now only a few hundred feet above 
sea-level and find the heat and humidity exhausting after 
our many weeks in the mountains. The very wet character 
of this coastal region is indicated by the rainfall at Buena- 
ventura, which, we were told, is between 350 and 400 inches 
per year. The distribution of the rainfall on the western 
coast of South America presents several interesting features. 
All that portion of Colombia which lies between the crest 
of the Western Andes and the sea, except occasional little 
valleys like that of the upper Dagua, which are in the rain- 
shadows of local irregularities of the range, is deluged with 
rain. The present population of this section of Colombia, 
according to the 19 12 census, is five persons per square 
mile, including the Indians and the inhabitants of the towns. 
It does not offer many attractions for agricultural develop- 
ment, and it is not a region in which we ever expect to 
see a dense population ; whatever increase it enjoys will be 
largely due to mining developments. 

In northern Ecuador the same conditions of rainfall pre- 
vail between the coast and the western crest of the moun- 
tains; but to the south of the Gallapagos Islands the rain- 
fall grows rapidly less; toward Santa Elena desert condi- 
tions prevail, while further to the south are the great des- 
erts of the coastal region of Peru and northern Chile. The 
lack of rainfall on the southern portion of the Pacific Coast 
of South America appears to be due to the precipitation of 
the moisture from the western winds into the ocean before 



164 QUITO TO BOGOTA 

they reach the land, owing to the chilling effect of the cold 
ocean current which, originating in the Antarctic, flows 
north along the coast of Chili until, deflected to the west by 
the sharp northwest turn of the coast-line along Peru, it 
passes out to sea immediately to the south of the Gallapagos 
Islands. 

Below San Jose we cross the Dagua twice and, entering 
on the old line constructed by Cisneros, pass the settlement 
of Cordoba, which is about eleven miles from Buenaven- 
tura. The railway here leaves the river and climbs a low 
ridge, the highest point of which is only a little over 300 
feet above sea-level, and follows it to the swamps near 
Buenaventura and then over the bridge to the little hilly 
island on which the town is situated. This portion of the 
line, through a country offering no engineering difficulties 
of importance, has gradients of 4 to 5 per cent and very 
sharp curves. The track has very carefully followed the 
crooked crest-line of the ridge apparently for the reason 
that such a location gives the greatest mileage and the low- 
est initial cost per unit constructed. The construction of 
a good line with low gradients and gentle curves would ap- 
parently be a relatively simple matter. 

Reaching Buenaventura about sunset, we were met by a 
representative of Mr. D. C. Stapleton and conducted to the 
house of the Anglo-Colombian Development Syndicate. 
This is a company in which the three well-known British 
mining houses, the Consolidated Goldfields of South Africa, 
the Central Mining and Investment Corporation, and John- 
son Matthey & Company, are interested. It holds a very 
large area of rich alluvial ground in the Choco district, 
some 60 miles to the north of Buenaventura, containing 









The forest-covered western slope of the Western Cordillera, 
showing trail and railway in Dagua Gorge 




The grass-covered eastern slope of the same range, showing mountain 
trail fifteen miles north of Cali 



EFFECT OF DIFFERING RAINFALL ON OPPOSITE SLOPES OF THE SAME RANGE 



QUITO TO BOGOTA 165 

gold and platinum, which under Mr. Stapleton's directions 
has been very carefully tested in the last few years. As 
these results are satisfactory, the company is now preparing 
to energetically push the development of the property on 
a large scale. Mr. Stapleton is an American who, first 
interested in Ecuador, turned his attention to Colombia, 
and this country will remember him not only for his over- 
flowing generosity to the Church, but for his persistent and 
successful endeavours for its development, and his staunch 
and untiring friendship for Colombia and the Colombians. 
It was in this very Choco district that platinum was first 
discovered, and as its value was then unknown, it was re- 
garded by the Spaniards as worse than worthless because, 
owing to its similar specific gravity, it interfered with their 
getting clean gold. In the beginning it was thrown away. 
In 1824 Mollien reports that its selling price at this locality 
was 12 to 16 shillings a pound. Its present value is some- 
thing over £8 per ounce, and it therefore affords but another 
example, of which there are many in modern industrial 
development, of the refuse and waste product of yesterday 
becoming the treasure of to-day. On account of its resem- 
blance to silver ("Plata") they called it the "Platina de 
Pinto" — the little silver of Pinto — from the Rio Pinto, a 
small stream in the Choco, where it was most troublesome 
because of its abundance. A few grains from this locality 
reached Sir William Watson, the English physicist, in 1741, 
by way of Jamaica, and he was the first to recognise it as 
a new element and to describe it as such in 1750. Its com- 
mercial worth was, however, not recognised before min- 
ing in the Choco was virtually abandoned because of the 
freeing of the slaves. Platinum was discovered in Russia 



166 QUITO TO BOGOTA 

in 1822 and 95 per cent of the world's supply has come 
from this source. The greater part of the remainder has 
come from the Choco not as the result of any systematic 
work, but merely the little quantities brought in by negroes 
from time to time. Speaking not only of the Choco, but 
of all of Colombia, which he knows very intimately, Mr. 
Stapleton expressed the opinion that the still undeveloped 
mineral wealth of Colombia makes of it "the richest sec- 
tion of the globe now above water." 

Owing to the kindness of the railway authorities, our 
train was stopped near Mr. Stapleton's house, and we only 
learned afterwards that the Government officials and other 
notabilities had assembled at the station to deliver an ad- 
dress of welcome. They later called on Lord Murray at 
Mr. Stapleton's house and we spent the evening and the 
greater part of the following morning (July 31st) in offi- 
cial work and meeting various people, many of whom speak 
English. 

Buenaventura is situated on an island called "Cascajal," 
which is about two miles long and a little over a mile broad, 
one fourth of which is mangrove swamp and the remainder 
rolling hills composed of poor, gravelly clay, which rise 40 
to 50 feet above high-water mark. This island is in a 
direct line with the opening of Buenaventura Bay, and a 
storm coming from a little south of west would sweep 
directly on the town without impediment. Such storms, we 
are informed, are unknown; they must certainly be very 
unusual, as Mr. Burrows, the English local manager of 
the American Cable Company, who has been here seven 
years, told us that he had never known one to occur. The 
island is over seven miles from the mouth of the bay and 



QUITO TO BOGOTA 167 

is therefore fully protected from storms from any other 
direction. 

Thanks to its location on an island, where it receives 
the sea breezes, and to its rolling hill-land, it is capable, 
with the reclamation of the mangrove swamp and other 
low areas which would possibly form part of any compre- 
hensive harbour improvement, of being made a very healthy 
"and attractive city at the head of a broad forest-encircled 
bay which will not fail to favourably impress the incom- 
ing ocean traveller who, when the railway is completed, 
will find the 100-mile trip up the tropical lowland of the 
Dagua, through the rock-walled gorge, and over the crest 
of the Western Andes into the great and fertile garden of 
the Plain of Cali, an interesting experience seldom equalled 
anywhere, in novelty and diversity of scenery for so short 
a distance. 

The town of to-day is a collection of two-storied, bal- 
conied, wooden and corrugated-iron houses and native 
palm-thatched huts, situated in a horseshoe of hills on the 
northwestern end of the island. It is neither better nor 
worse than many other tropical coast towns. It is a town 
of perhaps 1,500 inhabitants and is the principal settlement 
of a Municipio which, according to the 19 12 census, has a 
population of 6,476. The main buildings are on a flat 
piece of ground which is partially covered by water at high 
tide, and as all the refuse of this portion of the town is 
dumped directly into this low place and the drainage from 
the other houses on the neighbouring hills flows into it, the 
general sanitary conditions of the town of to-day may be 
well imagined. This condition of affairs is, however, easily 
remediable, as it will be in time. However, such are the 



1 68 QUITO TO BOGOTA 

natural geographic advantages of the port that its com- 
merce has increased 150 per cent in the last four years. The 
town is reported to have suffered a severe earthquake on 
the 31st of January, 1906, followed by twenty-four minor 
oscillations, which caused a tidal wave about 30 feet high, 
broke the cable line and caused loss of life. 

The first white man to land on the shores of the Bay 
of Buenaventura or the "Bahia de la Cruz" was Pascual de 
Andagoya, who had previously explored a portion of the 
coast south of Panama and had in 1537 been appointed 
Governor of the country along the Pacific, between San 
Miguel Bay, in what is to-day Panama, and the mouth of 
the San Juan River. Setting out from Panama on the 15th 
of February, 1540, to continue the exploration of his terri- 
tory, he reached the Bahia de la Cruz, which happened to 
be outside of his grant ; but this did not trouble him, as the 
policy of many of the early Spanish Conquistadores ap- 
pears to have been to claim everything in sight — and a little 
more. Here he found an Indian trail leading down to the 
shore along which the Indians came from the interior for 
salt. This he followed, at first resisted by the Indians, but 
finally, by kind and just treatment, he won their friend- 
ship, and after an arduous journey, completed on the 10th 
of May, 1540, he reached the settlement which he calls 
Cali or Lili, and describes as a place containing thirty 
Spaniards. He then proceeded to Popayan, where, claim- 
ing that all this region was within his San Juan grant, he 
assumed the administration of all of the Province of Popa- 
yan. In this he continued for the few months which pre- 
ceded the return of Belalcazar, by whom he was arrested 
and sent a prisoner to Spain. 



QUITO TO BOGOTA 169 

Andagoya was thus the first European to pass from 
Buenaventura over the mountains to Cali and to show to 
the inhabitants of that place how advantageously they were 
situated with reference to this harbour on the Pacific. This 
newly discovered route at once became the established one 
between these mountain valleys and the Pacific Coast, and 
we find that within the following year Belalcazar, on his 
return from his successful mission to Spain, praying that 
he should be made Governor of. the great territory he had 
conquered, went from Panama to Buenaventura and thence 
to Cali and Popayan. 

The town of Buenaventura was founded, under Anda- 
goya's direction, by Juan Ladrillo in the summer of 1540 
at a point, which, from certain physical features given in 
the accounts of Andagoya and Cieza de Leon, appears to 
have been on the present site — it could not, in any event, 
have been more than a mile away. Buenaventura thus rep- 
resents the first Spanish settlement on the Pacific Coast of 
Colombia. There was nothing at the locality to justify a 
town, except as a seaport for the commerce of the western 
part of Colombia, and on the downfall of Andagoya the 
Town Council of Cali arranged that six or seven citizens 
should always reside at the port to receive goods. Even 
to-day the principal citizens of Buenaventura are rather 
in the nature of temporary inhabitants whose families live 
in Cali or neighbouring parts of "The Valley." There are, 
therefore, at Buenaventura none of the permanent buildings 
which one finds at other old Spanish coast settlements like 
Santa Marta and Cartagena and Panama. Even the church 
at Buenaventura is of wood. 

This old port has no patriotic sons to claim for her an 



170 QUITO TO BOGOTA 

ancient lineage. The hearts of her important people are 
in "The Valley" — they esteem themselves not sons of 
Buenaventura, but sons of Cali, and so we find in several of 
the Colombian publications, as well as in the 19 12 census, 
the statement that Buenaventura was only founded in 1821. 
Cali's patriotic sons claim for her the date of the found- 
ing of an earlier settlement, 14 miles away, and the date 
given in the census for another old city rests on a similar 
basis, only here the discrepancy is over 50 years, while the 
date assumed by many Colombian towns is the year they 
were first entered by the Spaniards rather than the date 
of the establishment of a Spanish settlement, and in one 
case the date of such a town, in the region of Bogota, is 
given as the year preceding that in which Quesada, the 
first Spaniard to reach this locality, left Santa Marta ! 

Buenaventura has in the past been only a place of land- 
ing and departure — a mere appendage of Cali. The travel- 
ler, Gaspard Mollien, after commenting on the city which 
the natural advantages of the location would lead one to 
expect, describes the Buenaventura of 1823 as consisting 
"of a dozen huts inhabited by negroes, a barracks with 
eleven soldiers, a battery of three guns, and the residence 
of the Governor, built like the custom house, of straw and 
bamboo, on a small island covered with grass, brambles, 
mud, scorpions and toads." 

There is a frog story connected with this region, and 
more particularly with the Choco, which was a favourite 
one with the early travellers. Captain Cochrane in his 
"Journal of a Residence and Travels in Colombia," pub- 
lished in 1825, gives the following account of the source 
of the arrow-poison used by the Indian tribes of the West- 



QUITO TO BOGOTA 171 

ern Coast. "The poison is obtained from a small harm- 
less frog, called 'rana de veneno,' about three inches long, 
yellow on the back, with very large black eyes. It is only 
to be found (so my host informed me) in this place, and 
another, called Pelmar. Those who use this poison catch 
the frogs in the woods and confine them in a hollow cane, 
where they regularly feed them until they want the poison, 
when they take out one of the unfortunate reptiles and 
pass a piece of pointed wood down his throat and out at 
one of his legs. This torture makes the poor frog perspire 
very much, especially on the back, which becomes covered 
with white froth; this is the most powerful poison that he 
yields, and in this they dip or roll the points of their arrows, 
which will preserve their destructive power for a year. 
Afterwards, below this white substance, appears a yellow 
oil, which is carefully scraped off, and retains its deadly 
influence for four or six months, according to the goodness 
(as they say) of the frog. By this means, from one frog 
sufficient poison is obtained for about fifty arrows." 

Colonel J. P. Hamilton, who was in Colombia in 1824 
and 1825, as chief of the Commission sent by the British 
Government to the newly established Republic, gives a 
similar account in his "Travels Through the Interior Prov- 
inces of Colombia," published shortly after. His inform- 
ant was Tomas C. Mosquera, afterwards President of the 
Republic, but then Governor of the Province of Buenaven- 
tura. In this account the "small green frog" is given as 
occurring in both the provinces of Buenaventura and 
Choco, and it is stated that the frog is forced to yield his 
poison by placing him near a small fire. The poison is de- 
scribed as so virulent that "the jaguar or panther whose 



172 QUITO TO BOGOTA 

blood is touched by one of the poisoned arrows soon be- 
comes convulsed and dies." 

Naturally the idea of a small green frog, entirely harm- 
less, as found in its native haunts, exuding from its skin 
a deadly poison when tortured, seemed so strange and im- 
possible that subsequent writers have been inclined to dis- 
miss it as only a "traveller's tale," and to conclude that the 
poison was a vegetable one whose real origin the Indians 
sought to conceal by this marvellous tale. 

Science has, however, recently shown that these travel- 
lers' tales are fact and not fiction. In 191 1 Professor John 
J. Abel, of Johns Hopkins Medical School, announced the 
results of his investigations of "Poisons of the Tropical 
Toad — Bufo agua." This batrachian is reported by Dr. 
Abel to be the source of the arrow-poison used by the 
aborigines of the Upper Amazon, who make "from the 
creamy secretion that exudes from its skin glands, when 
it is irritated or overheated, a poison so powerful that it 
kills in a few moments large game such as the stag or 
jaguar." He found that the secretion, which is yielded 
from the skin when the animal is tortured, contains very 
large amounts of epinephrin, as well as a substance isolated 
by him and named bufagin, which is closely related to the 
bufotcdin, that has only recently been obtained in crystal- 
line form from the skin of the common European toad, 
and is the principle which gives to powdered toad-skin its 
curative power in cases of dropsy. Powdered toad-skin 
was an accepted remedy for dropsy by the best medical' 
authorities in Europe until late in the eighteenth century. 
It was then ridiculed as a survival of superstition and so- 
called "black art," and considered not worthy of the serious 



QUITO TO BOGOTA 173 

consideration of educated people. In all probability the 
original use of the remedy was prompted solely by the fact 
that to many people the toad is a very loathsome animal; 
but its continuation and general adoption was due to bene- 
ficial results repeatedly obtained, and, as Dr. Abel remarks, 
we have here another instance of the everyday observations 
of mankind at length justified by science. 

With regard to the South American toad, Dr. Abel con- 
cludes: "We now understand why the secretion of the 
skin of Bufo agua may be used as an arrow poison, since 
it contains the two powerful drugs epinephrin and bufagin, 
which in overdose act fatally on the heart and blood- 
vessels." The poison-frog of the Choco has not been sub- 
jected to the same careful scientific examination, but whether 
or not it is the same species as Bufo agua, the results of 
Dr. Abel's investigations on the Amazon Valley specimens 
are sufficient to give the stamp of truth to the early ac- 
counts, that the arrow-poison used by the Indians of west- 
ern Colombia was procured from some batrachian in the 
manner stated. 

Of the first trail between Buenaventura and Cali, Cieza 
de Leon, writing only a few years after the establishment 
of this settlement, says : "The only means of carrying 
merchandise from the port to the city of Cali is by the 
aid of the Indians of the intervening mountains, who 
carry it on their backs, for it is impossible to transport 
it in any other way. If it was desired to make a road, 
I believe that loaded beasts could not pass over it on ac- 
count of the ruggedness of the mountains. It is true that 
there is another way, practicable for horses and cattle, by 
the river of Dagua, but they pass it in constant peril, and 



174 QUITO TO BOGOTA 

many die by the way, while the rest arrive in such a sorry 
condition that they are of no use for many days." 

Later, a road passable by pack animals was constructed 
between Cali and Juntas and the cargoes brought up by 
canoes were conveyed across the mountains on mules, 
but Mollien describes it in 1823 as one of the worst trails 
in the country, because of its muddiness and the very steep 
ascents and descents. In the nineteenth century, through 
the energy of General Mosquera, we are told, the present 
excellent trail of very easy gradient was blasted out of the 
rock walls of the Dagua gorge, and the short route from 
Cali to the head of canoe navigation thus established. The 
railway, commenced in 1878, in time replaced the transpor- 
tation by canoes and will soon replace the mule traffic on 
the rest of the route. 

After the day in Buenaventura, we returned on the first 
of August over the same route to Caldas. Again we had 
luncheon with the engineers at La Penita, and this time 
had tea in the Dagua gorge with the engineers at 
"Naranja." It was a very pleasant experience. Again 
we were the guests of Dr. Barrios at Caldas. On the fol- 
lowing morning, accompanied by the senior engineer of the 
railway, Dr. Luis L. Guerrero, we were conveyed in a 
special train over the new portion of the line between Cal- 
das and the last station, La Cumbre, near the crest of the 
range at the pass of Cresta de Gallo, which is 15 miles 
north of the point where we crossed the summit near San, 
Antonio on our way to Buenaventura. The railway crosses 
the Dagua at Caldas and, passing the old settlement of 
Papagayeros, which will soon disappear because of the 
nearness of the new railway town of Caldas, ascends the 



QUITO TO BOGOTA 175 

side of the mountain in a series of broad loops laid out 
with great engineering skill, and passing through a number 
of excellently constructed tunnels, finally reaches La 
Cumbre, a distance of 15 or 20 kilometres. This portion of 
the line is laid with fifty-five pound rails; the maximum 
grade is reported as 2.5 per cent, which shows how utterly 
inexcusable are the high grades in the lowlands towards 
Buenaventura. We were greatly impressed with the general 
tidiness and finish of the construction of this part of the 
work and with the engineering efficiency shown. It is a 
great monument to the Technical Director of the work, Dr. 
Rafael Alvarez Salas, and his able and enthusiastic corps 
of assistants. At La Cumbre we were met by Dr. Salas, 
and, after a delightful luncheon, proceeded on another spe- 
cial two miles to the present rail-head. Here we mounted 
our animals and continued along the partially completed 
grade toward Cali. 

This railway has suffered many vicissitudes, and when 
it finally reaches Cali it will indeed represent to that town 
a partial realisation of expectations long deferred. It is 
a line of 3-foot gauge which when completed will have 
a length of only slightly more than a hundred miles. Its 
construction was begun in 1878, and from the present con- 
dition of the work we do not expect that it will reach Cali 
before 191 5. Cisneros, who commenced this work, was 
forced to abandon it after constructing about 12 miles. It 
was then undertaken by an American contractor and is now 
being completed by a Colombian company. Only 40 miles 
of the line were completed in the 30 years ending 1908, 
at an expenditure of approximately £1,000,000 ($5,000,- 
000 gold), or an average rate of £25,000 ($125,000) per 



176 QUITO TO BOGOTA 

mile, and this result becomes even more astounding when 
it is remembered that 34 miles of this is below the gorge 
of the Dagua, including the first 12 miles, which will have 
to be rebuilt some time, and that the remaining 6 of the 40 
miles which is in the gorge was entirely wrecked by the 
flood of 1912, together with much of the track below. The 
road seems to have been dogged with misfortunes. 

The ride along the new grade was quite delightful ; there 
1 were no trees to intercept the view, for we were again on 
the treeless eastern slope of the range. We looked down on 
a mule trail, just a narrow line of white wriggling up the 
sides of the range, and, three miles from La Cumbre, sud- 
denly passed around a hill point from which there is a 
perfect view of the great plain. Here is the broadest and 
flattest portion of the valley, locally called the "Llano 
Grande." On its western side, at the very foot of the moun- 
tain, is the sinuous, many-looped Cauca, with a narrow 
fringe of trees, flowing through miles and miles of pasture 
lands with only occasional fields. 

Beyond to the east is the high range of the Central Andes 
whose rugged slopes tower above it, culminating to the 
southwest in the snow-capped, triple cone of Huila, and to 
the northeast in the lesser snow peak of Santa Catalina, and 
beyond each of these to the north and the south, the range 
continues until it loses itself in the distance. This is the 
land of "Maria." From this point on the new line, the site 
of her home is visible due east across the valley on the 
first low foot-hills of the Central Range. 

"Maria" is the literary masterpiece of the Colombian 
writer, Jorge Isaacs. First published in 1867, it has had 
many editions, and is known and loved wherever the 



QUITO TO BOGOTA 177 

Spanish tongue is spoken. For those who cannot read it 
in the original, there is a most happy and sympathetic Eng- 
lish translation by Rollo Ogden, published by Harper & 
Brothers, with an introduction from the gifted pen of the 
able author and literary critic, Thomas A. Janvier. Of this 
story of Colombian life, Janvier says : "But the side of 
the story which comes nearest to my own heart — because of 
the warm feelings bred of pleasant memories which it 
arouses there — is its beautiful and its absolutely truthful 
portrayal of life in a Spanish- American home. The author 
shows, without any apparent effort to show it, the gracious 
relations existing between the several members of these 
charming households which are ordered with a patriarchal 
simplicity, which are regulated by a constant courtesy, and 
which are bound together by an ever-present love. Homes 
of this sort, my own experience has convinced me, are not 
the exception but the rule in Spanish- America ; and this per- 
fectly-finished picture of one of them, in its perfectly- 
described setting of a countryside community, exhibits the 
genius of the people more accurately than would an exhaus- 
tive study of all other phases of their life combined. 

"I cannot but hope, therefore, that the story of 'Maria' 
will do something more than give delight to its readers by 
the beauty of its theme and by the excellence of its art. 
For I am well satisfied that, showing as it does these stranger 
neighbours of ours as they truly are, it must tend to the 
accomplishment of a larger and a higher purpose by foster- 
ing a desire among us to transform them into friends. This 
seems to me a most natural conclusion ; for my own experi- 
ence has shown me that they need only to be known in 
order to be loved." 



178 QUITO TO BOGOTA 

When in the future the trains reach this point three 
miles from La Cumbre, we hope, if the day is clear, they 
can halt for the few moments which is all that will be' neces- 
sary for those of the passengers who see "The Valley" for 
the first time to receive such a mental picture that they 
will never forget it. Perhaps even better, the tourist should 
stop at the health resort which is sure to arise at La Cumbre 
to replace San Antonio, and by little excursions to neigh- 
bouring eminences get not a single memory picture, but a 
whole series under the greatly varying conditions of light 
and shadow. 

The new grade gradually descends the mountain side in 
a single enormous loop, but we, by cutting across this and 
going directly down the mountain, soon reached the level 
floor of the valley at a point only a short distance beyond 
the little settlement of Yumbo, twelve miles north of Cali. 
Here the new grade passes very close to a great bend in 
the river, and following the most travelled trail, we found 
ourselves at a landing on the river bank, where there were 
several rafts of timber and other material for railway con- 
struction. We retraced our steps, but this little side trip, 
suggested that Cali under normal conditions of traffic will 
lose her river trade to a settlement which will spring up 
here. 

For many years a controversy raged as to where the rail- 
way line should cross the range. The inhabitants of Cali 
insisted it should go through the pass of San Antonio (6,620 
feet) and thence to Cali without entering the plain en route. 
The alternative proposal was that it should be built over 
the lower pass at Cresta de Gallo (5,216 feet) and enter 
the plain a number of miles to the north of the city. Finally 



QUITO TO BOGOTA 179 

the present route over the lower pass was adopted, with the 
possible consequence we have just mentioned. A further 
result in the same direction will be entailed if the railway- 
is extended northward from the point where it first reaches 
the plain. Such a plan would create an important junction 
here on the banks of the river, and would rob Cali of all 
of its commercial advantages. There will doubtless be a 
merry struggle when the exact location for any extension 
of this line to the north comes to be fixed. 

Continuing along toward Cali, we found various parts 
of the grade of the railway completed and others in prog- 
ress, and again crossing the old Spanish bridge over the 
"Rio Grande," we dismounted at the "Gran Club" just at 
dark on Saturday night, the 2nd of August. During our 
stay at Cali, I visited one of the coal mines about half a mile 
from the town and in the hills on the northwest side of the 
"Rio Grande." This coal bed, which has been known and 
worked in a small way for many years, is three to four feet 
thick, almost vertical (65 to 80 degrees), and the coal has 
been crushed to small bits by the severity of the earth move- 
ments. All the product of the mine is composed of small 
slickensided bits of coal, which is apparently of a good 
bituminous grade with coking properties. It is stated that 
the coal-bearing series can be followed along the face of 
the mountains for about six miles north of Cali and extends 
to an unknown distance south. The high angle of the dip 
of all the known deposits in this vicinity, which is not con- 
ducive to economical mining, together with the probability 
that much of the coal is badly crushed, limits their prospec- 
tive value to local consumption. 

There is a possibility that this coal-bearing series under- 



180 QUITO TO BOGOTA 

lies a portion of the contiguous Plain of Cali and that here 
the beds will be flat or gently inclined and the coal will not 
be shattered into small bits as in the present known deposits. 
If this proves true and the depth is not prohibitive, the 
region of Cali will become an important coal mining centre, 
but not otherwise. 

Monday morning we made our farewell calls on the 
Governor and other officials, who, by the instructions of the 
President of the Republic, had been most thoughtful for 
our comfort, and at 2 o'clock, with Mr. Stapleton, and sev- 
eral gentlemen of the town, we left Cali on the tram for 
the river landing, a distance of about four miles. The ter- 
minus at the river bears the pretentious name of "Puerto 
Mallarino" and consists of a landing-stage and a few frame- 
houses. Here we boarded the 40-ton steamboat "Cabal," 
built at the Yarrow Yard in Glasgow, and carried in pieces 
over the mountains from Buenaventura, and we are now on 
our way down the beautiful river to Cartago, where we 
begin our climb over the Central Andes. 



SIX 
CALI TO BOGOTA 



Bogota, 

Carrera Nueva No. 213, 

17th August, 1913. 

It is indeed a pleasure to be again in hospitable Bogota, 
where the welcome from the numerous friends of our 
former stay in the capital has been most hearty. It is good 
to see them again and to know that their friends and rela- 
tives, whom it has been our good fortune to meet in dis- 
tant parts of the Republic, are but added links. We miss 
the genial, keen, intelligent face of Monsignor Montagnini, 
the able and versatile representative of Rome to the Re- 
public of Colombia, and can but hope that the illness which 
has caused his return to Europe is but a temporary one, 
and that he may soon again continue his work at Bogota, 
which promises much both for Colombia and for the 
church.* 

Our thousand mile journey across the Andes is now 
only a memory — although a glorious one. The first stage 
of the journey, covering a few miles from Quito, was by 
automobile, the last, from the Magdalena to this mountain- 
park in the Eastern Andes, by railway; there was a 120- 
mile trip on the beautiful Cauca River and disjointed bits 
by railway between Cali and Buenaventura, but the remain- 
ing 650 miles, which is approximately the overland distance 
on the most direct route between Bogota and Quito, was in 

* Mgr. Montagnini died in Europe only a few months later. 

183 



184 QUITO TO BOGOTA 

the saddle. The inevitable difficulties and annoyances of 
such a trip are now but amusing recollections, and the brain 
is crowded with pictures and impressions of a vast region 
embracing land in two Republics, beautiful, fertile, with 
greatly diversified scenery and climate, part in the regions 
of eternal snow, part as high mountain-uplands of temper- 
ate climate, part as lower valleys of sub-tropical and tropi- 
cal character, and part as a narrow, torrid coastal belt of 
tropical rains and jungle. It is a region which is sparsely 
populated in comparison with its possibilities, and one in 
which there will, in the fulness of time, be many people, knit 
by easy and adequate railway communications into great and 
powerful nations. 

From the roof of our house, here in Bogota, we look 
westward, in the clear air of the early morning across the 
"Sabana," which is the local name for this well-populated 
mountain-park, and through a gap in its low western rim 
see 85 miles away in the Central Andes the beautiful sym- 
metrical snow-capped cone of the old volcano Tolima, shim- 
mering in the light of the morning sun. It is a picture 
which would delight the heart of a Japanese artist, and, 
aside from its own satisfying beauty, it brings to mind our 
struggles along the Quindio trail which crosses the Central 
Range just to the north of its white summit. We know 
that between us and Tolima lies the broad, sloping, semi- 
arid plains of the upper portion of the low-lying Magdalena 
Valley, while beyond is the justly famous Cauca. 

Our trip down the Cauca River in the steamer "Cabal," 
which was commenced on the afternoon of the 4th of 
August, and completed about sundown on the 6th at the 
port where one leaves the steamboat for Cartago, was one 




Our pack mules coming out of the clouds, eastern side of the range 




Cross ridges typical of mountain trails of Colombia and Ecuador 



THE QTJINDIO ROAD 



QUITO TO BOGOTA 185 

of the most pleasing experiences we have had during our 
sojourn in South America. The air was balmy, there were 
delightful, gentle breezes, beautiful mountain chains on 
either side of a broad fertile plain containing a happy and 
care- free population, feathery bamboos in clumps here and 
there, and groups of contented cattle on the sand-bars at 
every bend of the river. There is all the beauty of tropical 
vegetation without the density which characterises it in a 
region not shielded from the tropical rains in the manner 
in which this valley is protected by the mountains to the 
west. 

The river was quite low, and it was feared that this trip 
would be the last for the season. During some years it is 
possible for the steamboats to run between the ports of Cali 
and Cartago throughout the year, but generally navigation 
is suspended for some months owing to low water; and it 
happened only a few years ago that no boats were able to 
run for a period of eighteen months. Only during high 
water is navigation possible at night; usually, as was the 
case during our journey, the boat ties up to the bank at 
nightfall and starts again at daybreak. 

On our way down the river we passed a sister ship on 
its way to Cali. There are three such boats now on the 
river, all belonging to the "Compania de Navegacion del 
Rio Cauca" ; two of 40 tons and one of 28, all well-built and 
equipped, comparing favorably with the river steamboats 
of other regions. The upper limit of navigation on this 
portion of the Cauca is La Bolsa, near the hamlet of Buenos 
Aires, about thirty-five miles above Cali, and the lower 
limit is twelve miles north of the landing for Cartago, at 
the rapids called the Salto del Sopinga. This upper portion 



186 QUITO TO BOGOTA 

of the river is thus navigable for about 170 miles. From 
this point for 200 miles north the river is a turbulent stream 
broken by rapids. It is then again navigable for steamers 
which pass down the river to the ports on the Magdalena. 

The impression of this region which one gets from the 
deck of a steamboat is of a great pastureland, thinly set- 
tled, and but sparingly tilled. To obtain a more compre- 
hensive idea of the cultivated lands it would be necessary 
to go overland, for the principal settlements are all away 
from the banks of the river. The last census returns indi- 
cate that Palmira is a town second in importance only to 
Cali, and the tobacco of this locality has long been famous. 
There is also near this town the sugar factory of Manuelita, 
one of the two modern sugar mills in Colombia. It is an 
ideal sugar country, where production ranges from 50 to 
80 tons per acre, without manuring or serious cultivation, 
where the cane is reported to reach a length of 20 feet in 
exceptional years, and where the cutting and grinding can 
go on throughout the year, even during the two rainy sea- 
sons which in "The Valley" extend from March to May and 
from September to November, but it has not developed 
through want of adequate transportation facilities. Cocoa 
does well, and coffee thrives on the adjoining mountain 
slopes, "but the principal industry of "The Valley" is cattle 
raising, and the view from the river is therefore typical 
though not comprehensive. 

The total population of the Plain of Cali, or "The Val- 
ley," as it is affectionately called by every Colombian — and 
with ample reason — is, according to the last census, 200,000, 
including the inhabitants of the towns. The Indian popu- 
lation of the same region at the time of the Conquest is 



QUITO TO BOGOTA 187 

stated by Perez to have been calculated by the historians 
at one million people, and the careful writer, Cieza de Leon, 
who was a soldier in one of the first expeditions to pene- 
trate this region, wrote in 1541 : "All this valley, from 
the city of Cali to these rapids, was formerly very popu- 
lous and covered with very large and beautiful villages, the 
houses being close together and of great size. These vil- 
lages have wasted away and been destroyed by time and 
war; for when Captain Don Sebastian de Belalcazar, who 
was the first captain to discover and conquer this valley, 
made his entry, the Indians were bent on war and fought 
with the Spaniards many times to defend their land and 
escape slavery. Owing to these wars and the famine which 
arose on account of the seeds not having been sown, nearly 
all the Indians died." The remainder, unable to defend 
themselves, were carried away and devoured by the canni- 
bal hill tribes, and so he concludes : "But the great valley 
of Cali, once so fertile, is now a desert of grassy land." 

Since we have been in the Plain of Cali we have found 
the map of the "Valle del Cauca," covering the region 
from Jamundi northward half-way to Cartago, on a scale 
of 1 to 400,000, prepared by the Colombian geographer, 
General Vergara y Velasco, very useful. In Ecuador we 
found the Wolf map, published in 1892, to be the most 
complete and accurate representation of the geography of 
the country, but since we have been in Colombia it has 
been a matter of using several different maps. Wolf's map 
of Ecuador extends, with topographic detail, as far as 
Pasto, and is still the best general map of the extreme south- 
ern portion of Colombia. There are also the maps of the 
Codazzi Survey, published in 1864, which are the mother- 



1 88 QUITO TO BOGOTA 

maps of all the general maps of Colombia prepared since 
that time. It is however possible to supplement these with 
the sketch maps of Vergara, and for the modern boundaries 
of the departments and for recent developments, with 
the Vidal map of the Republic, published last year. 

The work of Codazzi is an enduring monument to the 
energy, perseverance and ability of that intrepid geographer, 
as well as to the broad and farseeing public spirit of Gen- 
eral Tomas Cipriano de Mosquera, several times President 
of the Republic, and one of the outstanding figures of its 
history. Agustin Codazzi was an Italian by birth and 
fought with Napoleon, and later in Colombia in the Wars 
of the Independence. Having shown marked ability in the 
construction of a map of the state of Zulia (Venezuela) as 
a subordinate in the Ministry of War, he was in 1830 com- 
missioned to make a survey and map of the whole of that 
country. This he completed in 1839 in a manner deserving 
all praise. In 1849 ne was m ade chief of the Comision 
Corografica by President Mosquera and entrusted with the 
making of a map of Colombia. In the execution of this 
task, he showed during the next six years almost super- 
human activity and energy, travelling thousands of miles 
and covering all the Republic except the Departments of 
Bolivar and Magdalena on the north. His work was then 
interrupted by civil wars, and he had just begun the com- 
pletion of his surveys of the north when he was stricken 
with fever and died after a few days' illness in 1859. The 
surveys were continued in Magdalena and Bolivar, but in 
a much less efficient and complete manner, by his former 
assistants, and in 1864 the cartographical results, prepared 
by Manuel Ponce and Manuel Paz under the direction of 



QUITO TO BOGOTA 189 

General Mosquera, were published as ten maps, one cover- 
ing the whole of the Republic on a scale of 1 to 1,350,000 
and the others covering each of its nine Departments on a 
scale of 1 to 810,000. 

Francisco Javier Vergara y Velasco, General of Engi- 
neers, and like his predecessor, Codazzi, connected with 
the Army, has laboured prodigiously for many years on the 
geography of his native country. His "Nueva Geografia de 
Colombia," published by the Government in 1901, is a very 
voluminous compilation of the contributions of previous 
writers to the detailed geography of the country and is a 
work which every student of the geography of Colombia 
must have. He has collected in this work a list of eleva- 
tions determined throughout the country by different in- 
vestigators, each set being presented as a unit and, except 
in the case of some of the highest peaks, without any at- 
tempt at correlation or adjustment. Most of the elevations 
which we give in these letters are based on data derived 
from these tables, but we have used as a basis for rough 
adjustments his short list of the altitude determinations of 
the Intercontinental Railway Commission. The work con- 
tains many sketch maps showing additions and corrections 
to the results of the Codazzi Survey, together with many 
cleverly conceived diagrams illustrating the broader geo- 
graphic relations, which one could only wish had been 
engraved and printed in a manner more in keeping with 
their merit. 

The maps by Vergara which we have used are, however, 
from a work issued as a series of brochures between 1906 
and 1909 and bearing the rather misleading title of "Atlas 
Completo de Geografia Colombiana." The work consists 



igo QUITO TO BOGOTA 

of eight parts of which only the first seven appear to have 
been published. They contain a series of sketch maps vary- 
ing in scale and detail which serve to supplement the more 
carefully engraved maps of the Codazzi Survey. Vergara's 
work represents the results of a self-trained enthusiast car- 
ried forward solely by his own initiative under many diffi- 
culties and to a considerable degree with his own limited 
means. A great deal of credit is due him. 

The map of the Republic of Colombia by Enrique Vidal 
(scale i to 2,700,000), published in Medellin in 1912, is 
little more than a reduced copy of the general map of 
Colombia resulting from the Codazzi surveys, on which the 
position of the railways is indicated, but on which there 
have not been incorporated some of the corrections which 
Vergara has published. Its chief value lies in the facts : 
( 1 ) That it is more easily obtained than the rare 1864 maps, 
and (2) that it is the nearest approximation to the pres- 
ent divisions of the Republic which has been published, and 
is indeed commonly supposed to represent them. Although 
bearing the date of 1912, the divisions shown, namely fif- 
teen departments (including Panama), one territory and 
three intendencias, are approximately correct only for the 
year 1910. A number of new divisions were made in 191 1 
and one in 1912, and the map to be correct, as of the date 
which it bears, should (if Panama is included, as it is in 
the National Census of 19 12 and other official publications) 
show fifteen Departments, two Intendencias, and seven 
Comisarias, namely : 

Departments — 

1. Antioquia. 

2. Atlantico. 



QUITO TO BOGOTA 191 

3. Bolivar. 

4. Boyaca. 

5. Caldas. 

6. Cauca. 

7. Cundinamarca. 

8. Huila. 

9. Magdalena. 

10. Narifio. 

11. Panama. 

12. Santander. 

13. Santander del Norte. 

14. Tolima. 

15. Valle del Cauca. 

Intendencias — 

1. Meta. 

2. Choco. 

Comisarias — 

1. Arauca. 

2. Caqueta. 

3. Putumayo. 

4. Jurado. 

5. Uraba. 

6. La Goajira. 

7. Vaupes. 

These changes affect the boundaries on the Vidal map 
of the Department of Antioquia, Narifio, Boyaca, the In- 
tendencia of Choco (from which Jurado and a part of 
Uraba have been cut out) and the Territoria del Caqueta 
which, with certain additions from the Department of 



i 9 2 QUITO TO BOGOTA 

Narifio, is now represented by the Comisarias of Putumayo, 
Caqueta and Vaupes. 

The departmental boundaries are in error in other re- 
spects, but whether these are due to uncertain descriptions 
in the laws creating the divisions or to subsequent changes, 
we do not know. Certainly a portion of what is shown 
by Vidal as northern Huila, and including the towns of 
Alpujarra, Dolores, Prado, Santa Rosa, Carmen and Cun- 
day, is in the Department of Tolima, and the boundary 
between Cauca and Narifio is in error in certain respects, 
as San Pablo on the north side of the Mayo is, according 
to the 19 1 2 census, not in Cauca, but in Narifio. Really 
the task of the geographer who would keep his map up to 
date respecting the changes in the boundaries of the major 
political .divisions in this country is a strenuous one and 
the casual traveller finds ample reason for inhabitants of 
little settlements near the boundaries of the Departments 
occasionally stating they cannot tell in what Department 
they are living ! 

Much work, having for its object the preparation of a 
new map of the country, has been done in the last few 
years by the "Oficina de Longitudes" in charge of the able 
and energetic Colombian Engineer, Dr. Julio Garzon Nieto, 
with three or four assistant engineers. This bureau is 
singularly enough under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 
but this is due to the fact that it was originally created 
for the purpose of establishing the international boundary 
between Colombia and Venezuela. Dr. Nieto and his 
assistants have spent many months each year laying the 
foundations for this new map by determining the latitudes 
and longitudes of the various cities and hamlets throughout 



QUITO TO BOGOTA 193 

the country. The longitude determinations rest on time- 
signals very carefully exchanged by special arrangement 
over the telegraph lines of the country with the National 
Observatory at Bogota, the position of which has now been 
determined with the aid of time-signals over three routes : 
(1) By the telegraph line through Venezuela and cable 
from La Guaira; (2) by the telegraph line to Santa Marta 
and wireless from that point to Washington, and (3) by 
the telegraph line to Buenaventura and cable from there 
to Panama and thence to the United States. The tele- 
graph lines in Colombia now have a very great extent and 
the number of points whose position can be determined 
exactly in this manner is sufficiently great to give a very 
satisfactory net for map control. Many points not reached 
by the telegraph lines are also being determined, with only 
slightly less precision, with the aid of chronometers care- 
fully checked at the telegraph stations at the ends of the 
routes followed. In the preparation of local maps and 
sketches to be adjusted between these determined points, 
many engineers throughout the country are collaborating 
with commendable zeal with Dr. Nieto and his colleagues. 
The initiative of this work seems to be due to the progres- 
sive spirit of former President Reyes, himself an explorer, 
but its continuation by his successors is a good index of 
Colombian progress. The maps are being drafted by De- 
partments. The one of Antioquia, we are informed, is about 
ready for publication, but the whole work will take several 
years to complete. However, when the traveller now 
reaches Cartago and starts on the Quindio trail there is 
nothing better available than two of the maps in Vergara's 
"Atlas Completo de Geografia Colombiana." One by him- 



194 QUITO TO BOGOTA 

self entitled "El Quindio y los Nevados" and the other a 
map of the trail with accompanying profile by H. Huot. 

La Fresnada, the port of Cartago on the Cauca River, 
is 2,875 f eet above sea-level and consists of a large store- 
house, built high on the bank of the river, and a few small 
farm-houses. There were no accommodations to be had 
here and no saddle animals waiting to convey casual travel- 
lers the three miles to Cartago, and we were greatly re- 
lieved when the Captain, with true Colombian courtesy, 
kindly arranged that we should occupy our cabins on the 
boat for the night. Early the next morning (August 6th) 
our saddle animals, which the faithful Jose had driven 
overland from Cali, were at the landing and, mounting, we 
were soon in Cartago. Here we found the arrieros and 
pack-train which the Governor of the Department had 
directed by telegraph should be waiting for us, but the 
head arriero very firmly informed us that it was a feast- 
day and he and his men therefore could not start on the 
journey until the following morning. The effects of a 
feast-day, in this country as elsewhere, are sometimes such 
that arrieros are unable to move on the following day, 
and the prospect was, therefore, not very satisfactory. 
Mr. Stapleton, however, came to the rescue; he found the 
parish priest was an old friend whom he had known as 
curate at Buenaventura, and when the priest gently in- 
formed the head arriero that Mr. Stapleton was a true 
son of the church, and suggested that he start at once, 
he quickly agreed that he was ready to commence the 
journey whenever we desired. 

In the meantime we had asked that luncheon be pre- 
pared, and it was arranged that we leave Cartago at one 




The Quindio road near Quebrada Gallegos, showing cera palms 




Trail in the sloping plain between Ibague and the Magdalena, and one 
of the hills which project through this recent filling 



BETWEEN QUINDIO PASS AND THE MAGDALENA 



QUITO TO BOGOTA 195 

o'clock. The acting prefect, who had been advised by the 
Governor to expect the arrival of Lord Murray, called at 
the hotel and, among other things, very gravely informed 
us that Cartago was the oldest town in Colombia. It was 
quite evident that this loyal son of Cartago sincerely be- 
lieved that this town was all that he claimed it to be, and 
his statement affords but another example of the intense 
local patriotism which inevitably develops where there are 
inadequate means of communication between different parts 
of a country. 

It so happens that the name of Cartago was chosen, as 
Cieza de Leon, who was present at the first foundation, 
explains: "Because all the settlers and conquerors who 
had accompanied Robledo had set out from Cartagena, and 
this is the reason the name was adopted." The Cartago 
of the present location is generally considered to date from 
the end of the sixteenth century, but an article by Carlos 
Hoyos R. in the "Revista Nacional de Colombia," of De- 
cember last year, gives the date as 1691, which may be a 
misprint for 1591. 

The original Cartago was founded on the banks of the 
Rio Otun, fifteen miles from where the town now stands, 
by Suero de Nava, under the orders of Jorge Robledo, in 
1540. It was moved to its present site near the Rio la 
Vieja because this was an important junction of ways of 
communication. The two routes along the Cauca from 
the north, one through Anserma on the west side of the 
river, and the other through Arma on the east, united 
at this point. Here also was the western terminus of the 
Quindio trail, even to-day the most important route over 
the higher part of the Central Andes, which formed the 



196 QUITO TO BOGOTA 

connecting link between these western settlements and the 
then newly established Ibague and other towns of the 
Upper Magdalena and Eastern Andes. From this point 
also led a trail, then much used, to the rich goldfields of 
the Choco. Cartago's importance thus grew out of its 
location at the junction of these several important ways of 
communication. With changing transportation conditions, 
its importance has tended to diminish, and the Cartago 
of to-day has the rather unkempt aspect of a town which 
has seen better days. 

The acumen shown in the choice of the site for the orig- 
inal Cartago has been most strikingly and singularly vin- 
dicated in the last half century. For over 200 years there 
were but a few cabins on the old site, which rejoiced in the 
name of "Cartagoviejo" (Old Cartago). Then the thrifty 
sons of Antioquia cleared the thickets of bamboo on the 
Otun and laid out a new town which they called Pereira. 
This place has grown so rapidly that it is now the centre 
of a municipio, which, according to the 19 12 census, has, 
like Cartago, a population of slightly over 18,000 people. 
The accounts which reach us and the photographs we have 
seen indicate that fifty-year-old Pereira is a much more im- 
portant town than the transplanted, two-century-old Car- 
tago, which impresses one to-day as a town of 5,000 to 
10,000 people. 

Many of the early Spanish towns were, like Cartago, 
changed from their first sites. In this region alone the 
towns of Cali, Buga, Arma and Toro are all in positions 
different from the settlements to which the names were 
first applied, but in none of these cases, save Cartago, have 
the sites first occupied become towns of importance. 



QUITO TO BOGOTA 197 

Gartago was at one time, as is apparently true of almost 
every one of the older Colombian towns of importance, 
the capital of a Department ; but its brief career as the chief 
city of one of the major political divisions of the country 
lasted only twenty-five days. The political restlessness of 
the Colombian people is perhaps in no way better exempli- 
fied than in the continual change in the number, size, and 
shape of the major political divisions of the country. A 
record of these changes is given below : 

Changes in Number of Departments or analogous Divisions in 
Colombia {including Panama) 

1820 1 1851 31 

1821 4 1852 35 

1822 5 1853 36 

1831 18 1858 8 

1832 19 1863 9 

1835 20 1904 10 

1843 20 1905 15 

1846 22 1908 35 

1849 25 1909 10 

1850 29 1910 15 

It was at old Cartago that Cieza de Leon in 1541 began 
writing the journal of his travels. This, as finally pub- 
lished in 1553, under the title of "Parte Primera de la 
Cronica del Peru," covered the period from 1532 to 1550, 
and records his painstaking observations on the topography, 
resources, habits and customs of the aborigines, and the 
work of the Conquistadores in the regions through which 
he marched as a soldier, under one leader after another, 
from Uraba on the Caribbean Coast to the very southern 
edge of Peru. It is one of the most remarkable literary 
productions of the time of the Spanish Conquest, and, 
with the other works he afterwards completed, has made 



i 9 8 QUITO TO BOGOTA 

of him the foremost original authority on the history and 
conditions during these first days of the Conquest. 

The English-speaking people are indebted to Sir Clement 
Markham for a sympathetic translation of this wonderful 
record, and to the Hakluyt Society for its publication. Of 
the writer Sir Clement, in his "Incas of Peru," says: 
"Imagine a little boy of fourteen entering upon a soldier's 
life in the undiscovered wilds of South America, and, with- 
out further instruction, becoming the highest authority on 
Inca history. It seems wonderful, yet it was at the early 
age of fourteen that Cieza de Leon embarked for the New 
World. When most boys are at school, this lad was shar- 
ing all the hardships and perils of seasoned veterans. It 
is certainly most remarkable that so fine a character — 
humane, generous, full of noble sympathies, observant and 
methodical — should have been formed amidst all the 
horrors of the Spanish-American Conquest." 

Among the Conquistadores there were many who treated 
the Indians with kindness and consideration, and Cieza de 
Leon was one of these; but the scenes he witnessed as a 
lad under some of the leaders he served were more than 
enough to blunt and change a character less strong. In his 
prologue he says of his work: "What I have written 
here is concerning true and important things. The attempt 
savours of temerity in so unlearned a man, but others 
of more learning are too much occupied in the wars to 
write. Oftentimes when the other soldiers were reposing 
I was tiring myself by writing; neither fatigue nor the 
ruggedness of the country, nor the mountains and rivers, 
nor intolerable hunger and suffering, have ever been sufii- 



QUITO TO BOGOTA 199 

cient to obstruct my two duties, namely, writing and fol- 
lowing my flag and my captain without fault." 

He began the writing of his narrative when he was in 
his twenty-second year, after he had been a soldier in 
America for eight years, and he explains the initiation of 
his work in the following words : "As I noted the many 
great and strange things that are to be seen in the New 
World of the Indies there came upon me a strong desire 
to write an account of some of them." 

The Indians of all the depression between the Central 
and Western Andes he describes as generally cannibals; 
a few of the smaller tribes did not eat human flesh, some 
only ate it on important occasions, while others syste- 
matically reared children for food. Their houses in the 
Plain of Cali and northward along the Cauca were com- 
monly constructed of bamboo with a palisade of sharp- 
ened canes surrounding it, and in some tribes it was cus- 
tomary to decorate this palisade with the heads of their 
enemies. In others the skins of the deceased were stuffed 
with ashes and so preserved. Of clothing they had but 
little, and this was of coloured cotton cloth, woven and 
dyed by themselves. In many regions there was much 
gold, and here they fashioned ornaments and culinary 
vessels of this metal. Near Antioquia he found the Indians 
used scales to weigh the gold; but to the aborigines the 
thing of greatest value was salt, and those tribes which 
possessed salt-springs did a thriving business with their 
neighbours, exchanging salt "for gold, cotton cloths and 
other things." Between the sites of the Spanish towns of 
Arma and Antioquia he found two Indian villages where 
there was much salt, and nearby, he says, there was "a 



200 QUITO TO BOGOTA 

very large ancient road by which the people communicate 
with those to the eastward." The Indians cultivated maize 
and various edible roots, as well as cotton, and from the 
maize they prepared a "wine" of which they were apparently 
inclined to drink very freely. The most popular beverage 
in the rural districts of Colombia to-day is but little dif- 
ferent from this "wine made from maize," which the 
Spaniards found the Indians manufacturing. 

In the region of Cartago and on the mountain slopes to 
the east and north he found evidence of cultivation by 
peoples preceding the tribes the Spaniards found in this 
locality. He says these former inhabitants "could not 
have been few, judging by the remains of their works, for 
all the dense bamboo thickets seem once to have been 
peopled and tilled, as well as the mountain parts where 
there are trees as big around as two bullocks." 

Our luncheon completed at the little hotel at Cartago, 
where the talkative acting prefect proved a very enter- 
taining guest, we set out along the Quindio trail. The road 
soon climbs a low spur of hills and from here there is a 
good view of the city nestling against the foot of this roll- 
ing ground, with its one prominent church tower standing 
out sharply against the band of green made by the belt 
of trees along the Cauca River, and with the Western 
Andes towering up in the background, dwarfing the town 
and its buildings. It seems strange to see so large a town 
without surrounding cultivated fields. 

After climbing the "Cuchilla Santa Barbara," here rising 
1,400 feet above the city and representing the low northern 
end of the Montana Calarma, a spur of the Central Andes, 
the trail descends again to the Rio La Vieja, which it 



QUITO TO BOGOTA 201 

crosses about five miles from the city at the Paso de Piedra 
de Moler, on a modern suspension bridge. The La Vieja, 
on its course to the Cauca, touches Cartago, and, when 
the time comes for modern wagon-roads in this region, 
one would expect the road to follow the river valley and 
so avoid this needless climb. In the evening we occupied 
a room set apart for travellers in a little adobe house at 
the hamlet of La Balsa, 18 kilometres from Cartago and 
near the boundary between the Departments of Valle del 
Cauca and Caldas. 

We are now well started on the Quindio trail which, 
beginning at Cartago on the edge of the Plain of Cali, 
2,950 feet above sea-level, climbs 8,400 feet in a distance 
of 42 miles, and, crossing the Central Andes, or Cordil- 
lera del Quindio, at a local depression called the Boqueron 
or opening, descends to Ibague (4,200 feet) on the edge 
of the great sloping plains of the Upper Magdalena. The 
distance along the trail between the two cities is only about 
75 miles, but such is the character of even the "improved" 
trail of to-day, that it is a good three to four days' jour- 
ney, even under the best conditions. In dry weather it is 
not particularly difficult, but its character during times of 
rain is such that it has an unenviable reputation throughout 
the length and breadth of Colombia, and even into Ecuador. 
In the northern part of the Cordillera del Quindio it rains 
during April, May and June ; there is then, in July, a slight 
break, or "short summer," then rain for August, Septem- 
ber and October, and then a "long summer" of dry weather 
running through November, December, January, Febru- 
ary and March. 

Colombia is so near the Equator that the only change 



202 QUITO TO BOGOTA 

in seasons experienced at any point is between wet and 
dry, and this has given rise to an interesting colloquial 
usage of the words winter and summer. During wet 
weather it is naturally cooler, and hence seasons of wet 
weather have become known as "winter," and the seasons 
of dry weather, "summer." The best time to cross the 
Quindio trail is, therefore, towards the end of the "long 
summer" of November to March. We are just a little 
late for the next best period, which is the end of the "short 
summer" of July. From this time on the trail will grow 
steadily worse. 

Dr. Garzon Nieto, the chief of the Oficina de Longi- 
tudes, in his official report on the field work of his Bureau 
for the year 1910, published in the "Boletin del Ministerio 
de Relaciones Exteriores," gives the following account of 
his journey over this route in early September of that 
year : "On the 30th of August we left Cartago in the direc- 
tion of Ibague. Some days later I joined Senor Garavito 
in Ibague, and from there informed our Minister of the 
condition of that trail, which is nothing more than a grave- 
yard of men and animals, along which we counted as many 
as nineteen dead bodies of animals in a distance of four 
kilometres. The animals are continually slipping over enor- 
mous slopes, losing themselves and their packs in many 
instances. In order to save our instruments we had to 
carry them on our shoulders over the greater part of the 
road. At intervals we put them on oxen, but this is a 
means that is not satisfactory. The traveller is obliged 
to go on foot the greater part of the distance, using his 
arms to force a passage through the bramble bushes grow- 
ing along the sides. Between Salento and Ibague, to cover 



QUITO TO BOGOTA 203 

which requires as much as four days, the road is prac- 
tically an inhospitable desert. The trail is an absurdity 
for the entire length, and, considering its actual condition 
and the fact that other much shorter and better ways exist, 
we believe that it would be better and more economical to 
make a precise survey and start a force to make a new 
trail to replace this one." 

In the dry seasons transportation along this route is by 
horses and mules, but in the wet season these are, to a 
greater or less extent, replaced by oxen which, though 
slower, are stronger and better able to cope with the hard- 
ships of the route. For many years, as we have seen was 
also true of the road from Cali towards Buenaventura, the 
sole beast of burden over the Quindio trail was the Indian. 
The greater importance of the route from Cali to the sea 
caused it to be improved before the way over the Quindio, 
and as late as 1824 Colonel J. P. Hamilton reports that 
there were 200 to 300 peones engaged solely in carrying 
persons and baggage over the Quindio. His own party, 
which passed over this trail in December, was supplied 
with these "cargueros," or carriers, and he describes their 
equipment as follows : "The machine on which they carry 
the baggage is a sort of frame of bamboos, about three 
feet long with a cross-piece at the lower end, on which 
they put their load. It is secured with straps made of 
the bark of a tree, which first cross the burthen, then go 
over the shoulders and across the breast of the peon; an- 
other strap passes over his forehead, which is fastened to 
the top of the bamboo at the back. They are careful to 
put a pad between the strap and the head, and between 
the chair and the loins, to prevent chafing. They are 



204 QUITO TO BOGOTA 

naked, excepting a handkerchief tied around the middle. 
The sillero on which they carry people is much the same 
as the silla de carga above described for baggage, excepting 
that the sillero has rests for the arms and a step for the 
feet. The usual load of a peon is about ioo pounds, but 
many carry a greater weight, and some have been known 
to carry eight arrobas (or 200 pounds). With these 
weights they climb the mountains with the greatest ease, 
and seldom stop to rest. The juez politico of Ibague, in 
talking afterwards of these men, said that they seldom 
lived beyond forty years, being generally carried off by 
the bursting of a blood-vessel or by pulmonic complaints." 

This journey of Colonel Hamilton from Cartago to 
Ibague required nine days, even though it was made in 
the dry season in December, and the condition of the road 
was such that he met some oxen carrying very light loads 
of salt. With the improvement of the trail the cargueros 
have disappeared, though women and children unable to 
ride are still sometimes carried on the backs of men or in 
sedan chairs. Indian carriers are, however, still to be 
found in the less developed parts of Colombia and Ecua- 
dor ; some we have seen were really carrying almost incred- 
ible loads, and a mining engineer told us he had known 
one man to carry as much as 350 pounds as a load over a 
difficult trail. 

Colonel Hamilton records that the dwellings of the small 
village of La Balsa, which was our first stop on the Quindio 
road, were at the time of his journey the last dwellings 
seen by the traveller until he arrived near Ibague. To-day, 
however, there are many settlements along the trail and; 
on the western side of the summit, several important towns. 



QUITO TO BOGOTA 205 

Leaving La Balsa on the morning of the 8th of August 
and travelling through the Department of Caldas, we noted 
many new clearings and buildings in the region visible 
from the trail, and more evidences of recent "pioneer" 
development than we have seen in other parts of Colombia. 
During the day we passed through the town of Finlandia 
(established in 1878), where we had luncheon, during a 
heavy shower about noon, in a nice little hotel on the 
Plaza, and at nightfall reached picturesque Salento, 
founded in 1865. 

Salento, which is 35 miles from Cartago and slightly 
over 6,000 feet above sea-level, is on a terrace at the west- 
ern foot of the main slope of the Central Andes. The 
country between Salento and Cartago is a region of low 
rolling hills; indeed, the greater portion of it is only a 
slightly dissected plain which slopes gradually from an ele- 
vation of 6,000 feet at the foot of the main mountain 
mass to an elevation of 3,500 feet at the edge of the nar- 
row La Vieja valley near the bridge. It is separated from 
the lower and more horizontal Plain of Cali by the range 
of hills which we crossed immediately after leaving Car- 
tago. The soil is slightly sandy, apparently quite fertile, 
and this dissected plain could support a large population. 
Between Finlandia, which was only a waste place when 
Colonel Hamilton passed over this route, but is now the 
centre of a Municipio containing over 10,000 people, and 
Salento, a spur of the mountains enters the plain; this 
is crossed at El Roble (6,500 feet) and the road then de- 
scends sharply to the clear waters of the Rio Quindio to 
climb again to the terrace of Salento which is but a portion 
of the plain described. The view of Salento and the sur- 



206 QUITO TO BOGOTA 

rounding mountains from the trail near El Roble is like a 
beautiful bit of Italian landscape, and is one of the picture 
spots of our journey. 

The development of this fertile and healthy region 
neglected for many years — as many other parts of Colom- 
bia are neglected or but sparingly settled through want 
of people — is due to the Antioquenos, the most virile stock 
in the Republic. Laborious, energetic, frugal, the Antio- 
quenos are the reputed descendants of the ancient influx 
of Jewish blood which came to Spain even before the time 
of the Caesars and was for centuries the nobility of the 
land. Swept out of Spain by the indiscriminate fury of 
the Inquisition, when everyone was suspected, many of 
those who were already Catholics found refuge in the new 
colonies, while others, such as the family from which the 
great British Prime Minister and statesman, Disraeli, 
sprung, went to other and at that time more tolerant na- 
tions. Spain thus drove away the people who constituted 
the agricultural backbone of the motherland; but the loss 
of Spain has been the gain of other regions, and Colombia 
not the least of these, for the Antioquenos have done much, 
first for the Colony, and, later, for the Republic. 

The Antioquenos have large and sturdy families, — the 
present President of the Republic, himself an Antioquefio, 
is one of a family of twenty-two children. These alone, 
of the people of Colombia, have been capable of furnishing, 
to any considerable degree, the population to energetically 
continue the development of the country. Spreading out 
from the original centre in the upland region of the Cen- 
tral Andes, around Medellin, these people have been pri- 
marily responsible for the development and growth of the 




Photo by Sr. Carlos Caballero 



HIS EXCELLENCY DR. D. CARLOS E. RESTREPO 

President of Colombia, 1910-1914, at a hacienda near Fusagasuga 



QUITO TO BOGOTA 207 

area which is now the Department of Caldas. This De- 
partment is unique in the Republic in the newness of its 
settlements — a region not with an important past, but 
rather a glorious future. Of its thirty-two municipios, 
representing a population of 340,000 people, only three 
are foundations made before 1800; only six were estab- 
lished prior to 1850, and the Department's growth is thus 
virtually of the last half century. The dates given in the 
last Census Report for Cundinamarca, with its 109 muni- 
cipios and 714,000 people, show only two settlements since 
1800; Tolima, with 35 municipios, gives 11 established 
since 1800; Narifio, though the figures are very incom- 
plete, gives only one, and Santander gives 20 out of 70. 

Salento is a. small village, the centre of a municipio of 
3,728 people, and here we spent the night in the partially 
completed municipal building. This is a two-storied frame 
structure built in the form of a hollow square with ver- 
andas encircling the inner side of the building. Three 
sides of the square are finished, but on the fourth there are 
only the two verandas, and on the upper one of these we 
opened our cots and bedrolls and spent the night, glad to 
be out of the heavy rain which soon fell. 

It was still raining gently when we left the town on 
the following morning, the 9th of August. The trail 
starts at once steeply up the side of the mountain over a 
clay soil, which the rain had made very slippery. Even 
the sure-footed mules, who were in better condition than 
our horses, found the road very trying, and on several 
occasions fell to their knees. So accustomed does one 
become, after a long ride, to rely entirely on these trail- 
wise animals that the too trustful rider is sometimes aston- 



208 QUITO TO BOGOTA 

ished to find himself in the mud by the roadside; how- 
ever, though some of our party had surprises of this 
nature, the experiences, which might have been serious, 
turned out to be only amusing. 

From the trail above Salento we had most beautiful 
views, even through the mist, of the valley of the Rio 
Ouindio; here flanked on both sides by high and rugged 
mountains covered with luxuriant vegetation, including 
many palms and tree-ferns. The flat floor of the valley has 
been cleared of all undergrowth and trees except the palms, 
whose feathery foliage shows as dots on a great grass car- 
pet. We were quite disappointed that the inclement 
weather prevented us from seeing the snow-mountains, — 
Tolima and the clustered half dozen lower snow-peaks just 
to the north of it, — of which we were told there were good 
views from this part of the road in clear weather. 

The distance from Salento (6,050 feet) to the summit 
of the pass (11,350 feet) is seven miles, and the climb is a 
steady, steep one, with scarcely a level place to afford 
relief for the animals, which we stopped cross-wise on 
the trail from time to time for a breathing spell. It was 
almost noon when we reached the summit, and here we 
halted to rest the animals and to partake of the luncheon 
which we had brought in our saddle-pockets. It was un- 
pleasantly cold here with the characteristic paramo damp- 
ness and chill, and during our stop the cold drizzling rain 
became a dense, moist, cold cloud which enveloped us and 
everything about us. The road to this point, except for its 
steepness and slipperiness, was not bad, but when at the 
summit we passed from the Department of Caldas into 
the Department of Tolima, it became one series of mud- 



QUITO TO BOGOTA 209 

holes, with occasional sharp, narrow rocky ridges over 
which the animals slipped and stumbled in an uncomfort- 
able fashion, for the trail in many places is cut out of the 
precipitous side of the mountain, and the valleys yawn to 
depths which are unfathomable through the mist. The 
road continued to grow more difficult, and we encountered 
again and again the same cross-ridges we had met before 
in the Paramo of Mojanda in Ecuador. Here we passed 
a number of carcasses of pack-animals, who had succumbed 
to the hardships of the trail and on which the vultures 
were feeding. Under the weather conditions it was a 
most dreary and dismal place. A horse which we had 
brought with us from Pasto could go no further, but by 
coaxing and with patience we got him below the clouds to 
a hovel of a hut, where there was good pasturage and there 
we left him. Here the sunshine was welcome, the deep 
valleys beautiful, the extent of the cultivation of the moun- 
tain sides surprising, reminding one of the wonderful agri- 
cultural region in Narifio. In clearing these mountain 
sides, the inhabitants have destroyed all the trees and brush 
except a species of palm, slender, tall and graceful, which, 
under the existing conditions, forms one of the most note- 
worthy features of the landscape. This is the cera palm, 
which furnishes the building material for many of the 
houses of the region, and supplies wax and other useful 
products to the people. Not only are the sides of the 
houses made of the trunks of this palm, but, split in half, 
they form the roof, laid from the roof-tree to the eave 
like gigantic tiles. 

While the trail on the west side of the mountain is one 
steady climb, the trail on the east from the summit to 



2io QUITO TO BOGOTA 

Ibague is a series of tips and downs. Although it would 
be possible to take the trail from the summit immediately 
into the valley of the Tochechito and to construct a trail 
with an easy gradient along this drainage and thence 
around the point of the hill to Ibague, the present trail 
keeps about a mile or two from this drainage and crosses 
spur after spur of the mountains. Again and again after 
descending to the level of a tributary and crossing it, it 
zigzags up a spur 1,000 to 1,500 feet and then falls down 
the other side to another tributary stream and begins the 
laborious climb of the next spur, and so on, in a manner 
heartrending because so unnecessary. 

Although we had planned to spend the night at a place 
called San Juan, where we were told good accommodation 
could be obtained, and although from the crests of the 
ridges we could see this promised spot, we could also see 
the road over which we must pass to reach it and, when 
the sun passed behind the mountains, we decided to stop 
at the first hut and not try the trail in the dark. It was a 
filthy place, already filled with people, and we were quite 
willing to yield the space allotted to us on the clay floor 
in front of the open fire to the arrieros, Jose, and Mr. 
Stapleton's "boy." A small tent, which a very kind friend 
had presented to Lord Murray at Quito, was set up, and 
in it we had a very jolly dinner out of our provision 
boxes, quite optimistic that the drizzling rain would soon 
cease. The tent was not large enough to hold more than 
one cot, and as Mr. Stapleton had not been very well Lord 
Murray insisted that he occupy it. The other two cots 
were placed nearby in the open, and our bedding carefully 
arranged in our great waterproof sheets. We were just 



QUITO TO BOGOTA 211 

drowsing off when the drizzle turned to a deluge. It did 
not seem like rain-drops, but like bucketfuls of water, 
and this kept up throughout the night. In the morning 
the rain was over and the figure stepping from the tent 
chaffingly said it really was "a rotten tent, in fact nothing 
but a sieve." Examination showed a rather streaked inside, 
but a perfectly dry cot, while the two cots on the outside, 
which were from a well-known London house, were made 
of such excellent canvas that when we lifted off our bed- 
ding there was in each a pool of water which the canvas 
had refused to let run through to the ground! If the tent 
had been made of the canvas of our cots, and, for this occa- 
sion, our cots had been made of the canvas of the tent, all 
would have been happier. 

Piling our somewhat damp equipment on the cargo- 
animals, we left "the camp of the deluge" and proceeded 
over the up-and-down trail toward a place with the prom- 
ising name of Eden, where we planned to spend the night, 
but as our chief arriero was not very familiar with the 
trail or perhaps was not on very good terms with the people 
of Eden, we stopped at a house on the bank of a beautiful 
little mountain stream, 5,600 feet above sea-level. Here 
we set up our cots on the veranda of the house, but this 
proved a rather inadequate shelter from the heavy rain that 
fell during this second night. 

We began the next day with a heartrending climb up a 
steep, slippery clay hill, and passing the misnamed Eden, 
soon reached the crest of a low spur called La Palmilla 
(6,300 feet). From here the trail follows the crooked 
crest of the ridge between the Rio Coella and the Rio 
Combeima. After a time we began to get glimpses of 



212 QUITO TO BOGOTA 

Ibague, a city at the mouth of a beautiful mountain valley 
on the edge of a great plain stretching, it seemed to us, as 
far as the eye could reach. The descent of the trail just 
before reaching the town is very steep, but it is here 
broad and well graded, and crossing the modern toll bridge 
over the Rio Combeima (4,000 feet), we entered the city 
at one o'clock on the nth of August, just four days from 
the time we left Cartago. 

Ibague is the first of the cities we have encountered 
on our journey from Quito which was founded by those 
in control of the "Nuevo Reino de Granada," of which 
Santa Fe de Bogota was the capital. The cities through 
which we have passed thus far owe their origin to the 
conquest of Peru, and those which lie in Colombia were 
founded by an expedition from Ecuador. They represent 
cities established from the Pacific and not from the Atlan- 
tic, for even the expedition of Cesar and Vadillo, which 
came from the Atlantic up the Cauca, founded no cities, 
and it was not until this expedition reached Popayan and 
the greater portion of it returned northward as the soldiers 
of that province under Robledo, that Cartago, Arma, An- 
tioquia and the other early towns of Antioquia were 
founded. 

Ibague was the outpost of the colonisation which came 
from the Atlantic and was founded by the order of the 
Judge of Santa Fe de Bogota, Andres Lopez de Galarza, 
in an endeavour to obtain a footing in the land of the fierce 
and war-like Pijoa Indians. Like many of the early Span- 
ish settlements, it was originally established at a site quite 
different from the one it now occupies. The old site, which 
was only a few miles to the southwest of our stopping place 



QUITO TO BOGOTA 213 

near Eden, was abandoned within a year, and in 1551 the 
present site was adopted, because the first was too exposed 
to the attack of the Indians. Even in the new location the 
inhabitants suffered severely for sixty years from constant 
warfare with the Pijoas. It has long been a town of im- 
portance, and since 1831 the capital of a Department with 
varying boundaries. This Department was at first called 
Mariquita, later Tolima, then for a short time Ibague, and 
now again Tolima, and most appropriately because of the 
majestic old volcano of that name which lies within its 
borders in the Central Andes, Ibague is often described 
as at the foot of Tolima, whose summit is some eighteen 
miles northwest of the city and rises over 14,000 feet 
above it. We had been told that from this place, as well 
as from a number of points on the Quindio trail, excellent 
views could be had of this mountain, but the climatic con- 
ditions were against our enjoying this pleasure, and our 
personal acquaintance with its beauties is therefore limited 
to a contemplation of it on numerous occasions from 
Bogota, and glimpses of it and Ruiz from the Magdalena. 
Tolima is frequently regarded as the highest mountain 
in Colombia, and perhaps when the heights of the peaks 
of this country are accurately determined by precise sur- 
veys this may prove to be true. It lies very near the cen- 
tre of the country, if we do not consider the unsettled 
Llanos and Selvas regions lying east of the Eastern Cor- 
dillera, and it would be an interesting coincidence to have 
the master-peak of the country near its centre of popula- 
tion. Its competitors for the distinction of being the high- 
est mountain in the country are : ( 1 ) The relatively nearby 
Huila, 130 miles to the south in the same range; (2) the 



214 QUITO TO BOGOTA 

Sierra Nevada de Chita, the culminating point of the east- 
ern range, which lies to the northeast of Bogota and one- 
third of the distance to the Caribbean; (3) the Sierra 
Nevada de Santa Marta on the very northern shore of the 
Republic. To these might be added Cayambe, which, ac- 
cording to the boundary claims of Colombia, is part in 
Colombia and part in Ecuador, though Ecuador claims the 
whole of it. There is some evidence in favour of Cayambe 
being the highest of the five, as the several determinations 
of its height vary within relatively narrow limits, and indi- 
cate it to be somewhat over 19,000 feet, though a few of 
the determinations of the four strictly Colombian peaks 
give them a greater height. 

Of the four wholly Colombian peaks, Humboldt con- 
cluded that Santa Marta, with an elevation of 18,550 feet, 
was the highest, while Montenegro, a quarter of a century 
later, awards the distinction to Tolima with an elevation 
of 18,325 feet. Codazzi made no determination of Santa 
Marta, but he concludes that Chita, with an elevation of 
19,493 feet, is higher than either Huila or Tolima. As 
between Tolima and Huila, Caldas concluded that Tolima 
was 272 feet higher than Huila, while Codazzi found 
Huila was 276 feet higher than Tolima! 

Vergara is of the opinion that the most reliable deter- 
minations of these four peaks are as follows: 

(1) Tolima (according to Caldas) 18,437 feet 

(2) Huila (according to Caldas) 18,155 feet 

(3) Santa Marta (according to Caracristi) 17,128 feet 

(4) Chita (according to Vergara) 16,679 feet 

The determinations by Caldas made a hundred years ago 
rest on observations on the boiling point of water by this 



QUITO TO BOGOTA 215 

careful scientist. The position of Chita as the lowest of 
the four seems fairly well established, notwithstanding the 
great height recorded by Codazzi and confirmed by Mos- 
quera, because the observations of Humboldt, Monte- 
negro, Hettner and Vergara all agree in making it a peak 
of the 16,000 to 17,000 order of magnitude. Santa Marta 
is given as 17,500 feet by the English engineer, Simons, 
who conducted surveys in Colombia between 1874 and 
1886, and made for the Colombian Government maps of 
the Departments of Bolivar and Magdalena to complete 
the Codazzi set. Bretes, the French traveller, found it to 
be 17,010 feet, while the English Admiralty Charts record 
it as 16,500 feet. Therefore, there seems ample reason for 
neglecting the extraordinary figure of 26,000 feet obtained 
by Mosquera as the height of this mountain, and for con- 
cluding that the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta and the 
Sierra Nevada de Chita are both of a height inferior to 
Tolima and Huila. 

Between Tolima and Huila there seems to be little basis 
for choice. Either may easily prove to be the higher. 
Most of the determinations of Tolima agree that it is a 
mountain between 18,000 and 18,500 feet high, but there 
is also a determination of its elevation by triangulation by 
the Germam engineer, C. Faulhaber, made late in the last 
century, which gives a result of slightly over 21,000 feet. 

Huila, Chita and Santa Marta are relatively simple 
peaks, but Tolima is but one point in a very elevated com- 
posite mountain mass of old volcanoes, whose other sum- 
mits are Quindio, Santa Isabel, Santa Maria, Cisne, La 
Olleta and El Ruiz, the last of which is also called the 
"Mesa Nevada de Herveo," and is twenty miles north of 



216 QUITO TO BOGOTA 

Tolima. This closely clustered group of snow-eminences 
will still rank. as the highest important mountain-mass in 
Colombia, even should the tip of one point on the triple 
cone of Huila prove slightly higher. 

The volcanoes of this group are now dormant ; there are 
a number of thermal springs and occasional fissures, below 
the snow-line, which have been observed to give forth a 
little steam mixed with sulphuric acid gas, and toward the 
Ruiz end of the group the snow has sometimes been ob- 
served to be slightly tinged with yellow near the old craters, 
suggesting a discharge of sulphurous gas. At the time of 
the Spanish Conquest some one of this group was a smok- 
ing mountain, for Cieza de Leon records in 1541 "the snow 
mountains which are a part of the great chain of the Andes 
are 7 leagues from the villages of this province of Quim- 
baya, in which Cartago is situated. In the highest parts 
of these mountains there is a volcano which on a clear day 
may be seen to send forth great quantities of smoke." On 
the 12th of May, 1595, there was an eruption which is re- 
ported to have devastated much of the old Province of 
Mariquita. It is described as a "foul mud" by Friar P. 
Simon, and, from his account, came from a crater on the 
northern end of the group and not from Tolima. 

Situated 4,000 feet above sea-level, with its mild and 
healthy climate, the Ibague of to-day is a prosperous look- 
ing place, and is the centre of a Municipio, which, accord- 
ing to the 19 12 census, has a population of 24,693 persons. 
Here the Governor of the Department, with his Secretary, 
called on Lord Murray and invited the party to be present 
at the banquet to be given that evening as the finishing 
touch to the "fiesta" we saw in progress, and which, indi- 



QUITO TO BOGOTA 217 

eating the number of Antioquefios who have settled in 
these parts, was in honour of the Independence of An- 
tioquia. 

To the east of the town stretches a great plain sloping 
toward the Magdalena, a gigantic composite alluvial-fan 
broken here and there by low rocky ridges that project 
through the recent outwash. So gradual is the slope that 
one riding across it can scarcely believe, were it not for 
the increase in heat, that in the 50 miles between Ibague 
and Girardot he has descended 3,000 feet. Near sundown 
on the nth of August, after our pleasant stop of a few 
hours, we left the city and started on our ride across the 
plain. The moon was nearly full, and after five hours' ride 
across this apparently horizontal grass-covered rather arid 
plain, only sparsely settled and with little irrigated patches 
here and there, we reached the road-side inn, "Mi Casa," 
also called the "Hotel Buenosaires," where we were re- 
ceived in great good humour and a not elaborate but very 
satisfying supper prepared for us. As an instance of the 
indistinct character of even the "main road" in places — it 
may be mentioned that Mr. Stapleton, notwithstanding his 
many years on the plains of Western Nebraska, while rid- 
ing a little ahead of us, was misled by a cow-trail and 
turned aside, and only rejoined us later. 

The following day we saw many of the conical mounds 
of the termite, or white ant, dotting the plain. Some of 
these are eight to ten feet in height, and approach in size 
the more famous examples in Africa. Toward noon we 
reached the modern suspension bridge over the Rio Coella, 
at Chicoral (about 1,750 feet above sea-level), and as the 
heat was rather intense, and as our saddle-pockets were well 



218 QUITO TO BOGOTA 

filled with food, we decided to have luncheon, linger by 
the river-side, and ride into Girardot by moonlight. 

After a time we started slowly along the road, but soon 
had the unwelcome news that the toll-bridge across the 
Magdalena at Girardot, which we would have to cross to 
reach the town, was closed promptly at nine o'clock. Our 
animals were very tired after the long journey, but they 
responded well to the emergency, and at just three min- 
utes before nine we clattered across the bridge into the 
town. 

At some unknown point between the Bridge of Chicoral 
and this bridge over the Magdalena we crossed the route 
followed by that energetic and intrepid conqueror, Belal- 
cazar, for though we seemed, at Ibague, to have passed 
beyond his domain, it is nevertheless true that, starting from 
Popayan in 1538, he crossd the Andes and proceeded along 
the west bank of the Magdalena to a point fifty miles north 
of Girardot, where he was met by a brother of Quesada 
and questioned as to his intentions. Finally he crossed the 
river and went to Tena and the Sabana, where his soldiers 
joined those of Quesada and it was agreed that after his 
departure for Spain with Quesada, Captain Cabrera should 
return and found the town of Neiva, which should be con- 
sidered as belonging to the Province of Popayan. 

During the last few miles of the journey we saw the 
track of the Tolima railway, a 3-foot gauge line with light 
rails, of which the construction — because of the levelness 
of the land — has consisted in little more than laying the 
rails on the surface. It extends from the river at Girardot 
25 kilometres to Espinal, and seems to have very little ex- 
cuse for existing. Perhaps some day it will reach Ibague, 




A TERMITE OR WHITE ANT HILL IN THE MAGDALENA PLAIN 



QUITO TO' BOGOTA 219 

but its usefulness will be dependent on the uncertainties 
of the Magdalena navigation until the completion of north- 
south trunk lines from the Atlantic. 

One of the railway projects which one hears most fre- 
quently discussed in Colombia is a plan to connect Bogota 
with the sea at Buenaventura by a railway passing over the 
Quindio. Of course, there is already the rail communica- 
tion between Bogota and the Magdalena at Girardot ; there 
is a start from Girardot toward Ibague, and there is the 
line from Cali to Buenaventura, but to link these up by 
means of a line across the rugged Andes is a project for 
which there seems little economic justification, as the cost 
of construction would be entirely out of proportion to the 
results secured. The better parts of Colombia lie in two 
belts extending north and south, one between the Western 
and Central Andes, and embracing the Antioquian high- 
lands of the Central Andes, and the other extending along 
the Eastern Andes. North-south trunk lines along these 
belts with their main terminus at a common port on the 
Atlantic coast, and in the case of the Western line with a 
connection to the sea at Buenaventura, are the lines which 
must ultimately be built, and the Quindio project is at best 
but a makeshift which would only postpone the realisation 
of adequate transportation facilities. 

Girardot is a relatively new town which owes its impor- 
tance to the fact that it is the terminus on the Magdalena 
River of the railway lines from Bogota. It is a busy little 
town, the centre of a Municipio with a population of 
10,402, and as it is only 1,000 feet above sea-level is quite 
in the "Tierra Caliente," here rather arid. Like Cartago 
it was for twenty-five days, during the time in 1908 when 



220 QUITO TO BOGOTA 

the Departments all bore the names of cities, the capital of 
a Department. To-day it is the chief city of the Province 
of Girardot, one of the twelve divisions of the Department 
of Cundinamarca, for when we crossed the bridge over the 
Magdalena we passed from the Department of Tolima into 
this Department, which, with many changes in its boun- 
daries, is the most ancient in the Republic. In the begin- 
ning of "La Gran Colombia" it covered the whole of what 
is to-day Colombia. 

In the connection between Girardot and Bogota there 
are two railway lines, which together link the capital and 
the Magdalena. The first of these, the Ferrocarril de la 
Sabana, extends from Bogota across the tableland twenty- 
five miles to Facatativa, and the other, the Colombia Na- 
tional Railway, or Ferrocarril de Girardot, falls down the 
steep western face of the mountains from the upland edge 
near Facatativa and then follows the valley of the Rio 
Apulo and the Rio Bogota to the Magdalena. These are 
two very distinct railway lines, for the Ferrocarril de 
Girardot has a track a yard wide, while that of the Sabana 
Railway is a meter, and therefore all passengers and goods 
must be transferred at Facatativa from the carriages of the 
one line to the other. The two tracks are so nearly the 
same gauge that it is not possible to lay a third rail, as is 
frequently done in the western United States to enable 
cars of a narrow gauge line to run on a broad gauge. The 
construction of the Girardot line was begun in 1881 by 
Cisneros, and although the distance involved is only 82 
miles it was not completed until 1909. The total outlay 
expressed by the capital of the company and its four bond 
issues is £2,380,000, or something like £30,000 per mile, 



QUITO TO BOGOTA 221 

and the first portion of the line, where there are no engi- 
neering difficulties, was constructed by Cisneros like the 
line near Buenaventura, with indefensibly steep gradients 
and curves. The climb from Girardot to the summit is 
7,900 feet, while the Cauca railway climbs only 5,200 feet, 
but, like its unfortunate sister-line on the west coast, it has 
been dogged with misfortune; the work has been inter- 
rupted by revolutions, floods on the streams have carried 
out the bridges, and land-slips in the soft shales, which 
make up the greater part of the mountain face, have caused 
much difficulty. 

We left Girardot on this line at seven o'clock on the 
morning of the 12th of August, Lord Murray and his 
companions in a private car and our faithful animals in 
the horse-car. The horseman rides up to the train, his ani- 
mal goes into the horse-car, and when he alights at his 
station out comes his horse or saddle-mule, and he gallops 
off to his destination. 

The first settlement of importance along the line is the 
old town of Tocaima, 28 kilometres from Girardot, but 
midway between the two places we passed the leper colony 
of Agua de Dios, which contained 3,746 persons in 1912. 
There are two other places in Colombia set aside by the 
Government for lepers, one at Contratacion, not far from 
Bucaramanga, and the other at Loro, a few miles south of 
Cartagena, the first with 2,899 inmates, and the second with 
148. The great Quesada, conqueror of the Eastern Andes 
and founder of Bogota, is reputed to have succumbed to 
this disease at Mariquita in 1579. 

Tocaima, 1,280 feet above sea-level, was founded by 
Hernando Venegas Carrillo de Manosalva in 1544, eight 



222 QUITO TO BOGOTA 

years after the establishment of Bogota. In its neighbour- 
hood are famous medicinal springs, thermal, gaseous and 
sulphurous, extending over a radius of ihree miles, which 
we understand are used by many people. 

The low hills covered with stunted semi-arid vegetation, 
which have thus far been some distance from us, now close 
in and force the railway to follow the very bank of the 
river. We soon reach Juntas de Apulo, 39 kilometres from 
Girardot, where the Rio Apulo joins the Bogota. Here 
there is to be seen from the railway a very pretentious hotel 
but partially completed, and apparently neglected for some 
years — a monument to an ambitious dream which was not 
carried out. One of the routes surveyed for the railway 
was along the Bogota and entered the Sabana by way of the 
great waterfall of Tequendama, but this was finally aban- 
doned for the route along the Apulo. 

Near Apulo is the estate of former President Rafael 
Reyes, one of the most energetic and progressive Presi- 
dents that the Republic has had. It is due to his initiative 
that agricultural experiment stations were established in 
this vicinity. The cotton experiment farm, established in 
1906, has apparently been allowed to lapse, but the farm, 
started to determine whether or not a wine industry is pos- 
sible in Colombia, is still continued privately by Monsieur 
Charton, with most satisfactory and promising results. 
This experimental vineyard is located between Apulo and 
Tocaima. The Agricultural Experiment Stations main- 
tained by the United States Government and by many of 
the States have been a great factor in the agricultural de- 
velopment of that country, as they must also in time be- 




Paved road at El Tambo and pack-ox with a "load" of salt 




Indian house and draught oxen on old paved way near Esperanza 



OX TRANSPOKTATION 



QUITO TO BOGOTA 223 

come in Colombia when, as we expect, the Government 
again turns its attention in this direction.* 

As we continue up the valley of the Apulo, the hills on 
both sides increase in height. At the station of Anapoima 
(51 kilometres) the ridge between this river and the Bo- 
gota rises only 300 feet above the track, but passing San 
Joaquin (58 kilometres), the flat-topped hill of La Mesa 
comes in sight, the top of which is 2,000 feet above this 
point. Soon we begin the real climb of the mountain face, 
and at San Javier, the little station for La Mesa (72 kilo- 
metres), the top of the Mesa is only 1,000 feet above us. 
Here and at Hospicio (5 kilometres beyond) there are 
numerous vendors of tropical and sub-tropical fruits, and the 
passengers eagerly buy baskets to take to their friends in 
Bogota. For some years San Joaquin, then San Javier, 
then Hospicio, was the terminus of the railway, and the 
traveller proceeded on mule-back up the old Spanish way, 
in places almost a stone staircase, through La Mesa, Tena, 
Tambo, and Boca de Monte to Barroblanco, on the edge 
of the Sabana, and thence to Madrid on the Sabana Rail- 
way. 

The railway twists and turns, and towards noon we 
reached Esperanza, about 4,000 feet above the sea, where 
the train stops to allow the passengers to have luncheon at 
the delightful hotel which has been established at this 
point. The temperature here is very pleasant, and it is a 
favourite resort for the families of Bogota, and is destined 
to grow increasingly popular. The little garden and look- 

* The Pan-American Bulletin, of April 1915, announces that the 
Department of Cauca has engaged an agricultural expert to establish a 
School of Agriculture in Popayan. 



224 QUITO TO BOGOTA 

out command a magnificent view of the broken foot-hills 
country — below is the Apulo, beyond the low hills of the 
valley of the Magdalena, and in the distance the Central 
Andes; to the south, only a few miles away, and at the 
same elevation, is the slightly sloping, little table-land of 
La Mesa, with the tiny looking buildings which form part 
of the town. Around Esperanza everything is green, al- 
though there is not enough rain for the heavy forest growth 
which occurs higher up the mountain side. In the dry 
upper Magdalena valley region the winds must rise high 
before they yield much moisture. Continuing the climb 
from Esperanza, the train passes through a coffee plan- 
tation, and in time enters the local belt of heavy tree 
growth. Along this western face of the Eastern Andes 
this belt varies greatly in both position and width, as it is 
affected by many local conditions. It is, however, com- 
monly narrow. 

Beyond this we pass through a short tunnel and enter 
the little village of Zipacon (8,185 feet), where the hill- 
sides are fairly peppered with primitive coal mines, each 
only a rough shed with a hoisting apparatus worked by a 
man or a mule. We are now within the borders of one of 
the two ancient Kingdoms of the Chibchas — a people who 
had made considerable advancement toward civilisation at 
the time of the arrival of the Spaniards. Zipacon was the 
western-most of their villages along this route, and near 
here, as elsewhere along the frontier, the Chibchas main- 
tained a border force, called the Guechas, to guard against 
attacks from the more warlike and less civilised tribes which 
occupied the country through which we have just passed. 

It is now unpleasantly cold for those who have come 



QUITO TO BOGOTA 225 

from the torrid banks of the Magdalena, and there is a 
rush for overcoats or any sort of clothing which will give 
a little added warmth. Soon we reach the summit (8,950 
feet) and begin the descent to the Sabana 375 feet below, 
and once over the crest it seems much warmer, probably 
because of the shelter from the wind afforded by the rim of 
the basin. A fellow passenger points out some big rocks 
near the track on which he says there are Indian hiero- 
glyphics, and immediately beyond we get a glimpse of miles 
and miles of flat plain which is almost at once lost to view 
behind the little group of hills that partially separate the 
flat of Facatativa from the rest of the plain. 

Facatativa is in a little pocket representing the most 
western point of the Sabana, and the railway station here 
is just 6y 2 feet higher than that at Bogota twenty-five 
miles away, near the southeastern corner of this plain. 
Surrounded by a low rim, the floor of the Sabana is like 
the impression of a rude hand, with a very short thumb to 
the west, on the tip of which is Facatativa. Between the 
fingers are long narrow ridges rising 300 to 1,000 feet 
above its surface, and there are half a dozen wart-like 
masses along its southwest side, on the prolongation of 
the thumb to the base of the hand. The first finger, a long, 
flat-bottomed valley through which the Rio Puebloviejo 
flows, extends twelve to fifteen miles northeast of Facata- 
tiva, the second finger, with the Rio Frio, a like distance 
from the great level palm. The third and fourth fingers 
are separated at the point they leave the palm by Cer- 
rito de Suba, which rises 300 feet above the flat. The 
third finger is here occupied by the Rio Funza, also called 
the Rio Bogota, the main drainage channel of the Sabana, 



226 QUITO TO BOGOTA 

while along the fourth runs the Northern Railway and the 
Gran Carretera Central del Norte (the great central wag- 
on-road of the north). These two fingers coalese in about 
six miles, and after continuing together for nine miles 
again separate. The tip of the third finger is thirty miles 
northeast of the palm, and that of the fourth forty miles, 
and these two fingers must thus be regarded as having 
special extensions comparable to the nails of the hands of 
the wealthy Chinese, whose facial features are sometimes 
strongly suggested by the physiognomy of some of the 
aborigines. The squatty palm is twenty miles broad and 
only ten miles long, with Bogota on one side of the wrist, 
and Soacha on the other, near the railway station for the 
Falls of Tequendama. Little spur valleys extend south 
from Soacha and Bogota, six miles to Sibate in the one 
case, and nine miles toward Usme in the other. The ex- 
treme length of the Sabana from the tip of the fifth finger 
southwest to Sibate is thus 55 miles, and its extreme width 
25. The great mountain-park of which this is the floor is 
somewhat larger. 

Facatativa was an important place in the land of the 
Chibchas, and Mr. William Lidstone, an English engineer, 
now employed by the Girardot Railway, has promised to 
show us the rock pictures which are to be seen in the cav- 
erns nearby. The ruler of the Chibchas of this part of the 
country bore the title of Zipa; his kingdom was seventy 
miles wide and ninety miles long, and his capital was at 
Bocata, also called Muequeta, in the very palm of the 
Sabana. Most of the history and traditions of these people 
was irretrievably lost during the early days of the Con- 
quest by the ruthless destruction of all the more advanced 



QUITO TO BOGOTA 227 

of the people. It is known from the early Spanish chron- 
iclers that the Spanish found a number of Chiefs or Usques 
subordinate to the Zipa. It may be inferred from the dis- 
tribution of these various chiefdoms, as shown on the map 
of the "Geography of the Chibchas," by Vergara, that at 
some distant time the people of the chiefdom of Bocata, 
which occupied the greater part of the palm of the Sabana, 
growing more powerful than their neighbours, because of 
their better land, extended their domain, and the Usque of 
Bocata became the Zipa or King of the surrounding Chiefs. 

When the Spaniards advanced on Bocata the Indians 
suffered several defeats, and abandoned their capital city. 
The Zipa then found a refuge at Facatativa, and was sup- 
posed by the Spaniards to have taken great treasures of 
gold with him. His place of retreat having become known 
through the capture of two boys suspected of coming from 
the Zipa as messengers, one of them dying of torture with- 
out revealing the secret, and the other divulging it only after 
prolonged agony, a night march was made on Facatativa, 
the royal camp surprised, and Tisquesusha, the last of the 
Zipas but one, mortally wounded. He is reported to have 
been moved from the battlefield by his followers and to 
have died near the present site of the town. The Spaniards 
secured only two golden drinking-vessels which had been 
conveyed here for the personal use of the sovereign. 

We found the railway station at Facatativa piled high 
with goods in boxes much battered by the many handlings 
to which they had been subjected in the numerous changes 
necessitated by the present means of transportation from 
the coast. The town is to-day the centre of a municipio 
of 10,534 people, and during one of the periods when the 



228 QUITO TO BOGOTA 

Colombians created a Federal District around the capital 
city of Bogota, based on the American idea of the District 
of Columbia, in which Washington is situated, it was for a 
time the capital of Cundinamarca. While the luggage and 
mails were being transferred from one train to the other 
we had tea with Mr. Harry W. Cutbill, an Englishman 
connected with the administration of the Girardot Railway, 
and then, entering our special car, passed between two hills 
and out upon the palm of the Sabana — a great fertile plain 
covered with pastures and fields, growing the crops of the 
temperate zone, with here and there clumps of eucalyptus 
around the hacienda buildings, and occasional avenues of 
them along the roads. To the eye the surface appears per- 
fectly horizontal and the railway levels show an average 
slope from Facatativa to the Rio Funza or Rio Bogota of 
less than 10 feet per mile. 

The Sabana Railway is in itself a record of the energy 
and perseverance of the Colombians, for this line was built 
long before the Girardot Railway was completed, and the. 
bringing of the locomotives, cars and other equipment for 
twenty-five miles of line 8,000 feet up a mountain side, in 
order to build a railway in the mountain-park on its sum- 
mit, is no mean undertaking, and its successful accomplish- 
ment was quite an achievement. A cart-road was first con- 
structed, commencing at Facatativa and reaching the Mag- 
dalena at Cambao, some distance north of Girardot, and, by 
a strange coincidence, very near the place where Belalcazar 
crossed the river. Up this all the material, including three 
40-ton locomotives and six locomotives of smaller size, was 
hauled by mules, the railway built and the cart-road al- 
lowed to fall into disuse. The cost of the railway is given 




Typical gateway, with usual type of mud wall on right and with the 
less common wall of adobe brick on the left 




On the Soacha road — looking across the Sabana to the range 
just behind Bogota 



ON THE SABANA 



QUITO TO BOGOTA 229 

as approximately £300,000 ($1,500,000), or £12,000 per 
mile, and it is now the property of the Government. There 
are many villages in the plain, and the train makes frequent 
halts. A quarter of the way to Bogota is Madrid, the 
centre of a population of 4,000; half-way is Mosquera, the 
station for the nearby Funza, which is a town of 3,000 to 
4,000 people, at one time the capital of the Department of 
Cundinamarca, and for a time considered by historians to 
be the site of the ancient capital of the Zipas, Beyond we 
crossed the Rio Funza, and six miles from Bogota reached 
Fontibon, which has now been proven to have been the 
site of the Zipa capital of Bocata. From here there is a 
very clear view of the principal city of Colombia, built on 
the lower slopes of the low range which marks the eastern 
edge of the Sabana, and whose bare rugged summits rise 
2,000 feet above the city in the Cerro Guadalupe and the 
Cerro Monserrate, each crowned with a chapel. 

The train hurried along through the fields and the groves 
of eucalyptus, and at half -past five on the afternoon of the 
13th of August, having taken just ten and a half hours by 
train to cover 107 miles, we pulled into Bogota and re- 
ceived a welcome from the warm-hearted friends assembled 
at the station, among them the gifted representative of our 
firm, Mr. Martin G. Ribon, himself a Colombian by birth 
but an Englishman and Frenchman by training. Mr. Slad- 
den, who followed the usual route from Quito, reached Bo- 
gota only five days ahead of us, and a special inquiry is be- 
ing held to determine who won the wagers on the quickest 
trip from Quito to Bogota, the contention being that had we 
not made the side-trip to Buenaventura, we would have ar- 
rived first! 



2 3 o QUITO TO BOGOTA 

The journey from Quito to Bogota is completed. Start- 
ing from the first Spanish settlement in Ecuador, and al- 
ways its chief city, the ancient capital of the Quitos and 
one of the centres of Inca civilisation, we have come across 
mountains and valleys to the chief city of Colombia, located 
near one of the capitals of the old Chibcha civilisation, and, 
while not the first Spanish settlement in Colombia, the one 
which, at an early date, became the most important. There 
are many points of resemblance between the two capitals 
and some features in which they differ; both are in moun- 
tain-parks on the top of the Andes, where there is a cold 
temperate climate; both are high above sea-level — Quito a 
few hundred feet more than 9,000, and Bogota an almost 
equal amount less; both have until recent years been diffi- 
cult of access, and both are among the old centres of civi- 
lization, both Indian and Spanish, of South America. 
Quito is the older of the two by four years, and though it 
is to-day a town of only 80,000 people, whereas Bogota is 
half again as large, its Government and Church buildings 
are more impressive and more beautiful. The location of 
Quito is more picturesque; its neighbouring mountains are 
more impressive, and its immediate surroundings more di- 
versified. Bogota, on the lower slopes of a ridge which 
rises 2,000 feet above it and extends in a straight line north 
and south, looks out over a great level plain, fertile and 
valuable, but rather monotonous; one must journey away 
from the city to get the beauty even of the ridge which lies 
behind it, and must go even farther to appreciate the 
rugged mountain scenery and waterfalls which lie on the 
sides of the Andes beyond the rim of the park, both to the 
east and west. Quito is built on the undulating surface of 



QUITO TO BOGOTA 231 

a little valley in the mountains, and in every direction there 
is a differing landscape. 

In Bogota more attention is devoted to arts and letters. 
One is not a little surprised to find on entering a drawing- 
room that, in addition to speaking perfect Spanish, every- 
one, as a matter of course, speaks French, and that half of 
the gathering, including many who have not been away 
from Colombia, speak excellent English. The charm of the 
culture of Bogota and the courtesy of her well-dressed 
people grows upon you, and there is no little ground for 
the proud claim that Bogota is the "Athens of South 
America." 



SEVEN 
AROUND BOGOTA 



Bogota, 

Carrera Nueva No. 213, 

23rd November, 1913. 

BogotA was founded by Gonzalo Jimenez de Quesada on 
the 6th of August, 1538, after he had been nineteen months 
in the land of the Chibchas, which, with its cultivated fields, 
its houses and villages, seemed so fair a sight to him, after 
his hardships in the tropical forests of the Magdalena, that 
he called it "El Valle de Alcazares" — the Valley of Pal- 
aces. During these nineteen months Quesada and his fol- 
lowers had carried fire and sword virtually from one end of 
Chibcha-land to the other — 166 men with 59 horses had 
conquered a population estimated by Acosta at 1,200,000 
souls, and had secured all the more accessible stores of gold 
and emeralds. Satisfied, Quesada decided to found a capi- 
tal city, and within this newly acquired territory he chose 
a site seven miles from the former capital of the Zipas, on 
the foothills of the eastern boundary of the Sabana, where 
there was a clear little mountain stream and where the 
Zipas had had a pleasure house and garden called Teusa- 
quillo. Here Quesada erected a church and twelve houses, 
in honour of the Twelve Apostles, and, the first Mass hav- 
ing been said in the church on the 6th of August, 1538, he 
marched his little band of soldiers thrice around the place 
and solemnly declared it a city dedicated to the service of 
the King. The great plain reminded him of the Vega of 
Granada where he had spent his boyhood days, and he 

235 



236 QUITO TO BOGOTA 

named the city Santa Fe in memory of the great camp 
which Ferdinand and Isabel maintained in their wars with 
the Moors. At first only the name of Santa Fe seems to 
have been used, but very soon a suffix, descriptive of the 
locality of the new city, was added. The whole of the 
plain of the Sabana was called Bocata by the Chibchas; the 
ancient capital of the Zipas bore the same name, and the 
new Spanish city thus naturally became "Santa Fe de 
Bogota," which was retained officially during the time of 
the Spanish rule. When the country became a Republic 
the first part of the name was dropped and the town has 
since been called only by the Chibcha word which is said to 
signify, in that language, "the great cultivated land," a 
description which, applied to the Sabana, is singularly ap- 
propriate. 

There is to-day along the very eastern edge of the city a 
beautiful carriage drive, the Paso Bolivar. Well laid out 
from a scenic standpoint, it is one of a number of things 
which in recent years the progressive people of the capital 
have done towards the beautification of their city. Starting 
from the pretty Park of Independence on the western edge 
of the town, it ascends gradually along the lower slopes of 
the Cerro Monserrate, then, crossing the clear mountain 
stream of San Francisco, which, with picturesque little 
waterfalls, comes through a break in the range between 
Monserrate and Guadelupe, it continues along the lower 
slopes of the latter peak to the old chapel of Egipto. All 
of the city lies below this boulevard ; behind are mountain 
slopes, not so steep but that we expect to see them some 
day covered with beautiful residences and grounds. Be- 
low, the city slopes away to the edge of the plain at such a 



QUITO TO BOGOTA 237 

gradient that when it rains the water rushes down the 
streets and serves an important purpose in a town where 
there is no general sewage system. The impression of the 
city from the Paso Bolivar is of a sea of white straight- 
walled buildings, with red-tiled roofs, of the usual type of 
Spanish-American architecture, with its characteristic ac- 
companiment of domes and dome-capped towers on the 
churches and houses of the religious orders. Most promi- 
nent are the twin towers of the Cathedral and the domes 
of San Domingo and San Ignacio. 

Driving along the main streets of the city, however, one 
sees many relatively new buildings with a decided French 
aspect in their design. Among these the most notable are 
the new Presidential Palace, the Theatre, and the Engi- 
neering School, while the interiors and furnishings in the 
better houses are almost all pronouncedly French. The 
plain exteriors of the majority of the residences of the bet- 
ter classes hide beautiful interiors where one meets highly 
cultivated and gracious people. The still unfinished Capi- 
tol, which, like the Cathedral, faces the principal plaza, is 
of a type quite different from the other buildings, and with 
its great Ionic pillars and simple stone construction sug- 
gests an old Greek temple. Designed by the American 
architect Reed, its construction was begun in 1848 under 
President Mosquera, whose statue has very fittingly been 
placed in the outer court. The English-speaking visitor 
will be particularly interested in the marble slab affixed 
to the front of this building, which reads : "Colombia to 
the noble Venezuelans and the British Legion." Dr. 
Hiram Bingham, Professor of Latin-American History in 
Yale University, who in 1906 and 1907 personally followed 



238 QUITO TO BOGOTA 

the route of Bolivar's celebrated march, in 1819, to the bat- 
tlefield of Boyaca (10 miles south of Tunja), which con- 
flict resulted in the final overthrow of the Spanish power 
in Colombia, records that more than half of the men who 
made the extraordinary march from the banks of the Apure 
to Boyaca over a route the Spaniards considered impass- 
able were Bolivar's faithful Allies, the soldiers of the 
British Legion, and that it was this Legion which made the 
bold frontal attack which, combined with the flank attacks 
of the remaining troops, caused the complete rout of the 
Spanish Army. He adds: "Colombia has acknowledged 
the debt she owes that brave regiment by placing its name 
in a prominent position on the monument that has been 
erected near the bridge of Boyaca"; and the part played 
in the Wars of the Independence by the British Legion, 
composed mostly of Scots and Irish, has again been grace- 
fully recognised by this tablet affixed on the Capitol in 
1910, the centenary of the beginning of Colombia's struggle 
for freedom. 

It is quite indicative of the studious character of the 
people in Bogota that I found Professor Bingham's journal 
of his expedition across Venezuela and Colombia, as well as 
a host of other books, printed in English, kept in stock in 
the principal book-store of the city, belonging to Messrs. 
Camacho Roldan and Tomayo. I also secured here a copy 
of Colonel Hamilton's "Travels Through the Interior Prov- 
inces of Colombia," published in London in 1827, which, 
the proprietor told me, he had purchased in a second-hand 
book shop in London on his last visit to Europe, because 
of the demand in Colombia for such works. 

Among the architectural features of Bogota one is most 



QUITO TO BOGOTA 239 

of all attracted by the beauty of the cloisters in the old 
convent of San Domingo; this, like many other buildings 
of a similar origin throughout the Republic, is occupied 
by Government Offices. To-day it contains the Post and 
Telegraph Offices, and the Ministries of the Treasury, In- 
terior, and Public Works. Other notable cloisters are to 
be found in San Bartolome, still a Jesuit School, but these 
are inferior in beauty to those of San Domingo. In the 
churches are many works of art — wood carvings, paintings 
in quaint frames and jewelled monstrances with wonderful 
emeralds. We visited again and again the series of great 
carved cedar altars in the Church of La Tercera. 

Throughout the town are a number of noteworthy 
statues, many of them erected during the celebration of the 
Centenary in 19 10. One of these, a very noble and digni- 
fied statue of the scientist and patriot, Caldas, is in the 
Plazuela Las Nieves, on the principal thoroughfare of the 
city and toward the Park of Independence. It is a grave 
and thoughtful figure; in the left hand he holds a manu- 
script, while the other is raised towards his chin in the 
attitude of a man lost in thoughtful meditation, but the 
irreverent street urchin, because of the position of the 
hand, refers to it as the statue of "Oh! I've swallowed my 
collar button." On the street leading to the railway sta- 
tion is a heroic figure of Narifio; the right hand is out- 
stretched, the left has caught his great military overcoat 
and pulled it to one side in a strong oratorical gesture. It 
is a well-conceived and well-executed figure, but to the ir- 
repressible gamin this is the statue of "Oh! who has stolen 
my pocket book ?" 

During our first stay in Bogota, from the beginning of 



240 QUITO TO BOGOTA 

February to the ist of May of the present year, we saw that 
portion of the country nearby which could be reached by 
carriage or automobile. This is really limited to two 
roads, one the excellent Carretera Central del Norte, ex- 
tending along the western side of the Sabana and com- 
pleted well through the next mountain-park of Tunja. The 
only other road which offers any attractions for motoring 
is the one which runs along the south side of the Sabana 
to Soacha and Sibate, with a branch extending to the 
Falls of Tequendama from about midway between these 
last two places — a total distance from Bogota to the Falls 
of twenty miles. This "West Road," as we commonly 
called it, though it is officially known as the Carretera de 
Soacha, can hardly be described as excellent in condition, 
but it is still passable for motors in dry weather, as we dem- 
onstrated in February last near the end of the dry season. 
It follows closely the Southern Railway (Ferrocarril del 
Sur), which extends the nineteen miles from Bogota to 
Sibate, and, like the Sabana Railway, was built before the 
completion of the Girardot line. The branch cart-road to 
Tequendama (five miles) is in much better condition be- 

m 

cause of the important hauling along it. The coal mines 
near the Falls furnish the fuel used on the Southern Rail- 
way, as well as part of that consumed in the capital city, 
and the output is hauled along this cart-road to the railway. 
It is also important that it be kept in good condition in 
order that the supplies needed for the hydro-electric plant, 
established on little rapids just above the Falls, may be 
brought in from the railway. Later we saw this magnifi- 
cent waterfall on several occasions from horseback, and a 




As seen from the road to Fusagasuea 




The drop of the Rio Funza or Bogota over the escarpment at the 
Falls of Tequendama 



THE WESTERN ESCARPMENT OF THE BOGOTA TABLELAND 



QUITO TO BOGOTA 241 

detailed description may well await the narrative of these 
rides. 

In our drives along this road we were struck with the 
great mud walls with Moorish gateways which surround 
the fields. These are the commonest sort of fence in a 
large part of the Sabana. They are usually three to four 
feet high, about a foot thick, and are constructed by pound- 
ing thick mud between a support of planks which are after- 
wards removed and used in building the next section. At 
the base a layer of stones is placed to facilitate drainage. 
The top of the completed wall is sometimes protected with 
tiles, but very often it is quite bare, and the fact that these 
peculiar fences last for years exposed to the wind and 
weather is a suggestion not only of the character of some 
of the Sabana soils, but also an indication that we are here 
out of the region of tropical rains. Each contribution of 
mud is somewhat irregular, and when the surface of the 
wall is etched by the winds and the rains the appearance 
is one which a geologist would at once describe as "cross- 
bedded." More rarely the walls are built of adobe or 
sun-dried brick. Every opening, even between interior 
fields, is spanned by a massive Moresque gateway, and 
these great, square-pillared, red-tile, flat-topped entrances 
are the dominating feature of the landscape of the Sabana. 

Our favourite carriage drive now, as well as during our 
former visit, is along this Soacha road as far as the pic- 
turesque, quaint, old three-arch Spanish bridge over the 
River Tunjuelo, five miles west of the city. On the pillars 
at either end is still legible the inscription recording its 
construction in 1567. Here we had many picnic luncheons 
in the first months of the year, and now, whenever there 



242 QUITO TO BOGOTA 

is not time for a horseback ride away from the Sabana, 
the choice is almost always a drive to the Tunjuelo bridge. 
From here there is a good view of the mountains behind 
Bogota, and one of the series of mental pictures we shall 
long cherish is that of these mountains on our drives back 
to the city, particularly in the changing lights of the setting 
sun, with billowy masses of paramo clouds hanging over 
their summits. It is the most beautiful picture to be en- 
joyed within a few miles of Bogota, unless one has a sad- 
dle-animal and is prepared to ride. 

Two miles down the river from this bridge is the little 
village of Bosa, the site of a Chibcha village of the same 
name, which was the camp of Quesada in the months im- 
mediately preceding the foundation of the Spanish city of 
Bogota. Quesada' s headquarters had in the early months 
of 1538 been at .Muequeta, or Bocata, the capital city of 
the Zipas, and it was from there that the expedition set out 
which surprised the Zipa, Tisquesusa, at Facatativa, in 
which struggle the Zipa was mortally wounded. The legal 
heir, Zaquasazipa, had shown himself a weakling, and an- 
other nephew — Zajipa — was chosen to succeed, thus repeat- 
ing in a measure the succession tangle of Atahualpa and 
Huascar, which helped the Spaniards in the conquest of 
Peru. Zajipa proved a brave and able leader and his per- 
sistent attacks forced Quesada to abandon Bocata and 
retreat to Bosa, where the ground was more favourable 
for cavalry manoeuvres. 

The fierce Panches of the western slopes of the moun- 
tains, taking advantage of the disturbed state of affairs, 
made raids into the Chibcha country, and Zajipa committed 
the fatal error of visiting Quesada at Bosa with presents 



QUITO TO BOGOTA 243 

of gold and emeralds and proposing that they together sub- 
due the Panches. The Spaniards readily agreed; the joint 
expedition was successful, then there occurred the one act 
in the life of Quesada which constitutes, as Markham justly 
points out, an indelible stain on the memory of "this able 
administrator and born leader of men — dignified and 
resigned in adversity, ever loyal and zealous, ever ready to 
serve his country." Markham considers Quesada greater 
than Pizarro and greater, in some respects, than Cortes. 
After the successful completion of the Panche expedition, 
the brave Zipa, the ally and companion-in-arms of the 
Spaniards, was first loaded with chains and then tortured 
to reveal the whereabouts of the treasures the preceding 
Zipa was supposed to have hidden. At length he died in 
terrible agony — so perished the last of the Zipas, a sacri- 
fice by Quesada to the demands of his followers. 

Our other motor journeys around Bogota were along 
the North Road — "Carretera Central del Norte" — which 
has now been completed a distance of 170 miles, and is 
the longest and the most important cart-road in the Re- 
public. It runs through the relatively well-populated, fer- 
tile mountain-parks of the Eastern Andes, almost from one 
end of the ancient land of the Chibchas to the other. Its 
present state of completion is largely due to the energy 
and progressive spirit of President Rafael Reyes, and 
extending from Bogota 71 miles through Cundinamarca, 
and passing his birthplace at Santa Rosa, in the Depart- 
ment of Boyaca, the road almost reaches the northern limit 
of that Department. 

Of course, parts of the road are of much more ancient 
construction, and one of the interesting features of a car- 



244 QUITO TO BOGOTA 

riage drive to the north of Bogota is the circular enlarge- 
ment, near the Polo grounds, that was constructed to per- 
mit the State carriage of the Viceroy to turn around. 
These grounds of the Polo Club in the northern outskirts 
of the city are quite an important centre in the social life 
of the capital. The people are fond of sports, polo, rac- 
ing, foot-ball and cricket, and scarcely a Sunday passes 
without some gathering here. The French influence is so 
markedly evident in the dress and costumes at these meet- 
ings that the suggestion is of a portion of a well-dressed 
Longchamps gathering. Occasionally there is a bull-fight, 
but this national sport of Spain does not have a very 
enthusiastic support among the people of the capital, and 
those held in recent years are described as generally only 
amusing farces. There are annual agricultural shows at 
which are exhibited the fine cattle, Durhams, Holstein- 
Frieslands, Herefords and South Devons, which have been 
imported by the progressive people of the Sabana for the 
improvement of the local stock. 

Beyond the Polo grounds is Chapinero, a rather recently 
constructed suburb of Bogota, and here the road turns into 
the low foothills of the range at a slight elevation above 
the plain. The site of the old cart-road in this part of the 
Sabana is now occupied, as far as the Puente del Comun, 
by the Ferrocarril del Norte which, like the other Sabana 
railways, was equipped with locomotives and cars brought 
up the sides of the mountain by mule-power, but, unlike 
them, it is still privately owned. It was built on a Govern- 
ment subvention which is estimated to have fully covered 
the cost of construction and made of the railway a free 
gift from a generous Government to the energetic builders. 



QUITO TO BOGOTA 245 

The cart-road of the north is said to be a good motor- 
road for its entire length, and during our earlier visit a 
much discussed plan was to motor to the old city of Tunja, 
formerly the capital of the Zaque, or King of the Northern 
Chibchas, and to-day the capital of the Department of 
Boyaca. After Bogota, Tunja is the oldest Spanish city 
in the Kingdom of New Granada; it is only 100 miles from 
the capital, but the condition of the road precludes making 
the round trip in a day. The farthest north we reached 
by motor was the hill just to the east of Suesca, a distance 
of 40 miles. Here the extension of the Sabana along the 
Rio Funza is so narrow that it is to be described as a flat- 
bottom stream valley, and the road builders have found 
it expedient to cross a hill-point rather than follow the main 
valley. The little village of Suesca, which lies in the valley 
to the west of the main road, is very closely connected with 
the events of the Conquest. Here there was a rich and 
important Chibcha city, called "Suesusa," which word is 
said to signify "The Hill of the Macaw," because of the 
variety of colours of the plain, in the midst of which there 
is a hill of peculiar form. This city, while acknowledging 
the kingship of the Zipa of Bocata, is said to have been 
a free city similar to the German Hanseatic towns, a place 
of refuge for the proscribed and persecuted. It was here 
in the early months of 1537 that Quesada, coming from 
the north, first entered the Sabana, and it was the mes- 
senger sent from the chief of this place that brought the 
news of the arrival of the Spaniards, with their terrible, 
strange animals, to the Zipa in his council chamber at 
Bocata. It was to Suesca that the Spaniards retreated and 
established a defensive camp in the last months of 1537, 



246 QUITO TO BOGOTA 

after their raid and pillage of Tunja, the capital city of the 
Zaques, and the destruction of the temple and seat of the 
religious chief of the Chibchas at Suamo (Sogamoso), 
just to the east of Tunja. It was here at Suesca that Ques- 
ada, after his return from ten years of misrepresentation 
and persecution in Spain, the first reward of his persever- 
ance and leadership, wrote three books on the Chibchas 
and their history under the title of "Los Tres Ratos de 
Suesca," that is to say : "The Three Holidays at Suesca," 
because they were written during three visits to his farm 
near this place. As Quesada was a man of education and 
literary ability, an advocate in the High Court of Justice 
at Grenada before he came to America, this is probably the 
most important and accurate account of the Chibchas which 
has been written. This treatise was never published, and 
has disappeared ; one can only hope it has not been actually 
destroyed and will some day come to light, like that im- 
portant manuscript on "The History of the Incas," by 
Sarmiento, which was discovered only in 1906 in the 
Library of the University of Gottingen, where it had lain 
forgotten for generations, and the other account 6f the 
Incas by Don Felipe Huaman Poma de Ayala, wonderfully 
illustrated, which was only unearthed in the Royal Library 
at Copenhagen even more recently. The romance of the 
loss and recovery of these old documents is quite in keep- 
ing with the matters of which they treat. 

Returning from Suesca toward Bogota, we pass, near 
the village of Sesquile, the opening of the flat-bottom 
valley of the Siecha, a tributary of the Funza. In this val- 
ley, nine miles to the south, lies Guatavita, and near it to 
the east, in the top of the adjoining range, is the little 




A HACIEXDA ENTRVXCR \TK 

View from t'm liouso :tt Lns Palivas 



QUITO TO BOGOTA 247 

lake of the same name, where, in the days of the Chibchas, 
the annual ceremony was performed that gave rise to the 
story of El Dorado ("The Gilded One"). It was this pow- 
erful lodestone that drew three expeditions to these upland 
parks of the Eastern Andes across unknown wilds and 
through untold hardships. It is one of the strangest coin- 
cidences of history that three expeditions should set 
out independently from widely separated points into an 
unknown wilderness — one from the northern coast of Co- 
lombia under Quesada, one from the coast of Venezuela 
under the German, Federmann, and the other from Quito 
under Belalcazar — all in search of "The Gilded One" — 
and should meet on the Sabana of Bogota not far from 
the place where the famous ceremony was performed which 
was the basis of these far-flung rumours. 

In this ceremony, which was of a religious character, 
the Usque of Guatavita, his body anointed with grease 
and powdered with gold dust, was solemnly conveyed to 
the centre of the lake on a raft, where, at an appointed sig- 
nal, he dived into the water and the populace on the shore 
threw into it the offerings they had brought. Many at- 
tempts have been made to drain the lake and recover the 
gold, but the metal secured has in the aggregate been 
rather less than the money spent in these efforts. 

Though actually having found the home of El Dorado, 
the reality was so small compared with the fantastic stories 
which had been evolved from this simple fact, the Spaniards 
felt that they had not succeeded and must seek further. 
The brother of Quesada, who was placed in charge of New 
Granada when the leader returned to Spain to present his 
discoveries and claims to the Throne, made the first at- 



248 QUITO TO BOGOTA 

tempt, performing a terrible journey, in 1 541-1542, through 
the plains east of the Central Andes, and only reached 
Pasto after frightful suffering and the death of most of 
his followers. Even the great Quesada himself, the first 
explorer to reach the real home of El Dorado, continued 
the search when he was three-score years and ten, for in 
1569 this old warrior equipped an expedition at a cost of 
$300,000 gold, and marched south and east from Bogota 
with 300 Spaniards and 1,500 native porters. Only twenty 
men remained with the leader when he reached the Guavi- 
are, near its junction with the Orinoco, and he returned to 
Bogota after an absence of two years, an old man of 72, 
heavily in debt. The greater part of the life of this won- 
derful man was spent in seeking for one thing and, like 
many another, when he found what he sought he did not 
recognise it. 

Along the Carretera Central del Norte there are a num- 
ber of small villages, but none of special importance in 
the 40 miles which we traversed. From Tocancipa, 25 
miles from Bogota, there is a branch road, not passable by 
motor, leading westward across the Funza to Zipaquira, 
which lies eight miles away at the eastern foot of one of 
the finger ridges of the Sabana. It is an important place 
and is one of the ten municipios in Cundinamarca, not 
including Bogota, which have a population approximating 
10,000 people. Here there are large deposits of rock salt 
estimated to contain a billion tons; these deposits, together 
with those at Nemocon, seven miles to the northeast along 
the Rio Tibito, were the principal source of the wealth of 
the Chibchas, in whose ancient Kingdom there were no 
deposits of gold of importance and whose land was too 



QUITO TO BOGOTA 249 

cold for the growing of cotton, yet the Spaniards found 
these people dressed in cotton cloth woven by themselves 
from supplies obtained from their neighbours and with an 
abundance of ornaments, vessels and utensils of gold, and 
alloys of gold. Like some of the modern nations which 
are without appreciable deposits of gold in their own home 
countries, they became a great storehouse of gold secured 
through their ability as traders, and the keystone of this 
trade was salt. There were small deposits of emeralds 
within the Chibcha-land, but the greater portion of their 
store of these gems came by trade from the less civilised 
Indians about Muzo, and here again the principal purchas- 
ing power was the very precious salt. 

Nearer Bogota and only 18 miles north of it, the North- 
ern Cart-Road touches the Rio Funza, where there is an 
important bridge, the Puente del Comun, across which the 
main thoroughfare from Bogota to Zipaquira passes. It 
is an imposing stone structure, built by order of the Vice- 
roy in 1792. There is a current story that it was con- 
structed by British prisoners captured in Admiral Ver- 
non's unsuccessful attempt on Cartagena. However, as 
this attack occurred in 1741, these prisoners could hardly 
have rendered effectual service in its construction. Two 
or three miles to the west is Chia on the site of the im- 
portant Chibcha town of that name, where in 1537 the 
first Easter Service was held in the Kingdom of New 
Granada. Beyond is the ridge which separates the second 
and third fingers of the Sabana, and it was to a house on 
this ridge that the heir-apparent of the Zipa was taken at 
the age of sixteen. Here he was kept in seclusion and re- 
ceived the training which would fit him for his high office. 



250 QUITO TO BOGOTA 

The heir of the Zipa was not the son or daughter of the 
sovereign, but his nephew, the eldest son of his sister. 
Beyond this ridge and near the very tip of the second finger 
of the Sabana, is Tabio, where the Zipas had a country 
house with gardens and thermal baths. 

There are thus many points of interest in the environs 
of the capital which one can visit in a carriage or motor, 
but the more beautiful surrounding country is not accessible 
in either of these ways. To one with a good saddle animal 
there are almost endless opportunities, and having our tried 
animals of the trip from Quito, we have, during the pres- 
ent stay, quite forsaken the North and West roads, except 
for short drives. On the first day out from Quito, Lord 
Murray was disturbed by the occasional narrowness of the 
trail and the depths to which some of the mountain valleys 
yawned below. He had not learned the full amount of 
trust that could be placed in the sagacity of the mountain 
mules and horses, and in places where the trail was very 
steep he felt he would be safer on his own feet. While we 
were walking down one such place he wondered if he would 
ever grow accustomed to such heights and such trails, and 
the reply, which he refused to credit, was that before he 
completed his overland journey he would have become so 
accustomed to heights and so sure of his trail-wise animal 
that he would ride over the mountains about the capital 
city for the mere pleasure of riding. 

Since our arrival here on the 13th of August we have 
spent every week-end, when the pressure of work per- 
mitted, in such rides. We have clambered down the sides 
of the Andes, both to the east and west, and on one of the 
mule-trails over which we passed oftenest, one paved with 



QUITO TO BOGOTA 251 

stone in places, always slippery with moisture, and where 
the descent is so steep that the road is but a stone staircase, 
Lord Murray on his faithful Pasto horse covered the de- 
scent of 3,000 feet in so short a time, that he was told by 
the people of these mountains, who begin to ride on a 
saddle-animal almost before they can walk, that it consti- 
tuted a record. In his enthusiasm over these rides, Lord 
Murray repeatedly urged a friend, who had ridden only 
in Europe, to accompany him, but the descriptions of the 
Colombian mountain-trails which he had received from 
others deterred him ; finally he questioned one of our party, 
who, not appreciating that he desired detailed and specified 
information, told him that, "compared with the trails along 
which we passed in our journey from Quito, these week- 
end trips were like rides in Hyde Park." He then joined 
us, but was so terrified by the very steep descent that he 
found no pleasure in the trip and the climb back to Bogota 
so added to the nervous strain that he vowed "Never 
again !" 

Near Bogota we have ridden to the tops of Monserrate 
and Guadelupe and along the ridges in either direction ; to 
the west we have made repeated trips down the main moun- 
tain mass to Fusagasuga and through the Boca del Monte 
to Tambo and Tena, returning by way of the Falls of 
Tequendama; to the east we have made a number of trips 
on different roads across the mountain-top and down its 
side through Chipaque, Ubaque and Choachi to the valley 
of the Rio Blanco and Rio Negro, tributaries of the Ori- 
noco. One of the results of these week-end journeys has 
been the determination of the structural characteristics of 
this portion of the Eastern Andes. 



252 QUITO TO BOGOTA 

The impression which one gets in riding rapidly across 
the Central Andes is of a great wrinkle of the earth's 
surface in which, except for the material thrown out from 
the volcanoes, the older rocks form the centre and summit 
of the range and the younger beds follow on the flanks. 
Broadly speaking, along the Quindio road the suggestion 
is of an anticlinal mountain range. With this impression 
of the nature of the structure of the Central Andes, we 
were quite prepared to accept the diagrams given in some 
works, in which a similar structure is depicted for the East- 
ern Cordillera. These ranges are all young, in terms of 
geologic time, and this is the structure naturally to be 
expected under such conditions. We were therefore sur- 
prised to find that the broad top of the Andes at Bogota 
is a synclinal mountain and that the stream erosion has car- 
ried away a vertical thickness of 20,000 feet of strata on 
both sides. The fossils collected indicate that this enor- 
mous thickness is probably all Cretaceous and that it is 
certainly all Mesozoic. The mountains are therefore geo- 
logically relatively young, but the extent of the erosion, 
within the time since these sediments have been elevated 
above sea-level by this enormous wrinkling, is quite an im- 
pressive fact. If all the sediments which have been worn 
away by the streams and carried out into the Llanos on 
the one hand, and into the valley of the Magdalena on the 
other, could be restored, there would be thirteen miles 
east of Bogota and thirty miles west, twin mountain ranges 
25,000 feet high, and the area which is to-day the broad top 
of the Eastern Andes would be the intervening valley, over 
16,000 feet below their summits. The reconstructed fold 
of which the Cerro Monserrate and the Cerro Guadelupe 




The paved way 




ON THE WAY TO FTJSAGASUGA 



QUITO TO BOGOTA 253 

represent the mere stumps, would be only a minor wrinkle 
in this great depression. 

The features of this structure can be more clearly under- 
stood with the aid of the diagram placed at the end of this 
volume. The valley of the Rio Blanco, shown on the right 
side of the lowest cross-section, is on the axis of an anti- 
cline, and proceeding to the left successively higher and 
higher beds are encountered as we ascend the mountain. 
There is first 10,000 feet of black shales easily eroded, 
then a series of alternate sandstone and shale beds 2,000 
feet thick which produce long hog-back ridges half way 
up the mountain slope, then 7,500 feet more of soft 
black shales and on the top of all a very massive series of 
sandstones, with some shale and limestone, 2,000 feet thick. 
It is this last series of resistant beds that is responsible for 
the preservation of the present crest of the Andes. They 
form on each side of the mountain-park of Bogota great 
escarpments, very picturesque, but rather difficult of de- 
scent. The beautiful Falls of Tequendama are produced 
by the waters of the Rio Funza or Bogota falling over this 
precipice on the western side of the upland. The range 
behind Bogota, as shown on this diagram, represents but 
the stumps of a local fold which has brought up the upper 
sandstone layer, the other part of which is found in the 
Paramo of Cruz Verde. The distortion of this fold pro- 
duces the singular effect noticed in Bogota of the rocks 
in Monserrate appearing to slope to the east, while those 
of Guadelupe slope to the west. 

In going to Fusagasuga we ride down to the railway sta- 
tion at Bogota, first along the rather narrow streets which 
are characteristic of the older parts of the town — mostly 



254 QUITO TO BOGOTA 

paved with cobble-stones, but some with well-laid Colom- 
bian asphalt from the neighbouring Departments — and then 
along the broad avenue which extends from the Plaza de 
Narino to the station and beyond. Just before reaching 
the station we pass between two statues facing each other, 
one of Isabel the Catholic and the other of Columbus. 
Columbus is standing with his right arm outstretched as 
if saying, "See what I have discovered!" and it is one of 
those amusing chance happenings of large cities that his 
finger points towards a building on which there appears 
in large letters the words "American Bar." 

At the station our saddle animals go with those of other 
travellers into the special car carried by all passenger trains 
about Bogota, and in a little more than an hour, across the 
level floor of the Sabana, we reach the two-storied build- 
ing bearing the name "Station Santa Isabel," which is the 
official railway name for the little settlement so long known 
as Sibate that we did not find the new name in use except 
on the station building and the railway tickets. There is 
an early morning train to Sibate which enables one to get 
into the saddle here before nine, and, if in a hurry, to reach 
Fusagasuga for luncheon. However, the beauty of the trail 
is such that one should not hurry over it and should carry 
a luncheon in his saddle pockets. On one of our first trips 
we went to Sibate on the evening train and stopped at the 
"Posada," a building in the form of a hollow square sur- 
rounding a large garden patio where we were so well 
treated that we wished such posadas had been spaced at 
convenient intervals along the way from Quito. 

However, if one does not mind an early start, it is rather 
more convenient to catch the morning train and make the 



QUITO TO BOGOTA 255 

journey a continuous one. Sibate is near the very end of 
the southwest prong of the Sabana and the railway station 
is at exactly the same elevation, 8,565 feet, as the one at 
Bogota. The flat land is here about a mile wide and is 
bordered on either side by regular, rounded ranges of hills 
showing portions of the upper sandstones. The cart-road 
extends to the end of the flat land, about a mile south of 
the village, where begins the paved stone trail that extends 
for five miles over the rather level Paramo of San For- 
tunate, 9,400 feet, and then tumbles down the escarpment 
as a zigzag trail, often a veritable staircase, to the beauti- 
ful little Rio Barroblanco, and then proceeds along the 
foothills, a total distance of twenty miles to Fusagasuga, 
located about 4,000 feet below the bordering rim of the 
upland and 3,000 below Bogota. The name Fusagasuga is 
said to signify in the language of the aborigines "the vil- 
lage at the foot of the mountain." Before it lies a slop- 
ing, semi-arid plain used for grazing, with here and there 
patches of irrigated land, shut in on each side by gradually 
descending spurs. Behind, the mountain is covered by for- 
est growth broken by diminutive clearings and rain-shadow 
areas to an elevation of 10,000 feet. 

So in leaving Sibate we pass from the relatively tree- 
less Sabana, with its bare bordering hills, into the low tree- 
growth of the so-called Paramo of San Fortunato, which 
is rather below the level of the real paramo vegetation, and 
the forest on it is sufficient, particularly towards its western 
side, to justify unimportant lumbering operations. Down 
the slope on the west side there are bits of real jungle- 
forest, almost to the level of the plain at 6,000 feet, and 
scattered through it from top to bottom are beautiful tree- 



256 QUITO TO BOGOTA 

ferns. We have seen these growing in Colombia almost 
everywhere between elevations of 5,000 and 10,000 feet, 
wherever there is sufficient rainfall. 

Along the trail on the mountain side are delicately feath- 
ered, vine-like, small-stemmed bamboos which drape some 
of the trees to heights of thirty or forty feet, and luxuriant 
growths of begonia covered with red blossoms. Near the 
little bridge are waterfalls in the Rio Barroblanco, and 
beyond, along the foothills portion of the road, we saw 
swarms and swarms of gloriously coloured butterflies. 
Near the village we entered the coffee plantations which 
constitute the most important industry of this locality. The 
coffee grown on these western slopes of the Bogota upland 
is reputed to be the best produced in Colombia. The belt 
extends along the range near the lower edge of the tree- 
belt and above the semi-arid portion of the Magdalena Val- 
ley, at an elevation ranging from 4,000 to 6,000 feet. The 
coffee industry is of such importance here that the exten- 
sion of the railway from Sibate has been seriously dis- 
cussed, but the traffic which might be reasonably expected 
does not appear sufficient to warrant the construction of 
so expensive a line, particularly as carts and mules still 
successfully compete with the Southern Railway from 
Sibate to Bogota. Most of the coffee of this district now 
goes over the bridle-road along which we have come. A 
cart-road is to be built on a route necessarily differing from 
that followed by the trail, and we saw the incomplete first 
section of it near the Barroblanco bridge; however, the 
maintenance of a cart-road through the rainfall belt is 
going to present many difficulties, judging from the depth 
and character of the mud into which we plunged on the 




Bamboo clumps surrounding the bathing pool at Las Pal mas 




Las Palmas 



A HACIENDA NEAK FUSAGASUGA 



QUITO TO BOGOTA 257 

sides of the narrow paved trail, when it became necessary 
to pass cargo trains going in the other direction. 

At Fusagasuga we stayed in the delightful hacienda "Las 
Palmas," a coffee plantation, and the property of Miss Cote, 
the proprietress of the hotel bearing her name in Bogota. 
There are orange-trees, gardenias and camelias in the 
patio and along the entrance walk, and quite a collection 
of orchids. There is a stone-lined spring-fed bathing pool 
in a great screen of feathery bamboos approached by a walk 
from the house bordered by tree-ferns. It is a delightful 
change from Bogota which, with a mean temperature of 
55 degrees Fahrenheit, is pleasant on sunny days, but 
rather cold in the evening and in dull weather. As fuel 
is not readily obtained and fires not an absolute necessity, 
the houses are constructed without any fire-places, and 
many a time in Bogota we have felt that a small open fire 
would be both cheering and comforting. Las Palmas, with 
a mean temperature of 68 degrees Fahrenheit, is just a 
happy mean between the sometimes too cold air of the 
capital and the unpleasant heat of Girardot. Miss Cote, 
although a Colombian, has lived so many years in the 
United States that she is spoken of in this manner rather 
than as "Sefiorita Cote," not only by the people of Bogota, 
but by her manager and household staff at Las Palmas as 
well. Nowhere about Bogota can the traveller find a 
more pleasant resting place. 

The region of Fusagasuga was held by that portion of 
the Chibchas known as the Sutagaos. They and their ally, 
the Chief of Tibacui, were forced to acknowledge the rule 
of the Zipa of Bocata in the century preceding the arrival 
of the Spaniards. Tisquesusa, the Zipa killed in the fight 



258 QUITO TO BOGOTA 

with the Spaniards at Facatativa, in his youth led an expedi- 
tion to chastise the rebellious Sutagaos, and in so doing 
constructed "a broad road from the Sabana to the Plain 
of Fusagasuga," apparently along the route now followed 
by the paved way. When Quesada reached Bocata he was 
disappointed in the gold secured and sent an expedition to 
the West under San Martin, and another toward the South 
under Cespedes, which reached the plain of Fusagasuga in 
the summer of 1537 without much difficulty. San Martin, 
penetrating into the land of the Panches, was defeated not 
far from Juntas de Apulo, and forced to retreat across 
the intervening hills to Tibacui in the valley of Fusagasuga, 
where he was met by Cespedes. This combined force, 
together with the Guechas or Frontier Guard of the Zipa — 
for the Chibchas seemed ever ready to join the Spaniards 
against their ancient enemies — fought a great battle with 
the Panches in the hills to the north of Tibacui, but was 
defeated and again forced to retreat. 

Tibacui lies eight miles west of Fusagasuga, and during 
one of our week-ends at Las Palmas we rode over the plain, 
crossed the trench which the Rio Panche has cut into its 
surface, and climbed to Tibacui (6,200 feet), perched on 
the side of the ridge which separates this village from 
Tocaima and Juntas in the valley of the Rio Bogota. We 
were accompanied by the cure of Fusagasuga, and were 
most hospitably received by his brother, who is the priest 
of Tibacui, and conducted to the large "Carved Rock" on 
which, among a number of chiseled pictures, the most not- 
able is a coiled serpent. 

From this trail one has a comprehensive view of the tree- 
less plain of Fusagasuga, a gigantic alluvial-fan of gentle 



QUITO TO BOGOTA 259 

gradient, originating primarily in the low gap just to the 
south of Fusagasuga, through which the Rio Cuja passes. 
This stream has now abandoned the apex of the cone lead- 
ing directly to the Panche, and, flowing to one side, parallels 
the Panche for ten miles. There are indications that this 
plain is, in part at least, glacial outwash. Tibacui appears 
a town of a few hundred people and is, according to the 
1912 census, the centre of a municipio of almost 4,000, 
while Fusagasuga, a town of a few thousand, is the centre 
of a population of 13,443. The statement is sometimes 
made that Belalcazar passed through Fusagasuga on his 
journey from Popayan to Chibcha-land, but this seems to 
rest on no other foundation than that this is the most direct 
way. On the other hand, it is well established that Belal- 
cazar followed the west bank of the Magdalena to a point 
fifty miles north of Girardot, and that only there did he 
learn the exact position of the Sabana, which he approached 
from this point by way of Tena. 

The return to Bogota is over the same route, and as there 
is an evening train leaving Sibate at five o'clock and reach- 
ing the capital in time for dinner, it is easy to have an 
early luncheon and make a comfortable journey. The most 
attractive short ride at Bogota is to the dear old church 
built on the top of Monserrate in 1620. There is a well- 
constructed trail, very steep in places, cut into the face of 
the mountain, and this path is often thronged with people 
going to the church, in which is a much-revered figure of 
Christ called the "Monseignor of Monserrate." In certain 
of the great religious parades this is carried down the side 
of the mountain and is believed by many of the Indians to 
be particularly efficacious in bringing rain after a long 



260 QUITO TO BOGOTA 

period of drought. The church is just 2,000 feet above 
the railway station, and the surrounding elevations are cov- 
ered with wild flowers of the paramo vegetation at certain 
seasons of the year. From this commanding point the view 
of the city, the Sabana, the low bordering rim and the dis- 
tant snow-peaks of the Central Andes, is most satisfying. 

Another ride which we made several times was down the 
western side of the upland to the now virtually abandoned 
inn of El Tambo, half-way between the Sabana and La 
Mesa, and on the old paved road that, during the many 
years occupied in the construction of the Girardot railway, 
was indeed a very busy thoroughfare. Then El Tambo 
was an important hotel, large and well-kept, now it is 
without guests except occasional arrieros and almost all of 
its furnishings have been removed. We therefore found 
it necessary to carry our cots and bedding on every trip. 
Indeed it was the better equipment at Las Palmas that 
caused us to make more frequent journeys there, than to 
El Tambo, where the great western veranda seems built 
to give a perfect picture of the distant Tolima, one of the 
most beautiful panoramas in this country of magnificent 
views. 

"Tambo" is one of the words which the Spanish language 
has borrowed from the Quichua. It is related by the chron- 
iclers that in constructing their great highways the Incas 
caused to be erected at intervals of a short day's journey, 
that is twelve and a half miles, inns for travellers called 
"tampus" or "tambos." These were buildings of impor- 
tance designed also to afford resting places for the Inca 
himself in his journeys about his Kingdom, and to serve 
as provision store-houses for his army. It is related by 



QUITO TO BOGOTA 261 

Cieza de Leon that "when the lord of Cuzco set out, the 
march was regulated each day from tambo to tambo where 
sufficient food was found for all," and that "the lieutenants 
and other overseers who resided at the chief stations in the 
provinces took special care that the natives kept these 
tambos well provisioned." And so we find on the Eastern 
Andes, hundreds of miles from the land of the Incas, an 
inn of comparatively recent construction, situated at a point 
a day's journey from La Mesa on the one hand, and Madrid 
on the other, most appropriately bearing the old Quichua 
name of "tambo," just as we find other stopping places 
called "El Tambo" — some doing poor honour to the name 
— scattered over much of the northern and western part of 
South America, and in some places towns of the same 
name, which have evolved from such stopping places. 

In going to El Tambo one takes the Sabana railway to 
Madrid, a little town almost midway between Bogota and 
Facatativa. Here, if the traveller has made due prepara- 
tion for the journey, there are two or three cargo-animals 
waiting to take the luggage he has brought with him, but 
if, as sometimes happens, there has not been ample time 
to prepare for the journey, it is generally possible to find 
a cargo-train which has brought produce to the railway and 
is returning down the trail. On one occasion we reached 
Madrid without previous arrangement and found a man 
ready to contract to carry our equipment. It was loaded 
into a wagon, which went over the six miles of road to 
Barroblanco, a little settlement in the low bordering hills 
near the western escarpment. Here he expected to find 
pack-mules which had brought cargoes up the mountain to 
be hauled by cart from this point to the railway. We 



262 QUITO TO BOGOTA 

waited a bit, but finally accepting his assurance that he 
would deliver our cots and bedding at Tambo before night- 
fall, went on our way. They finally appeared at two o'clock 
in the morning on the backs of four great white oxen. 

Immediately beyond Barroblanco we reached the edge 
of the escarpment at a point called "Boca del Monte" — 
mouth of the mountain. This is 8,560 feet above sea-level 
and about 100 feet above the railway station at Bogota- 
It is, therefore, somewhat lower than the greater part of 
the capital city, but it seems much colder — the winds whistle 
through the gap and there is generally a moist paramo 
cloud, caught on the edge of the upland, through which 
one must pass. The drop over the escarpment into a jungle 
forest is along a stone staircase, rather wider than the one 
leading to Fusagasuga, and showing much engineering 
skill in the solution of a difficult problem. 

Soon we reached the few houses called Tenasuca, which 
occupy the site and grounds of one of the three country 
residences of the Zipas. El Tambo lies about a mile be- 
yond, and only three miles from Barroblanco, but, in this 
distance the descent is almost 3,000 feet. El Tambo, 
though at virtually the same elevation as Las Palmas, is 
thus nearer the railway and more accessible. It commands 
a far more beautiful view, and has the same agreeable tem- 
perature. Behind the house is a natural rock-bottom bath- 
ing pool in a pretty little mountain stream, which a short 
distance below forms a series of cascades in a narrow gorge 
in the black shales, here crowded with fossils. Higher up 
is a tiny hydro-electric plant, which, in the days when this 
was a much used road, furnished electric light for the 
hotel. 




. ' , ' •,.. >:'■■ '• ■■'■-' : i- 




Paved road and Fusagasuga plain 




Coffee plantation of Las Palmas, showing low-trimmed 
coffee bushes and large shade-trees 



ENVIRONS OF FUSAGASUGA 



QUITO TO BOGOTA 263 

On the very top of the mountain spur, overlooking El 
Tambo on the north, is the small glacial lake of Pedro Palo 
at the foot of the sandstone escarpment and at an eleva- 
tion of 6,600 feet. At a number of points through the 
Andes we saw deposits which appeared to be of glacial 
origin, but here there is conclusive evidence of glacial ac- 
tion and large well-marked moraines. It is in this region 
that rumour says the stores of gold belonging to the Zipa, 
Tesquesusa, were hidden at the time of the conquest, but 
though many have searched for this treasure, none have 
found it. 

The return to Bogota from El Tambo can easily be made 
by way of the Falls of Tequendama, and thence to the 
Southern Railway at the station between Sibate and Soacha. 
On this route, instead of returning east, we proceed along 
the same road to the west, almost to Tena, 4,425 feet, and 
then, turning to the left, follow a side road towards San An- 
tonio. Tena was one of the towns on the western frontier 
of the Kingdom of the Zipa of Bocata, and Belalcazar 
marched on this place from his camp on the Magdalena, fifty 
miles north of Girardot. Belalcazar had been interviewed at 
the Magdalena by Quesada's brother regarding his inten- 
tions, and had given satisfactory assurances. However, a 
little later he heard of the approach of a rival expedition un- 
der Federmann, and knowing also of the diminution of 
Quesada's followers through their conflicts with the Indians, 
he thought he could successfully intervene, but he found 
the town already held by Quesada, and allowed his forces 
to join the troops of this leader without any payment such 
as was made to the German, on the agreement that a settle- 
ment should be established at Neiva, which, with the upper 



264 QUITO TO BOGOTA 

Magdalena Valley, should be considered as belonging to the 
Province of Popayan, and that the two leaders should jour- 
ney together to Spain to present their respective claims to 
the King. It was along the very route that we have fol- 
lowed that Belalcazar first entered the Sabana. 

Tena and San Antonio (6,330 feet) are both just below 
the heavy tree belt, and in going from one to the other we 
pass along the mountain slopes well above the Rio Bogota. 
San Antonio, on a hill point overlooking the stream, is a 
place of a few hundred people with an old stone church, and 
is the centre of a Municipio of 4,400 inhabitants. Leaving 
San Antonio for the Falls, we descend after a little time 
into the trench which the river has cut into the hummocky 
glacial debris that tends to mask the really broad and mature 
character of the valley. The stream here is a raging tor- 
rent, filled with great boulders, and we cross it on a new 
bridge, which uses one of the boulders as a central pier. 

We turn eastward along this almost treeless valley, up 
and down over the irregular glacial deposits, and in about 
three miles reach the foot of a tree-covered escarpment up 
which we climb on a zigzag trail that finally reaches the 
summit of a horizontal ledge of sandstone, along which it 
proceeds at an easy gradient. The trail turns the point of 
a hill, and there appears before us a perpendicular-sided, 
amphitheatre-like abyss at the head of which are the Falls 
of Tequendama, one of the beauties of the upland of 
Bogota, of which every Colombian is justly proud. The 
crest of the Falls is approximately 8,200 feet above the 
sea, and its height, according to Dr. Alberto Borda Tanco, 
Dean of the Faculty of Mathematics and Engineering in 
Bogota, is 443 feet. Forest-covered hills slope to the edge 



QUITO TO BOGOTA 265 

of the rock-walled gorge, and along its floor may be seen 
the feathery tops of palms recalling the warmer regions 
from which we have just come. The jungle along the floor, 
resulting from the mist from the Falls, is very dense, as 
anyone who has tried to penetrate it will testify. 

This Falls has an origin similar to that of the famous 
Niagara. In both cases a river flowed through a channel 
lying to the north of its present one, and when this old 
valley was filled with debris by glaciers and the river forced 
to take a new course it was precipitated over an escarpment 
— in one case over that formed by the Niagara limestone 
on the shores of Lake Ontario, and in the other that formed 
by the upoer sandstones around the upland of Bogota. The 
Falls of Tequendama began at the edge of the escarpment 
up which we climbed from the broad valley below, and 
it has in its lifetime cut the gorge from this edge to its 
present site. The recession in the case of Niagara is some- 
thing like seven miles ; that at Tequendama is less than half 
a mile. The length of time which has been required for 
Niagara to cut its gorge of seven miles has been the sub- 
ject of many studies and calculations, and the date at which 
the Falls started has been proven to be many thousand years 
ago, the mean of the calculations being about 30,000. In 
the case of Tequendama, where the height is roughly 
three times as great, but the volume of water available for 
cutting is infinitely less, no studies have been made, nor are 
there any maps which afford even an approximately reliable 
basis for establishing the average rate of recession and so 
computing its age, as has been done in the case of Niagara. 
The little evidence available seems rather to indicate that 



266 QUITO TO BOGOTA 

the crest of Tequendama is very stable, and the rate of reces- 
sion extremely slow. 

There is a Chibcha legend which is worth considering in 
this connection, not so much because it gives any definite 
information, but rather because of the interesting specula- 
tions to which it gives rise. This legend is variously stated' 
in different chronicles, but these all agree in the essential 
features — that in a former time the Sabana of Bogota was 
well peopled, that it was then converted into a lake and the 
inhabitants forced to flee to the surrounding hills. They 
appealed to Bochica, who it would appear was a former 
ruler of these people under whom great progress had been 
made in the cultivation of the land and the development of 
weaving — so great were his benefactions that in time he 
became in the folklore of the people a demi-god residing in 
the sun, and the titular deity of the Usques or Chiefs. 
Bochica heard the call of his people and broke an opening 
in the hills in the region of Tequendama through which 
the waters of the lake drained, and there appeared again 
the Sabana of Bogota, more fertile than before, where the 
people built new cities and again cultivated the land. 

This legend rests on a solid basis of fact easily demon- 
strated, that there was a period in which there was a Sabana 
fit for the habitation of man followed by a period when the 
outlet was dammed by glacial action and the area converted 
into a lake, and that this was finally drained by the forma- 
tion of the channel along which the Rio Funza or Bogota 
now flows. Does this legend represent only a deduction, or 
is it a record of an occurrence actually witnessed by the 
ancestors of the Chibchas? I am inclined to favour the 



QUITO TO BOGOTA 267 

latter hypothesis, and to regard it as placing the beginning 
of the Chibchas at a very remote date. 

Near the Falls the trail we have been following enters 
the wagon-road which extends to the Southern Railway 
and the Carretera de Soacha. It was along this road that 
we came in a motor to the Falls in the early months of the 
year. At this time a table had been spread on the very 
edge of the gorge at a point which afforded a perfect view 
of Tequendama, and here was served such a wonderful 
repast that it required two great ox-carts to bring it from 
the home of our host Sefior Tomas Samper. A short dis- 
tance along the road brings us to the mines in the coalfield 
of Tequendama, occupying, like those at Zipacon, a little 
sycline in the upper sandstones. Beyond this the sand- 
stones are folded up sharply and the road is blasted out 
of the rock cliff of the little defile through which the river 
passes. The other side of this small anticline in the upper 
sandstone is half a mile beyond, and here, over its hard 
layers, the river forms a cascade 147 feet high. Just above 
is a diversion dam, which forces the water into the 5-foot 
3-inch supply pipe of the hydro-electric plant belonging 
to the Compania de Energia located at its foot and three 
miles above the great Falls. This enterprise of the brothers 
Jose and Tomas Samper, established in 1900, is thoroughly 
modern in its equipment, and contains four turbines of a 
combined capacity of 4,500 horse-power connected directly 
with alternating dynamos. Operations are now under way 
for doubling the capacity of the plant, and a second supply 
pipe of similar size is partially completed, and four new 
turbines are being installed. The electricity is transmitted 
to Bogota on overhead wires, carrying a voltage of 6,700 



268 QUITO TO BOGOTA 

during the day and 20,000 during the night. Here at Char- 
quito is a model school maintained by the Electric Com- 
pany for the children of its employes, and a pretty little 
park of eucalyptus, plantations of which have also been 
made on the adjoining slopes to furnish a supply of timber. 
The company has been training a number of young Colom- 
bians at the plant, and Senor Samper states that these young 
men have shown such aptitude that the company now makes 
many of the parts and repairs in its own machine shop, 
which were formerly ordered from abroad. 

Ascending the steep road of the hills above Charquito, we 
pass the diversion dam at the narrows, and are soon out on 
the Sabana. Here we see the construction work of the 
branch line of the Southern Railway, which will soon be 
in operation to the coal mines, and will thus give easy access 
to the hotel which it is planned to build above it. For a 
short visit such a hotel would be a convenience, but for a 
real vacation people will doubtless prefer to go to a place 
which is at a lower altitude and warmer. We catch the 
evening train for Bogota at the small station on the South- 
ern Railway called "The Falls of Tequendama" or "Puerta 
Grande" — "the Great Gateway" — and so complete the jour- 
ney home from El Tambo by the longer route. 

In riding over the hills of the Bogota upland one cannot 
help but be impressed, as we were in the mountain-parks 
of Southern Colombia and Ecuador, with the great possi- 
bilities of the region for sheep raising. As in parts of 
Ecuador, a small quantity of wool is grown for home con- 
sumption and is woven into "ponchos," but when adequate 
rail communications are finally established we anticipate 
that sheep-breeding will become an important industry lead- 




Monserrate — with, on the right at the foot of the 
mountain, a portion of Bogota, 




On the road from Bogota to Ubaque 



MOUNTAIN TOPS NEAB BOGOTA 



QUITO TO BOGOTA 269 

ing in time to the construction of large woolen mills. The 
fine wool grown in the Andes of Peru has long been a 
factor in the world's markets, and there seems no reason, 
other than lack of transportation facilities, why the moun- 
tains of Colombia and Ecuador should not also supply a 
part of the world's demands. With the industrial develop- 
ment of the country the Colombians will have to face the 
same problem which has confronted other regions, and 
will be called upon to decide whether Tequendama is to be 
preserved for aesthetic reasons or utilised for power. 

To the east of Bogota and in the bottom of a great valley 
on the eastern flank of this portion of the Andes lies La 
Union, which was a favourite resort of the families of 
Bogota in the days before the railways. Now it is so much 
easier to go by train to Esperanza, which has a like pleas- 
antly warm climate, that La Union is quite neglected. Situ- 
ated at the juncture of the Rio Blanco, a delightfully clear 
stream, and the Rio Negro, a turbid stream filled with 
•minute particles of black shale, and at an elevation of ap- 
proximately 5,200 feet, within the drainage of the Orinoco, 
it affords a place for a restful week-end and a pleasant ter- 
minus for interesting rides across the mountains. A few 
miles up the valley and just beyond Choachi is a thermal 
spring, on a small fault line, and when the valley of the 
Rio Blanco and Rio Negro was still a favourite resort, it 
was planned to build a hotel here, but this project has now 
been abandoned. 

La Union may be reached in three ways ; the most direct 
is up through the gap between Monserrate and Guadeloupe 
into the little shale valley that makes the heart of the Cruz 
Verde anticline, then across the Paramo of Choachi ( 1 1,000 



270 QUITO TO BOGOTA 

to 12,000 feet), down the eastern escarpment on a most 
precipitous and rugged trail, through a narrow gap in 
the lower sandstones to Choachi (6,300 feet), and thence 
along the valley of the Rio Blanco to La Union, a total 
distance of about eighteen miles. We were warned that 
the road was virtually impassable in the wet season, but, 
having learned that a horseman had come this way, we 
tried it. In dry weather it would be a very attractive route 
with its broad expanse of bleak paramo landscape, its wild 
flowers, particularly the great masses of red and pink and 
yellow fox-gloves, the rugged escarpment, and the great 
panorama of the valley with its sides covered with small 
fields from top to bottom. In the rainy season it is usually 
quicker to go one of the two' longer ways, both picturesque, 
though to a lesser degree. 

The longest route and the one we were told was the best 
in the rainy season because it traverses only half a mile of 
paramo, lies along the southwest prong of the Sabana to- 
wards Usme and over the main road to Villavicencio and 
the llanos through Chipaque to the bridge of Caqueza, and 
then by a local trail to Ubaque and thence to La Union, a 
total distance of about 33 miles. The trail leaves the narrow 
extension of the Sabana at Yomasa, eight miles south of 
Bogota, and begins the climb of the bordering rim formed 
by the sandstones on the west flank of the Cruz Verde anti- 
cline. These have been entirely removed by erosion to the 
east and cause the paramo here to be very narrow. Soon 
after leaving Yomasa we saw, just to the south, the village 
of Usme. It was here that the German Federmann was 
met by a representative of Quesada and, under the settle- 
ment negotiated by the Padre des los Casas, Federmann for 



QUITO TO BOGOTA 271 

a payment of $10,000 gold resigned all his claims as well 
as his soldiers, who were thus added to the force of Ques- 
ada. Beyond, the trail climbs steeply through acres and 
acres of fox-gloves to the sharp crest of the range, which 
it crosses at an elevation of 10,500 feet, in a narrow trench 
only wide enough for one animal, worn by the constant 
passing to and fro along this route from time immemorial. 
Beyond this trench at the summit, the trail descends with 
equal steepness into the valley of the Rio Caqueza, a tribu- 
tary of the Rio Negro. We soon reach Chipaque, the centre 
of a municipio of 6,500 people, thirteen miles from Bogota, 
and 7,900 feet above sea-level. Eight miles beyond Chi- 
paque we leave the main road at the bridge of Caqueza, 
5,300 feet, and passing parallel to the hog-back ridges 
made by the lower sandstones, reach Ubaque. Beyond, we 
cross the modern iron bridge over the Rio Negro, just below 
the juncture with the Rio Blanco, and reach La Union. 

The third route lies between these two, and is the direct 
road from Bogota to Ubaque and Fomeque. Throughout 
much of its length it is a paved stone way in very good 
condition. The recent improvements make it a rather better 
route than the one via Chipaque, where the road has been 
somewhat neglected, besides, it is only a few miles longer 
than the more direct, though often impassable, Choachi 
route. Starting from the southern end of Bogota, and pass- 
ing the brick factories, it goes through the picturesque gorge 
cut by the Rio San Cristobal into the upper sandstones of 
the west flank of the Cruz Verde anticline, and then climbs 
to the summit of the southern extension of the Choachi 
Paramo (11,600 feet), which it crosses just below the hori- 
zon of the upper sandstones. These soon appear to the 



272 QUITO TO BOGOTA 

left as great walls, while outlying masses are scattered over 
the undulating paramo to the right. Farther on and below 
are fields in the more level lands made by the lower part 
of the upper shales, then the trail passes through a gap in 
the ridge formed by the lower sandstones along a small 
stream which jumps over one layer after another in little 
waterfalls. The valley in which La Union is situated was 
at the time of the Conquest under the Zipa of Bocata, and 
the small stone-enclosed fields which extend from the stream 
up the slopes on both sides recall the region of Southern 
Colombia and Northern Ecuador where the Indians still 
form a considerable portion of the population. 

Bogota, like other Andean towns, is in a region where 
earthquakes are more or less frequent. Vergara records 
slight tremors in 1805 and 1827 and stronger ones in 1595, 
1797, 1868, 1875, 1885 and 1906, but their intensity is small 
compared with those which have been experienced to the 
south, particularly in Ecuador and to the northeast in San- 
tander del Norte and Venezuela. Bogota does not appear 
to be located near any centre of disturbance, but rather to 
be affected by waves originating in other areas. 

The business which brought us to Colombia is now fin- 
ished, and as Lord Murray has withdrawn the offer made 
for a comprehensive scientific study of the country with spe- 
cial reference to petroleum, we are packing for our depar- 
ture at the end of the week. I might perhaps explain that, 
having heard rumours that petroleum deposits existed in 
Colombia, Lord Cowdray, the head of S. Pearson & Son, 
Ltd., decided to send a director, accompanied by a tech- 
nical staff, to enquire whether the Government desired to 
enter into a partnership with this firm (which, by the way, 




Near Fomeque — showing small fields on mountain sides 




Choachi 



THE VALLEY OF THE RIO BLANCO 



QUITO TO BOGOTA 273 

had already constructed a short railway in Colombia) with 
a view to carrying out on a large scale scientific research, 
with subsequent operations if the preliminary investigations 
justified. All that we knew of Colombia from a petroleum 
point of view was that the attempts to prove that com- 
modity along the Atlantic Coast had failed, and large sums 
of money had been spent in vain endeavour, but we had 
heard of petroleum in other parts of the country. 

In the discussion of this project, first with the Ministers, 
particularly the able and patriotic Minister of Public Works, 
Dr.' Araujo, later with the select committee drawn from all 
parties of the House, who unanimously endorsed it, as 
well as with other members of Congress, we have seen 
much of the public men of Colombia. They impressed us 
as straightforward, honourable men, looking only to the 
interests of their country. Doubtful at first because of the 
magnitude of the plan, their opinion altered as they compre- 
hended its application and fairness to their country. When, 
however, our contract reached Parliament for ratification it 
became obvious that its provisions had been misunderstood 
in the United States, for a violent and unreasonable cam- 
paign had opened against it. In some quarters it was actu- 
ally suggested that the petroleum contract was only a blind, 
and that the real object we had in view, as we were known 
to be a contracting firm, was to build an alternative canal 
by the Atrato — a not impossible engineering feat, but emi- 
nently impracticable. However, as Lord Murray had solid 
grounds for believing that a serious misunderstanding in 
regard to our intentions had risen at Washington, which 
at that time was negotiating with the Colombian Govern- 



274 QUITO TO BOGOTA 

merit on the question of the indemnity to be paid in connec- 
tion with the Panama Canal, he withdrew the contract. 

In the interests of this nation which to-day needs develop- 
ment and people, I sincerely hope that it will at some time 
invite some other British or American firm, able to give 
effect to its provisions, to take up the contract which Lord 
Murray and his staff worked over so carefully during the 
many months of our pleasant stay in Colombia. 

With very wide practical knowledge of politicians, not 
confined to his own country, Lord Murray has frequently 
expressed to me the strong opinion that in parliamentary 
resource, ability and political instinct, the Colombians take a 
high rank, and that in some respects they remind him of 
the Irish, whom shrewd observers at Westminster consider 
the most consummate parliamentarians in existence. We 
attended many debates in the House and were impressed 
by oratory above the average, and saw much of the parlia- 
mentary machinery for dealing with the business of the 
country. Lord Murray favours the Colombian plan of 
committees to assist ministers, which is framed somewhat 
upon the French system, and has frequently said that if a 
similar system were introduced into England — under which 
all great Government contracts should, before ratification by 
Parliament, be subject to the approval of a select committee 
— it would relieve ministers of much invidious responsi- 
bility and be far more satisfactory to the competing firms 
themselves. 



EIGHT 
THE MAGDALENA 



At Sea, en route from 

Puerto Colombia to Colon, 

8th Dec, 1913. 

We have now bid adieu to the shores of Colombia, but 
the pleasant memories of charming people and beautiful 
scenery will continue with us to the end. It is a country 
with many cultural centres, but with altogether a relatively 
small population, a country predominantly of mountains and 
with great, though only slightly developed, agricultural and 
mineral resources, but a country held back through want of 
adequate means of communication and transportation. To- 
day it offers little attraction to the poor man — to the immi- 
grants which it needs to people its vast areas — but when 
trunk lines, such as have been responsible for the develop- 
ment of the mountainous regions of the Uhited States and 
Canada, are built, then the immigrant will find in Colombia 
a land of opportunities. To-day he will find little but dis- 
appointment. Of mineral wealth there is a great store, but 
it will require large sums to carry development beyond the 
present stage, and the ordinary "prospector," like the immi- 
grant, cannot hope to succeed to-day. Colombia needs both 
capital and immigrants, but such are her geographic char- 
acteristics that she cannot secure the latter without the for- 
mer, though having secured capital, people will follow auto- 
matically. 

The main commercial artery of Colombia is the Mag- 
dalena River. Extending north and south between the two 

277 



278 QUITO TO BOGOTA 

most thickly populated portions of the country — the north- 
ern and lower parts of the Central Andes on the one hand, 
and the more elevated part of the Eastern Andes on the 
other — the Magdalena has formed an essential link in all 
but three of the transportation schemes of the country that 
have passed even the first step beyond the stage of mere 
dreams. The exceptions are, the ioo-mile railway from 
Cali to Buenaventura, the 34-mile railway from Cucuta to 
the Rio Zulia, and the 60-mile railway extending south 
from Santa Marta. Even in the latter case the projected 
extensions involve connections with points on the Magda- 
lena in the hope of diverting a part of the Magdalena trade 
to the harbour of Santa Marta. 

Near the mouth of the river are two lines, one from 
Baranquilla to Puerto Colombia, 17 miles, and the other 
from Calamar to Cartagena, 65 miles, both designed to 
facilitate the conveyance of merchandise between the ocean- 
going steamers and the river steamboats, and to obviate, 
in some measure, the difficulties caused by the bar at the 
mouth of the river. Higher up, at Puerto Wilches, attempts 
have been made to build a railway, extending from the 
right bank of the river to Bucaramanga, a distance of 
83 miles. As a result of 30 years' effort large sums of 
money have been spent, a few miles of rails have been laid, 
but the road has never served any transportation end be- 
yond conveying its own ties and rails. A few miles above 
is another line, which leaves the left bank of the river at 
Puerto Berrio. It is quite a busy line, though after almost 
40 years of building there are still two uncompleted 
stretches in the 125 miles to Medellin. Bit by bit this rail- 
way advanced from the river, up the valleys of the Malena 



QUITO TO BOGOTA 279 

and the Nus until it reached the great ridge between the 
latter valley and the valley of the Porce in which Medellin 
is situated. Here it has rested for seven years, while vari- 
ous projects have been considered for overcoming this 
obstacle. One would almost think that the builders of the 
road fondly expected this engineering difficulty to disappear 
when the road reached it. In the relatively level valley of 
the Porce a section of track has been laid, which extends 
almost to Medellin, and, therefore, at the present moment, 
one goes from Puerto Berrio to Medellin in four stages : by 
rail to Cisneros, 6y miles, then by motor or carriage or 
saddle animal across the divide to the Porce, by rail part 
way to Medellin, and by carriage road the remainder of 
the distance. The construction of 18 miles of a line run- 
ning south from Medellin toward the Cauca, has been com- 
pleted, but as a means of transportation it forms only a part 
of the Puerto Berrio line, with which, on the completion of 
the latter to Medellin, it will connect. 

The next is the Dorada Railway, now 74 miles long, 
constructed primarily to transport goods around the Falls 
of Honda, where probably a canal would have been a 
cheaper and more effective makeshift. From one of the 
stations on this line an aerial cable-way is being constructed 
across the Central Andes to Manizales in the valley of the 
Rio Cauca, and this will serve as a feeder for the railway 
and steamboats of the Lower Magdalena. Lastly there are 
the two lines from Girardot, one connecting with the short 
railways of the Sabana of Bogota, and the other now ex- 
tending 15 miles to Espinal, but which will some day be 
prolonged to Ibague, and some even dream will climb the 
Central Andes and fall down into the "Valley of the Cauca." 



280 QUITO TO BOGOTA 

The source of the Magdalena, like that of the Cauca, the 
Patia and the Caqueta, is in the mountain-knot where the 
Eastern Andes separates from the central chain. Starting 
at an elevation of over 13,000 feet in the little Lake of Mag- 
dalena in the Paramo de las Papas (that is the "potato 
highland"), the Magdalena flows from the beginning to the 
end of the deep valley between the two chains and then 
across the interior delta and through the low hills of the 
coastal regions to the ocean, a total distance of a thousand 
miles. It is a yellow, turbulent river, with an ever-shifting, 
sand-bar-obstructed channel, the sport of the hundreds of 
debris-filled mountain streams which, for two thirds of its 
length, join it from the ranges on both sides. The head of 
navigation is usually stated to be at Neiva, 75° miles from 
the mouth. The first steamboat reached this point on the 
1 2th of May, 1875, and in flood stages of the river small, 
shallow-draught boats with powerful engines make occa- 
sional trips. More frequently the river steamers reach 
Purification, 75 miles lower down, but the head of "regular" 
navigation is at Girardot, 651 miles from the ocean along 
the windings of the channel. From this point, communica- 
tion as regular as providence and the stage of the river will 
permit, often interrupted for weeks or even months at a 
time, is maintained by small boats on the narrow upper 
river, by the La Dorada line around the Falls, and by larger 
boats on the lower river. It is a most inadequate and unsat- 
isfactory means of transportation to serve the needs of a 
country possessing such an endowment of natural resources, 
and affords small justification for the large sums spent in 
the railway developments, and attempted developments, 
along its course. If all the money expended in this way 




•=i 






S"5 




QUITO TO BOGOTA 281 

had been wisely used on projects in which the Magdalena 
did not figure as an essential feature, the country would be 
many steps nearer the solution of its all-hampering trans- 
portation difficulties. Most of what has been done is, be- 
cause of the character of the river, only in the nature of 
local and temporary makeshifts. 

Some believe that the capital outlay in these little rail- 
ways depending on the Magdalena will be more fully justi- 
fied in time by the improvement of the river, which would 
make a regular service possible and certain. However, the 
physical characteristics are such that this hope can never 
be realised. On the lower 150 miles of the river it will be 
possible to maintain a regular service, but of this distance 
the part possibly effective in big transportation problems is 
less than 100 miles, and the delays and damage caused by 
unloading and reloading for so short a stretch will mean 
that this will serve only local needs, and if utilised at all 
in the through transportation routes of the future Colombia, 
will be only as a temporary and economically expensive 
makeshift. 

It has been suggested that since Colombia possesses a 
water thoroughfare running north and south through the 
country and affording with its tributaries and the various 
channels and arms of its deltas, navigable waterways, ag- 
gregating, it has been claimed, as much as 1,800 miles, it 
is not only unnecessary but useless to think of parallel rail- 
way lines-. Perhaps the experience of the United States 
will be helpful in considering, not only this point, but the 
possibility of improving the Magdalena navigation to a de- 
gree which will make it worthy of consideration in any 
capacity, except as a temporary and unsatisfactory stop- 



282 QUITO TO BOGOTA 

gap. The Mississippi River system in the United States 
includes over 15,000 miles of navigable waterways. Very 
little of this total mileage can be described as affording ideal 
transportation conditions, but most of it is much better than 
the Magdalena and none of it is worse. Yet this whole 
area is covered with a perfect network of railways which 
parallel, not once, but many times, the main stream and its 
tributaries. The Government has spent enormous sums in 
efforts to improve the navigation of the river. In the thou- 
sand-mile stretch between Cairo and New Orleans $70,000,- 
000 has been expended in attempts to improve the channel 
of the Mississippi, but with transportation results not com- 
mensurate, to even a small degree, with the outlay. Be- 
tween 1838 and 1908 over eleven millions were expended 
on attempts to improve the channel of the Missouri, which 
is more comparable with the Magdalena than the other 
parts of the Mississippi drainage, but in 1902 the Missouri 
River commission was abolished, and no effort is now made 
to navigate anything but the lower tenth of the river, and 
this only for local trade. 

Since the construction of railways the development of 
the great region covered by the drainage of the Mississippi 
has been so rapid that the railways have had difficulty in 
keeping pace with its growth, and there is now developing 
a strong demand for the improvement of a portion of this 
river system, particularly that composed of the Ohio and 
the Lower Mississippi, in order to afford regular water 
access to the Gulf from the great industrial centres and coal- 
producing regions of Pennsylvania and neighbouring 
states, and to assist the railways in caring for the enormous 
traffic of the region. The Ohio is itself a mightier river 



QUITO TO BOGOTA 283 

than the Magdalena, navigable throughout a course almost 
equal to the total length of the latter, with a width of 1,200 
to 1,500 feet in its upper portion, and an average of over 
5,000 in its lower, as compared with the width of the Mag- 
dalena of 300 to 500 feet at Girardot, and an average of 
2,500 to 3,000 in its lower reaches. The discharge of the 
Ohio varies from 35,000 cubic feet per second to 1,200,000, 
while that of the Magdalena is given by Vergara as 250,000 
cubic feet. The improvement of the Ohio, which is now 
under way, involved the construction of a series of locks 
with collapsible dams which can be thrown down in times 
of flood. The completion of this plan, even to the mouth 
of the Ohio, will involve many years and an expenditure 
totalling hundreds of millions. Like the Magdalena, the 
navigable channel of the Ohio is interrupted by a rapids 
called the Falls of the Ohio, or the Falls of Louisville, 
around which a ship canal was constructed in 1830. The 
descent is 24 feet in a distance of two and a quarter miles, 
as compared with 38 feet in a distance of about a quarter of 
a mile at the Salto de Honda on the Magdalena. The re- 
semblance between the two streams suggested by these two 
rapids is purely adventitious, for the Ohio, though a muddy 
river, quite lacks the mountain and tropical characteristics 
of the Magdalena, and its improvement is a much simpler 
problem. 

Far from railways not being able to compete with water- 
ways of this type, they have, in the United States, virtually 
supplanted them, and now the rapid growth and prosperity 
brought about by the railways has created such a volume of 
traffic that there is a demand that certain of the waterways, 
offering special features commercially, be improved, not to 



284 QUITO TO BOGOTA 

supplant the railways, which is impossible, but merely, in 
a small measure, to supplement them. 

The Magdalena is more truly a mountain stream than 
any of the navigable waters of the Mississippi system, and 
the difficulties surrounding its improvement are hence cor- 
respondingly greater. The average gradient of the Mag- 
dalena is several times that of the navigable tributaries of 
the Mississippi, and many times that of the main river itself. 
Thus, the slope of the Ohio in the 967 miles from Pittsburgh 
to its mouth is approximately 500 feet, or an average rate of 
about half a foot per mile. The fall of the Missouri River 
in its "navigable" portion, extending from Fort Benton to 
its mouth, a distance of 2,285 miles, is approximately 2,000 
feet, or about a foot per mile, but the fall of the Magdalena 
from its usually considered head of navigation at Neiva, 
750 miles from its mouth, is slightly over 1,500 feet, or two 
feet per mile. 

Of the several parts of the Mississippi system, the por- 
tion of the Missouri on which navigation has been aban- 
doned, after an expenditure of many millions in fruitless 
attempts at improvement, is more like the Magdalena than 
any other, but even the Missouri presents a simpler problem 
than the Magdalena. Both rise high in the mountains, and 
after a rapid descent, assume a more gentle gradient, which 
continues with somewhat decreasing intensity to their 
mouths, but while the whole of the 2,000 miles of the navi- 
gable Missouri below Fort Benton is away from the moun- 
tains, and across what is broadly a relatively simple plains 
province, the navigable part of the Magdalena is for two- 
thirds of its length in a valley flanked on both sides by 



QUITO TO BOGOTA 285 

mountains, and is altogether a complex river from a physio- 
graphic point of view. 

The improvements made in the Magdalena River thus 
far have consisted mainly in removing the trees which, be- 
coming imbedded in the sandbars and channel, make 
"snags" or "sawyers," and constitute a menace to naviga- 
tion. As long ago as 1878 a Junta de Canalization was 
created, which undertook to improve the river, and the 
Government now has several "snag-boats" and a revenue 
of $100,000 to $150,000 per year available for this purpose. 
The clearing of the river of such obstructions will always 
be justified with respect to certain sections, because of the 
value of these parts for local transportation, but any project 
for the canalisation of the river or the prevention of its 
banks shifting back and forth with the constantly changing 
currents, is, from the very nature of the river, foredoomed 
to failure, and money expended on such projects will either 
be entirely wasted or will give results in no way commen- 
surate with the sums spent. 

The Magdalena is naturally divisible into six parts : 

First — The portion through the present delta, extending 
from the coast 6 1 miles to Calamar. 

Second — The part from Calamar to Tacaloa, 77 miles 
through the hills which separate the present delta from the 
larger interior delta-plain of the Magdalena, the Cauca, the 
San Jorge and the Cesar. 

Third — The interior delta extending from Tacaloa to 
Banco, a distance along the present main channel of the 
river, of 84 miles. 

Fourth — The section between Banco and the Salto Negro 
(black falls) or Salto de Honda, covering 334 miles along 



286 QUITO TO BOGOTA 

the main channel of the river, and including what is some- 
times called the Paturia Region. 

Fifth — The portion from the Falls to the head of naviga- 
tion at Neiva, 195 miles. 

Sixth — The headwaters from Neiva to the Lake of Mag- 
dalena in the Paramo de las Papas, approximately 300 miles. 

Because of the break made by the Falls of Honda, the 
portion from Honda to Neiva is commonly referred to as 
the Alto (high or upper) Magdalena, while below is called 
the Bajo (lower) Magdalena. Except for a portion of the 
headwaters section, all the Magdalena is low enough to fall 
within the "Tierra Caliente," or "Hot Lands." It is said 
of the relatively dry Upper Magdalena valley, that it is one 
of the most healthful of the hot regions of the Americas, 
and, considering variation in temperature, due to difference 
of elevation, there is little to choose between the different 
points on the Upper and Lower Magdalena, but there is a 
marked dissimilarity in the amount of rainfall and resulting 
climatic conditions. The rainfall distribution is both inter- 
esting and surprising. One would expect to find all the 
portion between the two Cordilleras a rain-shadow, and 
that there would probably be a gradual increase in precipi- 
tation towards the coast. Indeed there is a rain-shadow 
area between the two Cordilleras, the great semi-arid plain 
of the Upper Magdalena, but this is followed in passing 
down the river by a torrential rain area of dripping jungle- 
forest also between the two Cordilleras, while beyond, and 
toward the coast, the hills show only scattered and scrubby 
tree growth and grazing land. Starting from the mouth of 
the river, one thus passes through a region of relatively low 
rainfall, which continues for over 250 miles to a point just 



QUITO TO BOGOTA 287 

beyond Banco. Here, where the mountains close in, there 
commences a region of heavy rainfall, which extends a dis- 
tance of 300 miles toward Honda and covers essentially 
the fourth division of the river. Near Honda the rainfall 
grows abruptly less and we enter the rain-shadow area 
between the two ranges which extend through the fifth, and 
sixth divisions almost to the source of the river. 

The limitation of the normal rain-shadow to the southern 
half of the great valley between the Eastern and Central 
Andes, and the presence in its northern half of an area of 
heavy precipitation is one of the anomalies of the rainfall 
distribution in Colombia. With our present incomplete in- 
formation, we can only suggest that it is due to entirely 
local causes. The evaporation from the numerous water 
surfaces in this lower portion of the valley would, because 
of the encompassing ranges, be confined to that locality, 
and the matter, therefore, resolves itself into a round of 
tropical evaporation and precipitation on the same spot. 
This does not occur in the upper half of the valley, as the 
area of water surface available for evaporation is much 
less, and the chance of wind movement perhaps greater. If 
the interior delta were closely surrounded by mountains, one 
would, on this theory, expect a similar phenomenon, but as 
it is not closely shut in, only a portion of the evaporation 
falls in the same spot, and it is probable that part of the 
moisture from this area is conveyed by the winds into the 
neighbouring mountain pockets, and becomes a factor in the 
heavy precipitation in those mountain-enclosed parts of the 
Magdalena and Cauca, just to the southeast and southwest 
of the interior delta. The relatively dry character of much 
of the Caribbean coast region of Colombia, which reaches 



288 QUITO TO BOGOTA 

extreme aridity in the peninsula of Goajira,_ is apparently 
a question of the direction of the prevailing winds. Toward 
the west the rainfall along the coast grows in intensity. It 
is very heavy in the region of the Gulf of Uraba and west- 
ward along the coast of Panama. 

The maritime delta of the Magdalena, beginning just 
below Calamar, has a length of about 50 miles. It is tra- 
versed by the main river, which at Barranquilla divides into 
two channels, one leading straight into the sea at the Boca 
de Ceniza, formerly called the Barra Nueva, and the other 
a more winding channel whose outlet is at the Boca de Rio 
Viejo, nine miles northeast of Barranquilla and an almost 
equal distance east of the Boca de Ceniza. In addition 
there are a number of minor distributary channels leading 
into the Cienaga de Santa Marta, a shallow arm of the sea 
lying between the river and the Santa Marta mountain mass. 
To the west of the river and extending almost to its mouth 
are the Uplands of the Tierradentro, sometimes called the 
Cordillera de Barlovento — the Windward Mountains — a 
name rather surprising in a country with really great Cor- 
dilleras. The hills of the Tierradentro are rugged in a small 
way and have a mean elevation of 500 to 600 feet. The 
culminating point, not far from Barranquilla, reaches a 
height of 2,500 feet and some of the hills towards Cartagena 
are over 1,600 feet high. These hills touch the coast be- 
tween Cartagena and Puerto Colombia, and the extreme tip 
of the Magdalena Delta lies less than five miles north of 
their northern end. On the whole, the land built by the 
Magdalena River in its delta portion is really so very small 
and so out of proportion to the size of the river and the 
amount of sediment carried, as to suggest either that this 




West of Greenwich. 



Compiled by A.C.Veatch. Drawn by S.J.Long. 
DISTRIBUTION OF HEAVIER FOBKST GKOWTII 



QUITO TO BOGOTA 289 

portion of the coast is affected by very strong ocean cur- 
rents or that the present relative position of sea and land 
has not been long established at this point and that there has 
been very recent subsidence. 

Such is the nature of this area near the mouth' of the river 
that the Magdalena not only has tributaries in its delta 
section below Calamar, but the most important of these, 
coming from the Tierradentro, presents the anomaly of 
being a southward-flowing stream joining the northward- 
flowing master drainage of the region. 

Unfortunately, precise levels are not available for a study 
of the slope of the delta. We sought to get a check on the 
elevation at Calamar through the railway levels, but although 
the manager of the railway from Cartagena to Calamar very 
kindly endeavoured to find for us in the local archives of 
the company profiles of this line, he was unable to do so. 
Sefior Ismael Jose Romero, in a little work on the railways 
of Colombia and the Magdalena, "for use in schools and 
colleges," gives the elevation of Calamar as 147 feet, which, 
as it differs materially from other published sources, may 
have been derived from the railway levels. The best data 
at hand are the elevations reported by the British engineer, 
F. A. Simons, who made maps of the Departments of Boli- 
var and Magdalena for the Colombian Government. These 
are adopted by Vergara in a map published in 1907 in pref- 
erence to other figures given in his Geography of Colombia, 
issued some years before. The Simons elevation for Cala- 
mar is 72 feet, and as this place is 55 miles from the sea 
in a straight line, it gives the slope of the surface of the delta 
as over a foot and a quarter per mile. Lower down the 
elevation of Cerro de San Antonio on the east side of the 



2QO QUITO TO BOGOTA 

river, where the first distributary to the Cienaga de Santa 
Marta leaves it, and of Campo de la Cruz on the west, are 
both given as 65 feet. These points are fifty miles from 
the ocean. Suan, El Penon and Salamina are given eleva- 
tions of slightly over 45 feet, and from the position of these 
places, with reference to the ordinary stage of the river, the 
usual gradient of the water-level is inferred to be slightly 
less than a foot per mile. 

This gives to the delta section of the Magdalena a gradi- 
ent equal to that in the upper reaches of the Ohio, whereas 
the slope of the Ohio in its lower reaches is only .29 foot 
per mile, and the slope of the water surface in the Missis- 
sippi, in the delta section below the mouth of the Red River, 
is less than one sixteenth of a foot per mile at low water 
and one sixth of a foot per mile in flood stages. The aver- 
age slope of the surface of the delta of the Mississippi is 
slightly less than a quarter of a foot per mile, in the 200 
miles above the mouth. The delta of the Magdalena thus 
has the slope of the tributaries of the Mississippi in their 
sections near the mountains, and the suggestion from this 
extraordinary gradient, which is corroborated by other fea- 
tures of the river, is that the Magdalena is a stream so 
overloaded with sediment that it must maintain an abnor- 
mal gradient to carry its load to the sea. In this respect 
it recalls some of the streams flowing east from the Rocky 
Mountains in the United States, which, although they have 
a high gradient, are unable to degrade their channel, be- 
cause of their overburden of sediment. 

At Calamar a channel, partly natural and partly artificial, 
leaves the Magdalena on the west side and passes through 
a low place in the range of hills, which, north of this gap, 



QUITO TO BOGOTA 291 

is called the Tierradentro and south the Montafias de Maria. 
This is the Canal del Dique, often simply El Dique. It 
leads to the southern end of the magnificent harbour of 
Cartagena, a total distance of about 85 miles, and has a 
number of shallow openings into the sea south of this port. 
The Dique was constructed by the Spaniards in 1570, when 
Philip II was sovereign of Spain, by connecting existing 
channels and lakes, and it afforded the main avenue of trans- 
portation between the coast and the Magdalena until the 
troublous times of the Wars of the Independence. It then 
fell into disuse and was soon rendered impassable by the 
accumulation of silt and vegetation. Then began the decline 
of Cartagena and the growth of Barranquilla. An attempt 
was made in 1846 to reopen the Dique, but without suc- 
cess. The effort was repeated in 1881, and for a few years 
light draft steamboats belonging to an English company 
plied along this route. However, with the completion of 
the railway between Cartagena and Calamar across the 
hills of the Tierradentro in 1894, this channel was no longer 
maintained. It is now choked with silt and water vege- 
tation, but will again become a channel of commerce with 
the growth of Colombia. 

The appearance on maps of a waterway leading as this 
one does from the lower part of the Magdalena to the sea, 
is responsible in some quarters for the rather erroneous 
conclusion that this is an ordinary deltaic channel of the 
Magdalena and that the whole of the area from the south- 
ernmost opening of the Canal del Dique into the sea to 
the Cienaga de Santa Marta, represents delta land con- 
structed by the Magdalena. So self-evident does this appear 
from a casual study of the usual maps that the geologists 



292 QUITO TO BOGOTA 

of the United States Geological Survey have felt justified, 
on a map published by that organisation in 191 1, in show- 
ing a great belt of alluvium 80 miles wide covering this 
whole area and extending up the river to latitude 8 degrees 
30 minutes, instead of leaving the area blank, as was done 
in the same map with respect to areas where there was no 
accurate information available. The error is a very natural 
one and the basic cause lies in supposing the Magdalena 
analogous to the Mississippi — only it happens that the Mag- 
dalena has quite different characteristics. 

Above Calamar the river passes through the hill-lands 
which separate the present maritime delta from the interior 
delta-plain of the Magdalena, the Cauca, the San Jorge and 
the Cesar. This hill-land belt extends across the course 
of the Magdalena, connecting the Santa Marta mountain 
mass on the one hand with the Montanas de Maria, on the 
other, and the river passes through it in a slightly sinuous 
trench. The river is to-day not deepening this trench, but 
filling it, as is indicated by the lakes that occur in the lower 
ends of all the tributary valleys in this portion of the stream. 
These hills rise to heights of from 300 to 400 feet above 
sea-level, and it is in this region that we expect to see the 
high-level bridge on the great trunk railways spanning the 
Magdalena without interfering with steamboat navigation., 
The drainage from this transverse hill-land is for the most 
part toward the interior delta-plain and the waters of the 
Arroyo de Chimiquica, which takes its rise 30 miles east 
of Calamar, run parallel to the Magdalena for a distance 
of 60 miles, but while the Magdalena is flowing northward, 
the Chimiquica is going south and its waters only join those 
of the Magdalena in the interior delta area. 



QUITO TO BOGOTA 293 

The Montanas de Maria, also called the Montafias de las 
Sabanas, or the grazing uplands of Bolivar, extend north 
and south between the Sinu on the west and the second and 
third sections of the Magdalena on the east. Toward the 
south this upland connects by low hills with the Cerro 
Murucucu, a peak over 6,000 feet high on a spur of the 
Western Andes. These connecting hills, though 250 feet 
above sea-level, rise so little and so gradually from the 
major drainage channels on either side that they are of 
slight topographic importance. Toward the north the up- 
land becomes higher and its crest line is between 500 and 
1,000 feet, with occasional elevations of 1,500 to 2,000. 
The culminating point is 30 miles southwest of Calamar 
and 20 miles from the depression of the Dique. Here the 
Maria Range is 3,000 feet high with a culminating point 
called El Manco or Cerro San Martin, which has doubtfully 
been determined to have an elevation of 4,475 feet. This 
area forms an important cattle-raising and tobacco-growing 
section free from the deluges of rain which one naturally 
associates with South American tropical lowlands and is a 
section which would be traversed by the trunk railway 
serving the western part of Colombia between the Central 
and Western Cordillera. 

To the west of the southern part of the Montanas de 
Maria there is an interior delta area, in the drainage basin 
of the Rio Sinu, analogous to, though smaller than, the 
interior delta of the Magdalena. Below this depression the 
Sinu passes through a belt of low hills to its maritime delta 
section. It is rather interesting to find that this ridge is 
on a prolongation of the axis of the hills which the Mag- 
dalena cuts through in its second division, and that the 



294 QUITO TO BOGOTA 

depression through which the Dique passes has a parallel 
southwest-northeast trend, on the prolongation of which 
lies the Cienaga de Santa Marta. The broad suggestion 
is of recent folding or wrinkling, having a southwest- 
northeast trend. 

The upper limit of the second division of the Magdalena 
may be fixed somewhat arbitrarily, at Tacaloa, near the 
foot of the interior delta region. The elevation of this 
village and of the neighbouring settlement of Tacamocho, 
both in the lowland bordering the river, are given by a 
number of observers at figures ranging from 115 to 125 
feet above sea-level. The portion of the river between 
Tacaloa and the sea is, from the standpoint of navigability, 
the most important part of the Magdalena. The distance 
is 138 miles along the meandering course of the river, the 
mean width of the stream is half a mile, the channel is 
without small sharp turns and the depth is variously stated 
as between twenty and thirty feet. Some hope that with 
the improvement of the Boca de Ceniza and the main- 
tenance of a channel of 30 feet of water across the bar, 
ocean steamers will ascend this section of the river. There 
hardly seems economic justification for such a hope. The 
conditions on the coast of Colombia are very different 
from those which forced the location of New Orleans many 
miles from the mouth of the Mississippi. In the case of 
New Orleans there was no other place nearer the mouth 
where a city could be placed, and the site, apart from its 
commercial advantages, is not one which would be chosen 
had there been any higher and drier place, and there were 
no near-by natural harbours such as Santa Marta and Car- 
tagena. 



QUITO TO BOGOTA 295 

Above Tacaloa lies the interior delta or third division of 
the river. It is a great alluvial area with low hilltops and 
ridges sticking through the plain, here, there and every- 
where, amidst which the streams form an intricate net- 
work of channels that crisscross the flat portions of its 
surface delta-wise in almost every direction. From north 
to south it extends from Tacaloa up the Cauca, to near the 
mouth of the Nechi, a distance of a hundred miles; and 
from east to west it reaches ninety miles from the neigh- 
bourhood of Chiriguana in the Cesar drainage to Caimito 
on the Rio San Jorge. It is an area of recent and local 
depression, and though once a region of hills and valleys, 
the old topography has been all but buried by the sediment 
brought into the depression by the tributary streams. In- 
deed, to-day, only the very tops of the highest of the old 
hills are visible. 

Into this depressed area come the Cauca and San Jorge 
from the southwest, and the Magdalena from the south, all 
issuing from rather narrow mountain-enclosed valleys, while 
from the northeast comes the Cesar, flowing through a 
broad plain which is described by all who have examined it 
as one of the great agricultural regions of the future Co- 
lombia. 

Of the streams tributary to this interior delta, the most 
important in point of volume and sediment is the Mag- 
dalena, and the least the Cesar. The San Jorge, though of 
less length than the Cesar, heads in a rain-drenched moun- 
tain pocket and therefore carries a greater volume of water 
than the Cesar, which comes from an area of relatively 
low rainfall. The Cauca is naturally second in importance. 
The result of these differences in the four main rivers is 



296 QUITO TO BOGOTA 

that the Magdalena has been able to build up much more 
rapidly than the others. Its fall across the depression has 
a slope from near Banco to Tacaloa of 48 feet in a direct 
distance of 59 miles. The result of the greater aggrada- 
tion of the Magdalena has been to pond the waters in the 
lower part of the Cesar and form the Lake of Zapatosa, 
which, according to Vergara, has an area of 385 square 
miles, and a depth of 20 to 25 feet. The greater volume of 
water and amount of sediment carried by the Cauca has 
enabled that stream to prevent the formation of a similar 
lake at its mouth, but the lowest and levelest portion of the 
interior delta lies in this Cauca-San Jorge portion of the 
depression. At the beginning of the last century the main 
water-way of the Magdalena ran from Banco past Mompos 
to Tacaloa, then at the mouth of the Cauca, a distance along 
the meandering river of 71 miles. Distributary channels 
led from the more elevated bed of the Magdalena toward 
the slightly lower Cauca, and each flood changed their rela- 
tive importance. One of these arteries, called the Brazo 
de Loba, led across the delta area from Banco and joined 
the Cauca at a point 45 miles above its mouth. In 1868 the 
river definitely abandoning its main channel via Mompos, 
and adopting the Brazo de Loba, usurped the lower 45 
miles of the Cauca. The effect of this change, while it 
sent the main river through the lower ground, was to 
lengthen its course between Banco and Tacaloa from 71 to 
85 miles, and to decrease its average gradient. The Mom- 
pos channel, which the river silt had built above the sur- 
rounding level, then became only a series of pools during 
low-water, and Mompos, until then the most important 
town on the banks of the Magdalena, was left 20 miles from 



QUITO TO BOGOTA 297 

the main channel and fell into decay. When the silt of 
the Magdalena has built up its new, tortuous, longer Loba 
route, the river will again return to the old Mompos water- 
course because this is the shortest route to the sea. 

It has been suggested that the Magdalena formerly turned 
northeastward, and flowing in the valley between the Santa 
Marta mountain mass and the spur of the eastern Andes 
which forms the boundary between Colombia and Vene- 
zuela, entered the sea in the Goajira region. This depres- 
sion is to-day occupied by the Rio Cesar, which, flowing 
southwest, joins the Magdalena, and the Rio Rancher ia, 
which, running to the northeast, enters the sea at Rio Hacha. 
As I have not had the opportunity of personally examining 
this supposed ancient course of the Magdalena, I can only 
say that although the theory may be correct, the evidence, 
so far as can be judged from published maps, is decidedly 
against this hypothesis. The general character of the Cesar 
and the directions from which most of its tributaries join 
it, is opposed to this theory, although these facts are in 
themselves not conclusive in a region possessing peculiarities 
such as have already been noted. Other lines of evidence, 
however, point in the same direction. For the divide be- 
tween the Cesar and the Rancheria, Vergara adopts the 
elevation of 675 feet, determined by Sievers. Therefore it 
follows that if the Magdalena did at one time flow to the 
sea along this route, it was diverted by rapid folding which 
elevated the point occupied by the present divide from less 
than a hundred feet to its present height. Such a fold 
would have to have a northwest-southeast trend which is 
diametrically opposite to the general structural lines of 
this northern part of Colombia. The whole depression oc- 



298 QUITO TO BOGOTA 

cupied by the two streams has a northeast-southwest trend 
which is also that of the adjoining mountain masses. The 
elevation which separates the Sinu interior delta from the 
sea is but the prolongation in a southwest direction of the 
elevation between the Magdalena interior delta and the 
ocean, and, although it may only be a chance happening, 
the axis of the depression traversed by the Dique has the 
same course, and its prolongation to the northeast is occu- 
pied by the Cienaga de Santa Marta. Altogether the gen- 
eral evidence is opposed to an ancient course of the Mag- 
dalena along this route, but there may be local and special 
evidence, of which we are not aware, that would prove this 
theory. 

We have somewhat arbitrarily fixed the upper limit of 
the interior delta at Banco, where there is the great bifur- 
cation of the Magdalena into the Mompos and Loba chan- 
nels. The delta might perhaps be considered as continuing 
above Banco to Badillo, situated just beyond the mouth of 
the Lebrija, where the river first begins to break into large 
"brazos" or arms. An additional reason for extending the 
delta limit to the south of Banco is the fact that one of the 
channels connecting the Cesar and the Magdalena branches 
from the main river fifteen miles above Banco. Along this 
channel the water flows part of the year in one direction 
and part of the year in the other, depending on the relative 
stage of the water in the two streams. If the head of the 
interior delta is considered as occurring at Badillo, the 
length of the Magdalena in the third section would be in- 
creased from 84 miles to 139 miles and the length assigned 
to the fourth section would be decreased to 279 miles. 

Below Badillo the mountains to the west of the river 



QUITO TO BOGOTA 299 

are not high enough to interfere seriously with the atmos- 
pheric circulation, and the precipitation is therefore not 
much heavier than to the north. South of the latitude of 
Badillo the range to the west is of such a height that it 
gives to this section the character of a veritable mountain 
pocket, and in this region, where the winds cannot shift the 
moisture clouds away from the valley, there is no relief 
from the, rain. It is this peculiar rainfall area, famous for 
the unhealthy nature of its climate, for its exuberant vege- 
tation, for its floods and for the difficulties of the naviga- 
tion of the Magdalena within it, that the Colombian geog- 
rapher, Vergara, considers as constituting a black cloud on 
the horizon of Colombia and a problem of vital importance 
in connection with the future progress of the country. With 
this we should be inclined to agree, did we feel that the 
future of Colombia was bound up with the Magdalena. 
On the contrary, we believe that the sooner the leaders of 
this nation are able to abandon all thought of the Magdalena 
as a main avenue of traffic, the sooner will the country make 
a real step forward in its growth and development, and we 
therefore are inclined to give little weight to the blighting 
effect of this narrow belt, which Vergara characterises as 
"more water than land and more mud than water," and to 
consider rather the extensive healthy uplands which flank it 
on both sides. 

To the west of the Paturia division of the Magdalena is 
Antioquia, with three-quarters of a million of people, a fer- 
tile soil and truly a golden heart. Its hills are everywhere 
cut with gold-bearing veins, and its valleys are rich placers. 
Its centres of population are, Yarumal, 21,000, elevation 
7,500 feet; Medellin, 71,000, elevation 5,000 feet; and Son- 



300 QUITO TO BOGOTA 

son, 29,000, elevation 8,000 feet. To the east of the Paturia 
are the elevated lands of the Eastern Andes, in the Depart- 
ments of Boyaca and the two Santanders, with a million 
people, a great diversity of climate, large areas of agricul- 
tural lands suited for the growth of many different prod- 
ucts, and deposits of copper, coal, petroleum, and a little 
gold and silver, together with the world's most important 
emerald mines. The centres of population in the western 
side of this upland, and nearest the Magdalena, are Ocafia, 
17,000, elevation 3,800 feet; Bucaramanga and Rio Negro, 
which together have a population of 34,000, elevation 3,000 
feet; Zapatoca, 10,500, elevation 5,600; Barichara, 11,000, 
elevation 4,300; Socorro, 11,000, elevation 4,000; Bolivar, 
12,000, elevation 6,000; Jesus Maria, 13,000, elevation 
6,300; Puente Nacional, 12,000, elevation 5,300; Moni- 
quira, 11,000, elevation 5,600; Chiquinquira, 14,500, eleva- 
tion 8,500. 

Between this elevated and healthy eastern upland and the 
Magdalena, and in the heart of the Paturia region, there is 
the area of the Opon and Carare, still occupied by savage 
Indians, who fiercely resist with poisoned arrows any incur- 
sion into their country. It is a sad commentary on the un- 
healthy and forbidding character of the Paturia region that 
this part of the route followed by Quesada and his devoted 
band in the first journey made by the Spaniards from the 
coast to the mountain-parks of the Eastern Andes — the 
Kingdom of New Granada — should still be held along the 
Opon by aborigines so savage that the passage through their 
country is attended with no little risk and danger. 

In this Paturia division of the Magdalena there are, ac- 
cording to the Codazzi maps, shallow lakes of the type 



QUITO TO BOGOTA 301 

which are characteristically found along a river building 
up its channel in a flood plain. These occur on both sides 
of the Magdalena to a point a few miles above Puerto 
Berrio, or 450 miles from the sea. Within this area there 
are evidently large tracts subject to overflow, and the slope 
of the river between Puerto Berrio and Bancois, accord- 
ing to the most reliable information, about a foot and a 
quarter per mile. Between Puerto Berrio and La Dorada, 
the present head of navigation on the Lower Magdalena, 
the slope is a foot per mile, according to the elevations 
adopted by the two railway lines. The suggestion that the 
river has a less slope in the immediate section above Puerto 
Berrio than below is very interesting, but the elevation data 
on which the calculations are based are not sufficiently re- 
liable to warrant too positive a deduction upon differences 
so slight. However, we are inclined to believe that it is 
true, because of the interesting phenomenon at the "Angos- 
tura de Nare," which may broadly be translated as the "Nar- 
rows of the Magdalena near the Nare." The Angostura is 
situated just below the mouth of the Rio Nare, 22 miles 
above Puerto Berrio, and here the Magdalena passes with 
considerable velocity through a straight trench, 400 feet 
wide, 100 feet deep and a little over a mile long, cut through 
a low belt of hills. The strata forming these hills show, at 
the upper end of the Narrows, a gentle inclination to the' 
south, while six miles below, at the Penones del Hermi- 
tafio, they slope to the north. The whole suggestion is of a 
slight wrinkle or fold, which, in very recent geologic time, 
has developed across the river, but which is forming so 
slowly that the river is able to trench the ground almost 
as rapidly as it rises. Such folding would tend, until the 



302 QUITO TO BOGOTA 

stream had entirely readjusted itself, to decrease the gradi- 
ent of the river above it. 

From the Angostura to> the source, the Magdalena is now 
cutting down, but from the Angostura to its mouth it is 
building up. The cutting down is exemplified by that still 
in progress at the Angostura and in the rocky shoals and 
rapids which are found at intervals to the source of the 
river. The effect of the building up is seen in the Cienagas 
which flank the river on both sides through the Paturia re- 
gion, in the Lake of Zapatosa, and in the string of lakes 
and marshes which occur along the east side of the old 
Mompos channel, as well as in the lakes which are found at 
the lower end of virtually every tributary of the river 
where it traverses the hill-lands of the second division. The 
slope of the Magdalena from the Nare to the sea, approxi- 
mately a foot per mile, is high for a river of this size, 
and the fact that it is building up its channel even with 
this slope shows that the river is heavily overburdened with 
silt — a very serious consideration in connection with any 
attempted improvements. 

Between La Dorada and Honda the river is not only very 
narrow and crooked but rises rapidly to the crest of the 
Falls of Honda or Salto Negro. The railway levels give a 
difference in elevation of 144 feet between these two places, 
a distance along the river of 24 miles, but this includes the 
whole of the Falls. These rapids are stated by Perez to 
fall two metres in the first 150 metres, 93^ metres in the 
next 200, and 3 metres in the two miles to the old Bodega 
at the landing-place used before the construction of the 
railway. This gives a total fall of 46.5 feet in slightly less 
than 2 miles, and leaves a descent of 97.5 for the remaining 



QUITO TO BOGOTA 303 

22 miles to La Dorada, or an average slope of 4.4 feet per 
mile. 

La Dorada thus represents the normal upper limit of 
navigation on the Lower Magdalena. Steamboats first 
reached the port of Conejo, which is on the opposite bank 
of the river from La Dorada, in 1824, but it was not until 
1840 that a boat ascended above this point. In that year 
the steamboat, "La Union," reached the Vuelta (whirlpool) 
de la Madre de Dios, ten miles higher up, and in 1852 the 
"Manzanares" reached Caracoli, afterwards called Bodega 
de Honda, two miles below Honda, which, until 1884, was 
the port for all freight and passengers to and from the 
upper country west of the Magdalena, just as Bodega de 
Bogota on the opposite bank of the river served the country 
to the east. In 1884 the railway line round the falls was 
opened from Yeguas, 14 miles below Honda, to Arranca- 
plumas, one mile above the rapids. Yeguas is situated just 
below Vuelta de la Madre de Dios, but the terminus was 
found unsatisfactory, because of the sharp turns and rapid- 
flowing water below, and in a short time the line was ex- 
tended to La Dorada, which thus, after a lapse of half a 
century, again became the head of navigation. 

The nature of the Falls of Honda is such that boats can 
go down it at certain stages of the water, but with some 
risk and danger, and, at times, can haul themselves up 
with their windlasses. The first steamboat passed up the 
rapids about 1870, and there were four boats on the upper 
river in 1873, but the uncertainties of navigation were such 
that nearly all goods and passengers for the region of 
Bogota continued, until the completion of the Girardot Rail- 
way, to pass along the Honda mule-road, famous for its 



304 QUITO TO BOGOTA 

mud-holes and its steep ascents and descents. This road is 
still used to some extent and one of our party demonstrated 
that it was possible to go from Bogota to Facatativa on the 
Sabana Railway, then along this road to Honda and on the 
railway from there to La Dorada, in less time than was 
consumed by the "express" mail service via Girardot and 
the boats of the Upper Magdalena. Sometimes the mail 
service goes more quickly, but during our stay in Bogota 
it would often have been possible, by hard riding over the 
Honda trail, to do the journey from Bogota to La Dorada 
in less time than by the mail service. 

The casual examinations which we were able to make of 
the Falls of Honda and the surrounding country suggest 
that the principal factor in the formation of these rapids 
has been the Rio Guali which, in times past, has built a great 
alluvial cone or fan into the valley of the Magdalena, the 
effect of which has been not only to obstruct the river but 
to crowd it to the western side of the valley. In the forma- 
tion of this cone, which is abnormally large, compared with 
those formed by neighbouring streams of similar size, the 
volcanoes of the Tolima group have doubtless been an 
important contributing factor. The most recently active 
volcanoes of this group lie toward the head of the Guali, and 
it would appear that much of their debris has been carried 
down this channel to form this great fan across the Mag- 
dalena. The older material in the cone has been consoli- 
dated into layers of conglomerate which the modern stream, 
no longer overloaded with the volcanic debris, has cut into 
fantastic forms. The Guali now flows on the northern side 
of the fan, and the sloping terrace lands along it, lying 
below the level of the old summit of the cone, suggest the 



QUITO TO BOGOTA 305 

relatively feeble last discharges from the volcanoes, follow- 
ing the great eruptions of prehistoric times. 

The Magdalena has naturally done its utmost to cut 
through this obstruction and to overcome the displacement 
produced by it. As a result, the banks of the river imme- 
diately above Honda are so irregular and precipitous that, 
in extending the railway south from Honda, the engineers 
have preferred to follow the terraces of the Guali to Mari- 
quita, located twelve miles from the river, involving a climb 
of almost 1,000 feet, rather than undertake the heavy work 
required in building a railway along the river itself. From 
Mariquita this extension of the railway descends again to 
the Magdalena, which it reaches at a point now usually 
called Beltran, opposite the old river-landing of the same 
name and a mile and a half below Ambalema. The dis- 
tance along the railway is 49 miles and by river 39. 

The height of Honda above the sea, according to the 
figure adopted by the railway engineers, is 669 feet. The 
elevation of Girardot, adopted by the engineers of that 
railway, is 1,066 feet. This gives the river between Girar- 
dot and the Falls of Honda a slope of 397 feet in a dis- 
tance of 95 miles or 4.2 feet per mile. In this portion of 
its course the river varies in width between 300 and 1,200 
feet, and its navigation is rendered difficult by the presence 
of a number of rapids, produced by the rock masses which 
project part way across the channel, and are of such a 
character that, with the gradual wearing away of the Falls 
at Honda by the Magdalena, they will probably not only 
increase in importance, but others will appear. Boats going 
down the river pass these with danger and those coming 
up, with difficulty. The worst of these rapids are at Colom- 



306 QUITO TO BOGOTA 

baima, and near Venadillo, five to ten miles above the ter- 
minus of the Dorada railway at Beltran. In good stages of 
water, boats go up these rapids only with effort and the 
expenditure of much power, and necessarily very slowly. 
At other times cables are stretched ahead to the buoys which 
have been placed at convenient points and the boats get 
through with the combined action of their great stern- 
paddlewheels and their windlasses. From Girardot to 
Neiva, the usually recognised head of navigation on the 
upper river, the average slope is about five feet per mile. 

During the time when Colombia was a colony of Spain 
the Magdalena was, as to-day, the principal commercial 
artery of the country. This was before the days of steam- 
boat navigation, and the journey from the coast to Bogota 
was a very serious undertaking, requiring two months' time, 
even in the case of the British Commissioner, Colonel 
Hamilton, notwithstanding the special efforts made to se- 
cure speed. Travel along the river was in flat-bottomed 
boats, called champans, which were propelled up stream by 
poling. Colonel Hamilton's journey from Bogota to the 
coast consumed three weeks, of which only twelve days were 
spent on the river between the Bodega near Honda, and 
Barrancanueva, the old landing-place for Cartagena, five 
miles above the present railway terminus at Calamar. 

Colonel Hamilton says of his trip up the river in 1824: 
"Our largest champan was about sixty feet in length by 
seven in breadth, two feet from the water's edge; the 
height of the convex covering in the centre is six feet six 
inches ; it is made of bamboos, strong and flexible, covered 
with palm-leaves, and fastened well together by tough 
twigs. The complement of men for a champan of this size 



QUITO TO BOGOTA 307 

is the patron, a pilot who steers with a large paddle at the 
stern, and twenty-two men, who all use poles twenty feet 
in length; part of them on the top of the covering, and 
the remainder in the bow of the champan : the pole is fixed 
against the shoulder, which becomes in consequence hard 
and callous. I think the passage up this river, from con- 
finement all day in a champan with the pole-men, the intense 
heat of the climate, the swarms of mosquitoes of different 
sizes and sorts, of which there are five, and sleeping on 
hot sand-banks, is as bad and uncomfortable a pilgrimage 
as a human being can well have to perform. This being 
the case, the traveller can have but one object, which is to 
shorten the penance as quickly as possible. It is a singular 
but well-known fact that these champans are exactly the 
same boats in shape and construction as those made by the 
Indians, or aborigines of the country, for the navigation 
of the river, before the conquest of them by the Spaniards. 
All improvements of means of transport were checked by 
the old Spaniards; since it was evidently the policy and 
great object of the court of Madrid, that the different prov- 
inces of these extensive colonies in the New World should 
have as little communication as possible with each other, 
in order to keep them in ignorance of their strength and 
resources; therefore the traveller meets with numerous ob- 
stacles and difficulties in navigating the rivers, crossing the 
plains, and going over the mountains of this immense 
country." 

We have made three journeys along the Magdalena, one 
up the river and two down, and owing to the favourable 
stage of the water and to the special arrangements made 
for Lord Murray, succeeded in going from Cartagena to 



308 QUITO TO BOGOTA 

Bogota in seven and a half days and returning to the coast 
in four and a half. However, the usual time is much 
longer, even when the river is not low, and the traveller 
who makes the journey in ten days going up and seven days 
coming down, can consider that he has made very good 
time. Generally the traveller should allow for the up-trip 
two or three weeks from the time he leaves the ocean 
steamer, and ten days to two weeks for the trip out. Low 
water quite interrupts navigation from time to time, even 
for the small boats which replace the larger ones when the 
river falls below a certain point, and which carry very little 
cargo. Owing to this it was two months from the time 
the present British Minister first touched the shores of 
Colombia until he reached Bogota, and the diary of every- 
one who has spent any time in the capital will contain occa- 
sional entries like this: "The mail, which should have 
reached here five days ago, is still on the way. The last 
report says the steamboat is stuck on a sand-bar, so we 
can form no definite idea of when it will arrive." 

Shipments between Bogota and the coast are very slow 
and expensive. Under the existing scheme of transporta- 
tion the goods must be handled seven times at a minimum 
and thirteen times at a maximum, in order to be trans- 
ported a distance of 774 miles, and the number of handlings 
is generally the maximum, rather than the minimum. For 
example, a box of goods, when landed from a steamer at 
Cartagen ., goes into the warehouse, and then to the train, 
or into the train direct, involving one or two handlings as 
the case may be. At Calamar it usually goes from the 
train into the warehouse, and then to the river boat, rather 
than direct to the steamer itself. The same thing happens 



QUITO TO BOGOTA 309 

at La Dorada, Beltran, Girardot and Facatativa, before it 
finally reaches the station at Bogota. Our only experience 
with the freight service was in connection with a small box, 
which was just six weeks in getting from the coast to 
Honda, and another two weeks in getting from Honda to 
Bogota, notwithstanding frequent attempts by telegraphic 
messages to hasten its delivery. 

The boats of the Magdalena are of the flat-bottomed, 
stern-wheeled type, common on the Mississippi system, and 
carry all the cargo on the decks. The boats burn wood, 
which, cut into appropriate lengths, is stacked anywhere 
along the stream where the boats can land, and many stops 
are made and much time taken up in "loading wood." In 
the lower part of the river, barges filled with this fire- 
wood are attached to the side of some of the "express" 
boats and the unloading is done while steaming along. 
However, this expedient is not possible above Puerto Barrio, 
because of the narrowness of the river. There are a num- 
ber of competing steamboat lines, one of which belongs to 
the merchants of Antioquia, as anyone familiar with the 
characteristics of the Antioquefios would expect — to the in- 
habitants of Antioquia, even the people from Bogota and 
from the coast, are "foreigners." The boats on the lower 
river vary from 80 to 400 tons register, and most of the 
steamers are from 200 to 300. On the upper river the 
boats are from 75 to 125 tons. 

All the boats have a limited number of cabins for pas- 
sengers, opening out of the dining saloon, but passage 
money does not, as on the Mississippi boats, include the 
right to a stateroom, for which an extra payment is re- 
quired. Cots are furnished in the staterooms, but no bed- 



310 QUITO TO BOGOTA 

ding, and the traveller needs to supply his own mosquito 
bar, towels, sheets and pillows. The food is generally in- 
different, and, while a considerable improvement is now 
being made, many people find it desirable to carry a box 
of tinned provisions with them. The water served is from 
the Magdalena, sometimes filtered, oftener not, and while 
this will not shock people who have lived on some of the 
rivers of the Mississippi system, a case or two of bottled 
water will suit most travellers better, and must be pro- 
vided by the passenger before he starts the journey. 

The "express" mail service has, in the past year, left 
Bogota on Thursday or Friday, and generally reached the 
coast about a week later. The latest posting time is half 
past three the preceding afternoon, in order that the mail 
may be prepared to leave at 7.30 the following morning. 
On our trip down the river in May last the schedule was 
an all-day run on Thursday to Girardot, where we spent 
the night, then the steamboat on the Upper Magdalena to 
Beltran, which is reached at noon on Friday. The distance 
from Beltran to La Dorada is 74 miles, and the train can 
easily reach it in three to four hours, including stops, but 
the mail steamer does not leave La Dorada till Sunday 
noonj and this, for the regular traveller, means a day and 
two nights in the hotel at Honda, or, if he prefers, the 
hovels at Beltran or La Dorada. Delays of this sort cause 
travellers to occasionally prefer the old Honda mule-trail, a 
more picturesque way, and, under some circumstances, more 
comfortable! The service is, however, improving, and in 
recent months the mail train has left Bogota on Friday 
morning at 7.30, reached Beltran about noon Saturday, 
and made direct connections with the boat at La Dorada, 



QUITO TO BOGOTA 311 

which left that place every Saturday afternoon or Sunday 
morning, depending on whether the stage of the river would 
permit navigation at night. 

This was true of our last journey down the river, begin- 
ning on Friday, the 28th of November. The trip across the 
Sabana to Facatativa was different from the former ones in 
the respect that the scene was now familiar and the dif- 
ferent hills around the rim all brought up recollections, some 
pleasant, some amusing, some both. At Facatativa we had 
the pleasure of again seeing Mr. Cutbill, during the mo- 
ments occupied in transferring the passengers and mail 
from one line to the other. Climbing the rim, we passed 
along the many-looped track to Zipacon, with its numerous 
little coal pits, and to Esperanza, where the down-train 
meets the up-train and both stop while the passengers have 
luncheon. Girardot is reached at 5 o'clock in the afternoon 
— nine and a half hours for a journey of 107 miles — and 
here the passengers spend the night in a heat quite oppres- 
sive after the cool air of Bogota. The boat leaves early 
in the morning, and there is a great hurrying of carriers 
down the steep road to the landing-place, getting all the 
luggage aboard and properly stowed away before the boat 
casts off at 6.30. The fifty-six-mile journey from Girardot 
to Beltran, made in four to five hours by the boats going 
down stream, and in thirteen to fourteen hours by those 
coming up, is chiefly notable from a scenic standpoint for 
the beautiful views of the mountain ranges on both sides, 
particularly the distant Tolima and its sister snow-capped 
peaks of the Central Andes, and from a geologic point of 
view, for the complex folding along a part of the course of 
the river. 



312 QUITO TO BOGOTA 

At Girardot the river is only 300 feet wide, with marked 
rocky ledges, along which one can always see scores of 
people washing clothes. It is the accepted laundry place 
for the whole town. Below the iron bridge and the little 
rapids called the Salto de Flandes the river turns abruptly 
to the west, and follows the course of an anticline, whose 
flanks dip 35 to 50 degrees. After about two miles the 
river turns to the northeast and meanders along the axis of 
a steep-sided syncline to Nariho, thirteen miles below Girar- 
dot, where, turning slightly, it passes at right angles across 
an anticline and the adjoining syncline to the flank of the 
next anticline. This it follows to the north and runs through 
a little gorge produced by a harder layer, which passes 
across the river, on the northward plunging axis of this fold, 
about a mile south of Guataqui. Below, the river widens 
to 1,200 feet, but soon contracts to about 600. 
. The village of Guataqui is located at the point on the 
Magdalena which, before the construction of the Girardot 
line, was not only the nearest, but the most accessible, to 
Bogota. From this point Quesada, Belalcazar and Feder- 
mann embarked in boats on their return journey to Spain 
in May, 1539, nine months after the founding of Bogota, 
Quesada and Belalcazar to present their respective claims to 
the King of Spain, and the German with the purchase 
money he had received from Quesada. Two years later, 
the Licentiate Jeronimo Lebron, for a short time Governor 
of Santa Marta, who had come to the uplands of the 
Eastern Andes in an attempt to take possession of this area 
as a portion of his domain, embarked from this same spot, 
with 25 out of his original 300 followers. Markham records 
that Lebron brought the first Spanish women and the first 



QUITO TO BOGOTA 313 

supplies of wheat and vegetable seeds to the Kingdom of 
New Granada. The wheat industry of the eastern uplands, 
therefore, dates from this time — maize and potatoes were 
indigenous, and had been cultivated by the Indians for 
many centuries before the arrival of the Spaniards. In 
the early days the route to the Kingdom of New Granada 
appears to have been up the Magdalena to the mouth of the 
Opon, then up the Opon and over the mountains to Velez, 
and thence to Bogota, while the route down was from 
Bogota to the Magdalena at Guataqui, and thence along the 
river,. over the Falls of Honda and on to the sea. Guataqui 
is also located at the point where the direct route from 
Bogota to Ibague, which was founded in 1551, crosses 
the river. It is, therefore, surprising to find that the 1912 
Census Report only gives the year of foundation of Guata- 
qui as 1791. 

Below Guataqui, when the boat tied up to the bank to 
replenish its stock of wood, we found a number of Creta- 
ceous fossils, thus establishing the general geologic age of 
at least a portion of the rocks along this section of the 
river. Between Girardot and Beltran, there are a number 
of places where the rocky ledges come out into the river 
bed from beneath the alluvial banks, and confine the river 
in narrow channels of rapidly flowing water. Finally we 
pass with a rush over the larger rapids at Venadillo and 
Colombaima, where the wreck of a sister ship on the rocky 
ledges reminds the traveller that the process is not without 
some danger, and a few miles below reach Ambalema. This 
is one of the most important tobacco producing centres in 
Colombia, and, according to the 191 2 census, the municipio, 
founded in 1786, now has a population of 6,500. For many 



3H QUITO TO BOGOTA 

years the Goschen family, well known through Lord 
Goschen, who was at one time Chancellor of the Exchequer, 
and his son, the British Ambassador to Germany, were the 
principal owners of the largest cigar factory here, but this is 
now the property of Mr. John M. Vaughan. Mr. William 
Scruggs, at one time American Minister to Colombia, states 
that the Spaniards found the Indians growing tobacco at 
this place, but I have not been able to find confirmation of 
this assertion. The region has certainly been famous for 
this product for at least 150 years, and Colonel Hamilton 
in 1824 passed champans on the river laden with cigars and 
tobacco from this point. The quality of the yield to-day 
is said to be inferior to that formerly produced, owing to 
faulty methods of cultivation, to some fungoid disease of 
the plant, and to the unsatisfactory nature of the labour 
available. Ambalema is, however, quite a market centre, 
and we found the river front piled with pottery which had 
been floated down on rafts. 

Arriving at Beltran toward noon, we soon started on the 
train to La Dorada. The road climbs to Mariquita up a 
plain having a gentle gradient, reminding one of the slope 
of the apparently flat Magdalena plain, from the river to 
Ibague, and of a similar semi-arid, grass-covered character. 
After a time the railway enters a small valley and then 
emerges on a little llano of volcanic ash, in the centre of 
which lies Mariquita not far from the point where the Rio 
Guali leaves the mountains. It is the administrative centre 
of the Dorada railway line, and except for the offices and 
buildings of the railway company and the residences of its 
officials, is a decayed old Spanish town of departed glories. 
Founded, according to Markham, in August, 1 551, by Fran- 



~i^M>\ 







The waterfront at Ambalema 




Pottery rafts and quarters of the merchants 



POTTERY MARKET 



QUITO TO BOGOTA 315 

cisco Nunez Pedroso, the city is stated in most Colombian 
works of reference to have been moved to its present site 
six years later. It is situated in a healthy, pleasantly warm 
climate at an elevation of slightly over 1,500 feet, and for- 
merly, because of the fabulously rich silver mines in the 
neighbourhood and the deposits of alluvial gold tributary 
to it, was a city of great wealth and importance. Here 
there was a mint and notable edifices belonging to the re- 
ligious orders. Here the Conquistador Quesada spent his 
last days, and died on the 16th of February, 1579, at the 
age of 80 years. Eighteen years later his body was removed 
to the cathedral at Bogota, where it now rests. Markham 
records that this was also the residence for seven years, 
1 783- 1 790, of the celebrated botanist, Dr. Jose Celestino 
Mutis, who amassed here a collection of 24,000 dried plants, 
and 5,000 drawings of plants, made by his eight pupils. 
Mutis was the friend and, to some extent, the inspiration 
of the famous circle of Colombians, including Caldas and 
Zea, who seemed by their brilliance and patriotism to jus- 
tify the expectation that Colombia, released from what was 
considered the incubus of Spain, would develop more rap- 
idly and more broadly than she has. 

Mariquita was the centre of an administrative district 
in the vice-royalty of Santa Fe, and later of a province. It 
gave the name, in 1831, to one of the provinces of the 
Republic, roughly co-extensive with the modern Tolima, of 
which Ibague was then, as now, the capital. The town was 
ennobled by Charles V and given a coat-of-arms, but its 
ancient splendours are now gone. 

The eminent Colombian mining engineer, Fortunato 
Pereira Gamba, records that the production of silver from 



316 QUITO TO BOGOTA 

the region of Mariquita reached its maximum between 1586 
and 1620, and then steadily declined. In 1785 the Viceroy- 
sought to work the most famous of the mines, La Manta 
and Santa Ana, six miles from Mariquita. Engineers were 
brought from Spain, but after an expenditure of $230,000 
with a resulting production of silver worth less than $30,000 
the work was abandoned. In 1824 the Government of the 
Republic entered into a contract with Herring, Graham and 
Powles of London, for the exploitation of these two mines. 
This firm in 1830 began work seriously and on a large scale, 
and after an expenditure of over $1,000,000 in the next six 
years for an output of silver worth $139,000 likewise aban- 
doned the undertaking. These mines have continued to 
yield negligible quantities of silver, but the most important 
mine at the present time is that of Frias, re-discovered in 
1870, and now profitably worked by the North Tolima Min- 
ing Company of London. The production is carried on 
muleback to the station of San Felipe on the Dorada Rail- 
way, between Mariquita and Beltran. 

On our journey to the coast in May Lord Murray and his 
party were the guests for two days of Mr. Thomas Miller, 
the Manager of the Dorada Railway, at his delightful home 
at Mariquita. There we met the engineers engaged on the 
survey of the aerial tramway to Manizales and also on the 
projected extension of the railway from Beltran to a con- 
nection with the Girardot Line near Tocaima. The com- 
pletion of such an extension of the railway — for fortunately 
the La Dorada and Girardot lines are of the same gauge — 
would enable goods and passenger trains to run through 
from Facatativa to La Dorada without change. Such a 
linking up of lines would perhaps force the change of the 



QUITO TO BOGOTA 317 

gauge of the Sabana Railway from one metre to one yard 
and trains could then run from Bogota to La Dorada at 
the head of the lower navigation without change. This 
extension has been discussed for years and various alterna- 
tive routes surveyed, but one is rather surprised to find the 
statement in a volume on the Colombian and Venezuelan 
Republics by William L. Scruggs, published in 1900, that 
"the railroad from Yeguas to Honda has been recently ex- 
tended up the left margin of the river to Girardot, and 
thence across the country to Toeaima," and that "more 
recently this road has been extended up the Funza valley as 
far as Anapoima and the project is to extend it by way of 
the town of La Mesa, zigzag up the mountain side to the 
western edge of the Plain of Bogota." As Mr. Scruggs was, 
for some years, American Minister to Colombia, one would 
be inclined to accept the statement as a fact, unless he hap- 
pened to know that the terminus of the Dorada Railway 
line was in 1900 at Arrancaplumas, that the extension to 
Beltran was only opened to traffic in 1907 and that the 
extension from Beltran to a connection with the Girardot 
line is still only a project. Mr. Scruggs has in some way 
confused the Girardot and the Dorada lines and established 
a connection between them with trains in operation in 1900! 
In our present trip to the coast we met, on the station 
platform at Mariquita, the engineers engaged in the con- 
struction of the aerial railway and they accompanied us on 
the train to Honda. The ropeway starting at Mariquita 
at an elevation of 1,500 feet crosses the Central Andes at a 
height of 12,050 feet, and terminates at 6,760 feet at 
Manizales, a total distance of forty-six miles. It is said 
that when completed it will be the longest aerial tramway 



318 QUITO TO BOGOTA 

in the world by about thirteen miles. Power for its opera- 
tion is to be secured by a hydro-electric installation at the 
junction of the Sucio and Guali rivers designed to yield 
1,200 horsepower, but with provision for increasing this to 
2,000. The line will secure to the Dorada Railway the traf- 
fic from the Manizales region, important both for its coffee 
plantations and its mines. At present the products of this 
region go in part to Mariquita, and in part to Cartago, and 
then to the Cauca Railway and Buenaventura. Between 
Manizales and both Mariquita and Cartago, the transporta- 
tion is to-day on the backs of beasts of burden and the rela- 
tive condition of the roads determines which route is used. 
Freight can at present be transported from Mariquita to 
Manizales in six days by mules when the roads are dry, but 
in wet weather, when oxen are chiefly used, the time is four- 
teen. The cost is about $3 for each bag of 140 to 150 
pounds. The ropeway will reduce the time to ten hours and 
the cost to $1.50. The work is being done for the Dorada 
Railway Ropeway Extension, Ltd., by Ropeways, Ltd., of 
London, and the consulting engineers are Sir Douglas Fox' 
and Partners. 

From Mariquita the railway descends to Honda and near 
the town crosses the Guali River on a steel bridge, which is 
the object of much local pride and is described by the people 
and on the picture postcards as "El Gran Puente Pearson," 
because it occurs on the section of the line between Honda 
and Beltran, which was built for the Railway Company in 
1905-1907 by S. Pearson and Son, Limited. 

Honda was founded in 1560, only a few years after 
Mariquita. In the early days it was quite dwarfed by its 
wealthy neighbour, but now, thanks to its healthy, though 



QUITO TO BOGOTA 319 

hot, location and its position on the river, it is the centre 
of a population of 8,600, whereas the census of the Mari- 
quita district shows only 4,500 inhabitants. The extension 
of the railway from Honda to Beltran has, however, robbed 
the town of part of its advantages, though it is still the 
terminus of the reduced traffic on the Honda mule-road. 
With the connection of the Dorada and the Girardot lines, 
both Honda and Girardot will decline in importance. Like 
Mariquita, Honda suffered from earthquakes in 1595, 1687, 
and 1805, the last of which virtually destroyed the city. 
Mariquita was the name of an Indian chief whose territory 
embraced this land at the time of the conquest, while Honda 
is the Spanish word for "depth" or "bottom." 

At La Dorada, which we reached at five o'clock on Satur- 
day, the 29th of November, we found the steamboat "San- 
tander" all ready for the trip down the river, and the water 
being high, she cast off at 8 o'clock and reached Puerto 
Berrio at 9 o'clock the next morning. Seldom do the boats 
attempt to navigate this portion of the river at night, only 
when the stream is in flood, as at present, is such a thing 
done, and then only by the boats going down stream. Be- 
low Puerto Berrio the vegetation is so dense and the river 
so near the centre of the depression between the two chains, 
that there is little of scenic interest for some time. This 
is a section almost without people, occasionally there is a 
squalid palm-thatched hut on the bank, more rarely a cor- 
rugated iron-roofed bodega or warehouse built for the 
accommodation of the people living in the healthy uplands 
beyond the wet lands of the valley. 

Toward noon on Sunday, the 36th, we passed the mouth 
of the Opon, important in Colombian history, because it 



320 QUITO TO BOGOTA 

was here that Quesada left the Magdalena in 1536 on the 
journey which resulted in the conquest of the land of the 
Chibchas. A few miles below, at the mouth of the Col- 
orado, a projection of low terrace land touches the river, 
and it was here that Quesada's resolute will triumphed over 
the dissent of his several hundred companions. His party, 
which had left Santa Marta on the 6th of April, 1536, had 
struggled for months through a new and tropical region, 
part of the expedition in boats, but the greater part on the 
bank, chopping its way through the tropical jungle. After 
the expedition had entered this Paturia region, the difficul- 
ties had increased enormously, many had perished, many 
more were sick, and the oldest of the leaders were depu- 
tised by the men to approach Quesada with the recom- 
mendation that the attempt be abandoned and the expedition 
return to Santa Marta. Quesada would have none of this, 
and reproached the men with cowardice and disloyalty. 
Resting his men here, he sent Captain San Martin with 
twelve men in three canoes to reconnoitre. They turned into 
the Opon and on the second day captured a canoe containing 
finely woven clothes and quantities of pure white salt 
moulded into loaves. Beyond, he found a store-house filled 
with the same salt, for this was one of the Chibcha trade 
routes, and higher up he reached cultivated fields. On San 
Martin's return with this cheering news, Quesada selected 
200 of his best men and arranged for the return down the 
river of the sick and wounded on boats and rafts. He had 
left Santa Marta with an expedition of 800 men and 100 
horses, and his losses to the mouth of the Opon had been 
very heavy. Of the band that continued with him up the 



QUITO TO BOGOTA 321 

river Open, 166 men and 59 horses survived when he 
reached the land of the Chibchas. 

Late Sunday afternoon (November 30th), we passed 
Puerto Wilches, where there are a few frame houses built 
in connection with the attempt to join this point on the 
river with Bucaramanga by railway. The original project 
was started by General Solan Wilches more than twenty-five 
years ago and various unsuccessful attempts have been made 
from time to time to carry the project through. Mr. Albert 
Millican, who visited this locality in 1890, says in his "Ad- 
ventures of an Orchid Hunter," that he found here "in this 
forest wilderness several railway wagons and about one 
thousand steel rails, all in a pitiful state of wreck and dilapi- 
dation." Petre says in 1904, "a few rails running eastward 
are all that remain of this abandoned enterprise which never 
got very far, and is now completely overgrown." Since 
then another attempt has been made and the road has 
advanced to a point about twelve miles from the river, but 
as most of the timber used for ties was of a sap-wood type 
this portion of the track will have to be relaid before it 
can be used. 

Early the next morning (December 1st) we reached 
Bodega Central, a collection of palm-thatched huts and 
sheet iron warehouses on low ground almost covered by the 
river at its present stage. This is the river port for the 
Bucaramanga region which is reached from here only by 
the Lebrija and Sogamoso rivers and the connecting mule- 
trails. Below Bodega Central settlements become more 
numerous, and, as the vegetation begins to thin, we get occa- 
sional charming glimpses of the blue Eastern Andes. 
Toward noon we reach Banco, picturesquely situated on the 



322 QUITO TO BOGOTA 

top of a low terrace at the mouth of the Cesar and well 
above ordinary highwater. Turning into the narrow and 
tortuous Loba channel, the boat finally enters the wider 
river below the mouth of the Cauca, reaches Magangue at 
sundown and continuing through the night, arrives at 
Calamar, a smaller, though neater and more attractive town, 
early the next morning (December 2nd). 

In coming to the coast from Bogota in May, we left the 
steamboat at Calamar and went 65 miles by train to Car- 
tagena. This line, which has a gauge of one yard, was 
completed on the 1st of August, 1894. From Calamar, it 
runs over low rolling hills and crosses the Dique near 
Arenal, about twenty miles from the river port. Along the 
Dique and about midway between Arenal and the sea, is 
the sugar plantation of Sincerin, an enterprise which was 
initiated in 1907 and is stated now to give employment to 
5,000 people. The capacity of its mill and factory, which 
is the largest in Colombia, is given as about twenty tons 
per day. Twenty-seven miles of light railway have been, 
constructed for the transportation of the cane, and the enter- 
prise has two steamers operating along the Dique to 
Cartagena. 

Beyond Arenal the Cartagena railway begins the climb 
of the Tierradentro and, reaching its summit near Turbaco, 
runs down to Cartagena, the most picturesque and the most 
historic old Spanish city in Colombia. "Cartagena of the 
Indies" — "Cartagena the Queen of the Seas" of the days of 
the Spanish rule, one of the headquarters of the Inquisition 
in South America, and a city of such wealth that it was 
frequently attacked by the buccaneers, both English and 
French, and whose defence was so important that, by the 




Bodega Central during a high stage of the river 




Banco 



ON THE MAGDALENA 



QUITO TO BOGOTA 323 

order of Philip the Second, the town was surrounded by a 
great wall at a cost of many millions — Reclus even gives the 
figure as sixty million dollars — so massive and so well-con- 
structed that the tourist of to-day is driven along a part 
of its top in an automobile. The "Heroic City" was its 
proud title in the War of the Independence, but with the 
changes brought about by this struggle, the city began to 
decline and it is perhaps due to this that it owes the preser- 
vation of its ancient atmosphere. Founded on the 20th of 
January, 1533, by Pedro de Heredia on the magnificent 
harbour discovered by Bastidas, in March, 1501, and where 
in 15 10 an attempt to establish a settlement was unsuccess- 
ful through the resistance of the Indians, the town first 
received the Indian name of Calamar, which was soon 
changed to Cartagena, because of a supposed resemblance 
between its harbour and the Spanish seaport. The bay of 
the Colombian Cartagena, with an area of 62.5 square miles 
and an average depth of 75 to 100 feet, is one of the most 
wonderful natural harbours in the world and with slight 
improvements could be made one of the most perfect. Such 
an asset does this bay form that the city of the future on 
the shores of the Bay of Cartagena will surpass even the 
glories of the Cartagena of the past. 

There are numerous points on the northern shores of 
Colombia which have claims that will have to 1 be considered 
in connection with the establishment of the terminus of any 
trunk railway system, and the wonderful harbour of Car- 
tagena will give her a very strong position among her com- 
petitors. The physical characteristics of the country require 
two main trunk railways, an eastern and a western, and 
from these stems branches will naturally grow. The west- 



324 QUITO TO BOGOTA 

ern line would extend from the coast along one side or the 
other of the grazing and agricultural lands of the Montanas 
de Maria to the Cauca River near the mouth of the Nechi 
and then either along the valley of the Nechi and Porce to 
Medellin and thence to the Cauca, or along the Cauca itself 
with a branch line to Medellin. Under either alternative 
the line would continue southward through the valley be- 
tween the Central and Western Andes to a connection with 
the Buenaventura line and on to Pasto and the border, con- 
necting there with a line to Quito. Such a line would, for 
only about fifty or sixty miles near the mouth of the Nechi, 
traverse a region where the tropical rainfall is sufficient 
to seriously retard development. The eastern line would 
start from the Caribbean coast, preferably from the same 
point as the western, in order that there might be easy inter- 
change of products between the important parts of Colom- 
bia. It would extend across the lower end of the Cesar 
valley, would skirt the healthful mountain area along the 
edge of the Paturia region to Bucaramanga and then follow 
one of the two evident valley routes to Bogota and extend 
to the south into the upper Magdalena valley and possibly 
across the adjacent low part of the Eastern Andes to one 
of the readily navigable waterways of the Amazon system. 
A few miles from Turbaco, on the Cartagena Railway, is 
a group of mud-volcanoes which discharge gas with a little 
oil, and toward Barranquilla there are other similar mani- 
festations, and in this Tierradentro region over half a 
million dollars has been spent in the last few years in un- 
successful efforts to find commercial deposits of petroleum. 
However, the oil possibilities of Colombia have as yet only 



QUITO TO BOGOTA 325 

been scratched, and careful systematic work should yield 
commercial results. 

Continuing from Calamar down the river on the 2nd of 
December, we reached Barranquilla in six hours. We passed 
many floating masses of the beautiful water hyacinth, which 
has proved such a curse to navigation in some of the streams 
and channels in the southern United States. We saw very 
little of this plant in the Magdalena above the mouth of the 
Cauca, but found that the latter stream was pouring out 
considerable masses, and those observed floating down the 
river, below Calamar probably came from the Cauca. 

Owing to the flood stage of the river, we saw no alli- 
gators on this journey, but on former trips they were ob- 
served occasionally along the shores and on the sand-bars 
sometimes half a dozen together, each six to twelve feet 
long. Attention is usually attracted to them by some ob- 
servant passenger shouting "Caiman! Caiman!" and they 
are not so common but that there is usually a rush of the 
travellers to that side of the boat. These animals are com- 
monest to-day between Puerto Berrio and Banco in the 
thinly settled Paturia region, but we saw several small ones 
above the Falls of Honda. As on the rivers in the southern 
United States, they have been hunted for their skins, but it 
wi]l be long before they will entirely disappear in the 
Paturia region of Colombia. 

From Calamar to Barranquilla along the river is, accord- 
ing to the calculations of Vergara, a distance of 50 miles — 
the mouth of the river is 11 miles beyond. Barranquilla, 
originating as a settlement on the first high land above the 
mouth of the river, which small ocean-going boats could 



326 QUITO TO BOGOTA 

reach by crossing the Magdalena bar, is of importance to- 
day as the terminus on the river of the railway which con- 
nects with modern ocean-going steamers by means of the 
pier at Puerto Colombia, 17 miles away. Before the War 
of the Independence Barranquilla was as nothing compared 
with Cartagena, but since that time the relative impor- 
tance of the two places has changed. In 19 12, the exports 
and imports through Barranquilla totalled $24,500,000, 
while those through Cartagena were $11,500,000, and the 
population of Barranquilla was 48,900 and of Cartagena 
36,630. 

Barranquilla is the most modern and most progressive 
town in Colombia to-day. The port for Barranquilla was 
for a time Sabanilla, but this so filled with silt from the 
river that it became useless, and a pier was constructed a 
little farther west. A new pier was built in 1893, having a 
length of 4,000 feet, and reaching a depth of water of 23 to 
26 feet. It has very little protection, and steamers must, 
under certain storm conditions, leave the pier and run for 
the open sea. There is also danger that this port will share 
the same fate as its predecessor at Sabanilla, for the drift 
of the Magdalena sediment is in this direction. We spent 
three very pleasant days at Barranquilla and in the evenings 
enjoyed motor rides on the good roads about the city. At 
the "Pension Inglesa," one of the hotels of the city, the patio 
is filled with beautiful plants — in the centre is a fountain 
and half a dozen tame egrets stalk around in stately fashion. 
At noon on the 6th we entered the train and in an hour 
and a half reached Puerto Colombia and boarded the 
steamer. 



QUITO TO BOGOTA 327 

And so we leave Colombia, with much gratitude for the 
unfailing courtesy shown us, with much sympathetic regard 
for her problems, and with the warmest feelings toward 
the country and her people. 



INDEX 



Able, Dr., 172. 

Aerial Railway, 316, 317. 

Agricultural Experiment Station, 

222. 
Agricultural show, 244. 
Aguasblancas, 136. 
Agua de Dios, 221. 
Alchipichi, 40. 
Aldana, 113. 
Alfalfa, 54. 
Algerian roads, 91. 
Alligators, 325. 
Alto de San Francisco, 113. 
Alto Magdalena, 286. 
Altos Aranda, 119. 
Altos de Boliche, 32, 70-74, 81. 
Aluboro, 63. 
Amazon, 76. 
Ambulema, 305, 313. 
Ampudia, in. 
Ancusmayu, 83, 128. 
Andagoya, 112, 168-169. 
Andes, 25, 53, 75; Central, 252- 

253- 
Angascocha, 66. 
Angasmayu, 83. 
Angostura de Nare, 301. 
Anipoima, 223. 
Anserma, 195, 212. 
Antiofluenos, 206. 
Antioquia, 104, 196, 299. 
Apulo, 222. 
Aran jo, 273. 



Arenal, 322. 
Arma, 195, 212. 
Arrancaplumas, 317. 
Arrow poison, 171-173. 
Atahualpa, 57-60, 129. 
Athens, of S. America, 231. 
Atrato, 75, 76, 273. 
Atuntaqui, 61. 
Azufral, 75. 

B 

Bamboos, 255. 

Banco, 285, 287, 298. 

Barbacoes, 91. 

Barichara, 300. 

Barley, 55. 

Barniz de Pasto, 99. 

Barrancanueva, 306. 

Barranquilla, 278, 288, 291, 326. 

Barrios, Dr., 159, 174. 

Bastides, 323. 

Bathing pool, 157. 

Belalcazar, 60, 111, 113, 218, 247, 

263. 
Beltran, 305. 
Berruecos, 124, 132. 
Bingham, Prof., 238. 
Blue river, 83. 
Boca de Ceniza, 294; del Monte, 

262. 
Bocata, 227. 
Bochica, 266. 
Bodega Central, 321 ; de Bogota, 

303. 



329 



330 



INDEX 



Bodilla, 298. 

Bogota, 33, 77, 86, 161, 183, 230, 
235, 272. 

Bolivar, 67, 83, 124, 300. 

Boqueron, 201. 

Bordo, 133. 

Bosa, 242. 

Boundary, Ecuador and Colombia, 
80, 81 ; Inca Kingdom, 81 ; Er- 
rors, 192. 

Boyaca Dept, 300. 

Brazo de Loba, 296. 

Bretes, 215. 

British Legion, 237 ; prisoners, 249. 

Bridges, Mountain, 43; Natural, 
8^-84; Spanish, 84, 139, 156, 241, 
249. 

Bucaramanga, 200, 278, 324. 

Buenaventura, 75, 95, 166-168. 

Buenos Aires, 146. 

Buesaco, 122. 

Bufagin, 172. 

Bufo aqua, 172. 

Bufotalin, 172. 

Burrows, M., 166. 



Cabal, 180. 

Cable way, 279. 

Cabrera, 79, 218. 

Calamar, 278, 285, 288, 292, 306, 

322. 
Caldas, 104, 141, 214, 239; town, 

159; department, 201, 207-210. 
Cali, 31, 103, in, 114-117, 155, 168- 

175, 178. 
Camacho, Dr. N., 151. 
Campoalegre, 159. 
Canada, 124. 
Canitas, 148. 
Cannibals, 199. 



Capitol, 237. 

Capilla de la Laja, 86. 

Caqueza, 270. 

Caranqui, 57-63. 

Carchi, 66, 80, 88, 128; "limit," 81. 

Caribbean Coast, 92. 

Cargueros, 203. 

Cartago, 31, 108, in, 194. 

Cartagena, 84, 278, 291, 322. 

Cartroad, 36, 41, 46, 240, 243. 

Carved rock, 258. 

Cascajal, 166. 

Cattle, 27, 34, 69, 87, 293. 

Cauca department, 131 ; river, 31, 

105, 146, 184-186, 292. 
Cayambe, 24, 31, 37, 81, 86, 214. 
Cerro Alpujarra, 125; Cochaloma, 

28 ; Conru, 28, 53 ; Cusin, 24 ; 

Culvilche, 28; Guadaloupe, 229; 

Monserrate, 229 ; Murucucu, 

293. 
Cesar river, 292, 322. 
Cesar, 212. 
Cespedes, 258. 
Champans, 306. 
Champinero, 244. 
Charquito school, 268. 
Charton, Mr., 222. 
Chia, 249. 
Chibchas, 224, 226, 227, 235, 242, 

245, 248, 258, 266, 320. 
Chili, 83. 

Chilian influence, 79, 80. 
Chiles, 80. 
Chillo valley, 83. 
Chimequica, 292. 
Chipaqui, 271. 
Chiquinquira, 300. 
Chito, 214-215. 
Church San Agustin, 36; San 

Bartolome, 239; San Domingo, 

239; unfinished, 89; Cathedral, 

237; La Tercera, 239. 



INDEX 



33i 



Cienaga de Santa Marta, 288. 

Cisneros, 161-163, 221. 

Cieza de Leon, 59, 83, 112, 119, 

128, 134, 147, 159, 169, 173, 197, 

215, 261, 294. 
Chulunquasi, 67. 
Choachi, 271. 
Choco district, 165. 
Choto, 61. 

Coal, 179, 240, 267, 300. 
Cocoa, 186. 
Coconucos, 141. 
Codazzi, 214, 215; survey, 187- 

190. 
Coffee, 186, 224, 256. 
Coloto, 148. 
Colombian coins, 127; population, 

85, 87, 184, 277. 
Columbus, 254. 
Conacota, 33. 
Congress, 273. 
Conquistadores, 61. 
Consolidated goldfields, 164. 
Contadero, 89. 
Contratacion, 221. 
Corazon, 24. 
Cordillera de Barlovento, 288; del 

Choco, del Quindio, de Sumapas, 

75-78, 103, 201. 
Cordillera, Eastern, 24; Western, 

24, 36, 53- 
Cortes, 99. / 

Cotacachi, 24, 54, 56. 
Cotocalloa, 35, 36. 
Cotopaxi, 24. 
Cotton, 222. 
Cresta de Gallo, 174. 
Cretaceous, 252, 313. 
Cruz Verde anticline, 271. 
Cuchilla de Dolores, 138. 
Cuchilla Santa Barbara, 200. 
Cucuta, 278. 
Cumbal, 80. 



Cundinamarca department, 207- 

220. 
Currency, Narino, 95-97. 
Cutbill, Mr. H. W., 228. 
Cuzco, 57, 63. 

D 

Dagua, 159-164; gorge, 161. 
Delta, interior, 295-208; maritime, 

288; plains, 285-286. 
Departments, 190-191, 195. 
Dique, 291, 294, 322. 
Dos Rios, 133. 
Dolores, 138. 
Dorado railway, 279, 314. 



E 



Earthquake (1868), 56; (1866), 
61; (1765), 156; (1834), "9« 
272. 

Eden, 211. 

El Carmen, 159. 

El Dorado, 247-248. 

El Pefion, 290. 

El Placer, 91. 

El Ruis, 215. 

El Roble, 205. 

El Tablon, 123. 

El Tambo, 260. 

Emeralds, 249, 300. 

Epinephrin, 172. 

Esperanza, 223, 269. 

Experiment farm, 222. 

Espinal, 160. 

Eucalyptus, 34, 228. 

F 

Facatativa, 205, 226, 227. 
Faulhaber, 215. 



332 



INDEX 



Federmann, 247, 263. 
Fertile land, 155, 205, 228. 
Ferrocarril de Girardot, 220; del 

Norte, 244; de Sabana, 220. 
Finlandia, 205. 
Fomeque, 271. 
Fontibon, 229. 
Forest growth, 158. 
Foundation of Cities, 113. 
Fox, Sir D., 318. 
French influence, 51, 237. 
Frias, 316. 

Frog (poison), 170-173. 
Funza, 229, 249. 
Funes, 90. 
Fusagasuga., 251, 253, 257, 259. 



G 



Galarza Judge, 212. 

Gallapagos Islands, 163. 

Gamba, Dr. F. P., 315- 

Gamboa (Sarmiento de), 129. 

Geography of Chibohas, 227. 

Germany, 79- 

Girardot, 31, 219, 316. 

Glacial deposits, 86, 122, 263. 

Goajira, 288, 297. 

Gold, 108, 147, 166, 199, 299, 315. 

Goschen family, 314. 

Grazing land, 87, 324. 

Great Britain, 79. 

Guaillabamba, 25, 32, 39. 

Guaitara, 83, 91. 

Guali river, 304. 

Guapulo, 33. 

Guarando-Mocho trail, 47. 

Guataqui, 312. 

Guatavita, 246-247. 

Guayaquil, 33, 35. 

Guechas, 224, 258. 

Guerrero, Dr., 174. 



Hacienda de Capuli, 90; Cusin, 
23 ; Providencia, 39 ; El Vinculo, 
Si,68. 

Hakluyt Society, 198. 

Hamilton, Col., 171, 238, '306. 

Heredia, Pedro de, 323. 

Hettner, 215. 

Highways, 33 (see roads). 

Hodges, Mr. A., 92. 

Honda, 284; Falls of, 279, 302, 304. 

Honesty of people, 150. 

Horse cars, 221. 

Huaca, 74. 

Huascar, 58. 

Huayna Capac, 57, 124. 

Huila, 115, I4i» 2I 3- 

Humboldt, 55. 

Huot, 194. 



Ibague, 201, 212, 216. 

Ibarra, 61 ; Mountain Park, 24, 41, 
52-66. 

Iliniza, 24. 

Imbabura, 54, 61, 63. 

Immigrants, 277. 

Indians, 27, 129, 159, 173, 187, 198, 
224, 225, 242, 258, 264, 300, 314, 
322 (see Chibchas, Guechas, 
Opons, Panches, Pijoas and 
Pastos). 

Indian ancient road, 200; runner, 
70-73; smoking, 145. 

Inca, 34, 57, 260; bridge, 84; con- 
quest, 82; fortress, 60; highway, 
83, 128; history of, 246; King- 
dom limit, 128-130; of Peru, 
128; ruins, 128. 

Ipiales, 85. 

Isaacs, Jorge, 157. 



INDEX 



333 



Jamundi, 112, 150. 

Jonvier, Thomas, 177. 

Jimenez, Gen., 118. 

Juanambu, 123. 

Junta de Amortization, 127; 

Canalization, 285. 
Juntas, 161. 



La Balsa, 201. 

La Cruz, 123. 

La Cumbre, 171. 

Ladrilla, 169. 

La Dorado, 280, 302, 303. 

La Fresnada, 194. 

La Manta, 316. 

La Mesa, 224. 

Las Palmas, 257. 

La Pefiita, 174. 

Lasso, Madame, 29. 

Latacunga, 25. 

La Union, 128, 269. 

Laundry Methods, 156. 

La Vieja, 201. 

Leper colonies, 221. 

Lebrija River, 321. 

Lebron, 312. 

Lehman, Robert, 147. 

Lidstone, Mr. Wm., 226. 

Lile, Valley of, 112, 159. 

Longitude determinations, 193. 

Lora, 221. 

Los Arboles, 138. 

Los Muertos, 125. 

Los Pueblos, 122. 



M 



Madrid, 299. 
Magangue, 322. 



Magdalena bar, 326; express mail, 
309; freight service, 308; river, 
31, 75, 219, 277-327; valley, 76, 
277-327. 

Maize, 41, 159, 200. 

Malchingue, 40. 

Males, 88. 

Manizales, 36, 279. 

Maps, 187, 193. 

Maria, 157, 161, 176. 

Mariquito, 134, 305, 3*4- 

Markham, Sir Clement, 198, 

243- 

Mayo, 125, 128 (see Angus 
Mayu). 

Medical Springs, 222. 

Mesa of Mercaderes, 132. 

Mesozoic, 252. 

Millican, Mr. Albert, 321. 

Miller, Mr. Thomas, 316. 

Mineral wealth, 277. 

Mira, 53, 81. 

Mississippi river, 282-284, 292. 

Missouri river, 283-284. 

Mollien, Gaspard, 170. 

Mompos, 296, 297, 298. 

Montana de Berruecos, 125; Cal- 
arma, 200; de Maria, 293. 

Montagnini, Mgr., 183. 

Monserrate, 236, 259. 

Moorish gateway, 241. 

Morales, 146. 

Mosquera, Pres., 188, 237; Dr., 
140, 171. 

Mounds, white ant, 217. 

Mountain parks, 27 ; Ibarra, 24, 41, 
52-66; Latacunga, 25; Tulcan- 
Tuquerres, 31, 52, 74, 88-92, 129; 
Quito, 24, 36-41 ; Sabana of Bo- 
gota, 77, 183. 

Mud volcanoes, 324. 

Muequeta, 226. 

Mule freight, 317. 



334 



INDEX 



Municipios, 85. 
Mutis, Dr. J. C, 315. 



N 

Naranja, 174. 
Narrows, 301. 
Narino, 85, 94, 239; department, 

126; roads, 120. 
Narino, Gen., 94, 119, 124, 141. 
Neiva, 137. 
Nemocon, 248. 
New Orleans, 294. 
Niagara, 265. 
Nicholls, Sr., 70. 
Nieto, Dr. Garzon, 192, 202. 
Nus river, 279. 



Ocana, 300. 
Oceanic divide, 105. 
Ogden, Rollo, 177. 
Ohio river, 283-285, 29©. 
Opon, 300. 
Orchids, 122. 
Orinoco, 76, 251. 
Otavalo, 29, 35, 59. 



Padre des los Casas, 27©. 

Palatera, 141. 

Palmira, 186. 

Pailon Bay, 62. 

Panama, 168, 288; hats, 125-126; 

Canal, 76. 
Panches, 242, 258. 
Panecillo, 34. 
Papagayeros, 174. 



Paramo of Angel, 52 ; Cruz Verde, 

253; Frailijon, 78; Mo j an da, 24- 

26, 31, 45, 55; Las Papas, 280; 

Pesillo, 32; San Roque, 78. 
Paso la Balso, 148. 
Paso Bolivar, 236. 
Pasture land, 69, 109, 126. 
Pasto, 30, 73, 91-95, 121 ; Vol., 91, 

119. 
"Pastos," 83, 85. 
Patia-Cauca Valley, 76. 
Patia, plain, 104-106, 133; river, 

91; valley, 108; village, 135. 
Paturia region, 286, 299. 
Paz, Manuel, 188. 
Pedroso, Sr., 315. 
Pelmar, 171. 
Penaherrera, Sr., 46, 57. 
Pension Inglesa, 326. 
Pereira, 196. 
Perez, 187. 
Peru, 83. 
Petre, F. L., 321. 
Petroleum, 300, 324. 
Plain of Cali, 104-109, 148, 186, 

199; Patia, 104, 123, 127, 136; 

Popayan, 104, 109, 148. 
Platinum, 163. 
Plaza, Gen., 35, 79. 
Pichincha, 24, 34, 125. 
Pijoa, 212. 
Pimampiro, 66. 
Pizarro, 113. 
Poingasi Ridge, 33, 34. 
Political restlessness, 197. 
Polytechnic school at Quito, 56. 
Polo Club, 244. 
Porno de Ayola, 246. 
Pomasqui, 35. 
Ponce, Manuel, 188. 
Popayan (city), 31, 92, ill, 131, 

140, 218; province, 114-118, 

121. 



INDEX 



335 



Population (1912 Census), 85, 87; 
Ambulema, 313 ; Barichara, 300 ; 
Buenaventura, 168; Bogota, 300; 
Bolivar, 300; Bordo, 136; Bu- 
caramanga, 200; Caldas, 207; 
Cali, 156; Cali, plain of, 186; 
Cauca, plain of, 146; Cundi- 
namarca, 207; Colombia, 184, 
277; Dolores, 138; Finlandia, 
205; Funza, 249; Ibague, 216; 
Indian, 187; Ipiales, 85; La 
Union, 124; Madrid, 299; Moni- 
quira, 300; Morales, 146; Pa- 
cific Coast, 163; Patia, 136; 
Pasto, 93; Pereira, 196; Popa- 
yan, 142; Quito, 230; Salento, 
207; Salento region, 205; San 
Antonio, 264 ; San Juan, 76 ; So- 
corro, 300; Sonson, 299; Tiba- 
cui, 295 ; Yarumal, 299 ; Zapa- 
toca, 300; Zipaquira, 248. 

Potato, Irish, 34. 

Porce valley, 279. 

Powdered toadskin, 172. 

Prescott, Mr., 92, 99. 

Presidencia of Quito, 114. 

Puerto Berrio, 228. 

Puerto Colombia, 278, 288, 326. 

Puerto National, 300. 

Puerto Wilches, 278, 321. 

Puntal, 68. 

Purace, 141. 

Purification, 280. 



R 



Rapids, 305. 

Railway, Buenaventura, 165, 174; 
Dorado, 279, 314; Girardot, 220; 
Lines, 278; del Norte, 244; 
North-South, 219; Pailon, 62, 
69; Projects, 219; de Sabana, 
220. 

Rainfall, 26, 41, 63, 158, 160, 163, 
286-288. 

Rainshadow, 109, 160. 

Reiss, 119. 

Reyes, President, 193, 222. 

Riacos, Dr., 243. 

Rio, Ambi, 53; Apulo, 224; Blan- 
co, 54 ; Cali, 155 ; Carchi, 80, 83 ; 
Carlosama, 84; Cesar, 212, 292, 
322; Choto, 53, 63-66; Coella, 
211, 212; Combeima, 211, 212; 
Esmito, 138; Guachiano, 133, 
135 ; Guali, 304 ; Guapuscal, 91 ; 
Guaitara, 78; Pomasqui, 37, 38; 
San Jorge, 133, 135; San Juan, 
81; San Pedro, 84; Toguando, 
61. 

Road cart, 36, 41, 46, 240, 243; 
Cauca, 121; Narifio, 120; West, 
240. 

Robledo, 195, 212 ; Romero, Seiior, 
289. 

Ropeways, Ltd., 318. 

Route to Bogota, old, 313. 

Rumichaca, 81, 82, 128. 



Quesada, 114, 218, 235, 242-248, 

263, 312, 315, 320. 
Quichua, 57, 83, 260. 
Quindio map, 193 ; trail, 200-201, 

204-211. 
Quito, 24-39, 53, 57, 230, 300; 

Mountain Park, 36-41. 



s 

Sabana, 225, 226, 240-241; Rail- 
way, 278. 
Sabanilla, 326. 
Salamina, 290. 
Salas, Dr. R. A., 175. 



336 



INDEX 



Salento, 205, 207. 

Salinas, 53. 

Salt, 199, 248, 320. 

Salto del Excomulgado, 86. 

Salvador, Sefior, 51. 

Samper, Sefior, 267. 

Santa Ana, 316. 

San Antonio, 35, 157, 264. 

Santa Elena, 163. 

San Francisco, 137. 

San Gabriel, 65. 

Sangolqui, 33. 

San Juan, 89. 

San Joaquin, 223. 

San Jorge, 292. 

San Jose, 164. 

Santa Marta, 77, 170, 214, 215. 

San Miguel Bay, 168. 

San Pablo, 28, 33, 47-53. 

Santander department, 300. 

Saraurcu, 24. 

Sarmiento, 246. 

Scruggs, W. L., 314, 317. 

Seasons, rainy, 201 ; summer, 

201. 
Segura, Sefior, 118. 
Serrania de Baudo, 76. 
Sheep, 87, 268. 
Shiri, 57, 58, 63. 
Sibate, 226. 
Silver, 315. 
Simons, F. A., 289. 
Sincerin, 322. 
Sincholagua, 24. 
Sinu, 293. 
Snakes, 149. 
Snagboats, 285. 
Soacha, 226. 
Socorro, 123, 300. 
Sogamosa, 246, 321. 
Sombrerillos, 132. 
Sonson, 299. 
Sotara, 141. 



Spanish Conquest, 197; influence, 

28, 29, 139. 
Spaniards, 27, 58-60. 
Stapleton, Mr. D. C, 164. 
Stone staircase, 223, 251. 
Stream diversion, 83, 84. 
Stubel, 119. 
Suan, 290. 
Sutogaos, 257. 
Sucre, Gen., 124. 
Suesusa, 245. 

Sugar Cane, 39, 66, 90, 109. 
Sugar plantation, 322. 



Tabio, 250. 

Tacaloa, 285, 294. 

Tacamocho, 294. 

Tambo, 67, 251, 260. 

Tanca, Dr. A. Borda, 264. 

Telembi river, 91. 

Tequendama, 240, 251, 253, 264- 

266. 
Temperature, 23. 
Temple of the Sun, 60. 
Tena, 218, 251, 264. 
Tengua, 91. 
Tenusuca, 262. 
Thermal spring, 269. 
Tibacui, 288, 322. 
Timbio, 138-139. 
Timina, 113. 
Tisquesusa Zipa, 242. 
Tobacco, 293, 313. 
Tocaime, 221, 258. 
Tochechito, 210. 
Tolima City, 158, 178; peak, 213- 

216; railway, 218. 
Torre, Dr. de la, 46. 
Tracy, Mr. F., 150. 
Transportation, 29, 227. 



INDEX 



337 



Tree ferns, 121-122, 255. 
Trinidad, 77. 

Trunk railways, 87, 88, 293, 323. 
Tulcan, 31, 80. 
Tulcan-Tuquerres Park, 31, 52, 74, 

89-92, 129. 
Tumaco, 31, 91, 95, 120. 
Tumbaco, 33, 84. 
Tunja, 240, 245. 
Tunjuelo bridge, 242. 
Turbaco, 322. 
Tusa, 68. 



Ubaque, 270. 

Upar valley, 77. 

Uraba Gulf, 197, 288. 

Uribe, Gen., 150. 

Urrutia, Dr., 151. 

Usme, 226, 227, 270. 

Usques, 227. 

United States of America, 79. 

United States Geological Survey, 

292. 
United States Railways, 88. 
United States Waterways, 281- 

282. 



Vineyard, 222. 

Virgin of Chiquinquira, 86. 

Volcanoes, Antisana, 24; Azufral 
75; Barragan, 158; Cayambe, 24 
31, 37, 81, 86, 214; Chiles, 80 
Coconucos, 141 ; Corazon, 24 
Cotocachi, 24, 54, 56; Cotopaxi 
24; Culvilche, 28; Cumbal, 80 
Cunru, 28, S3 ; Cusin, 24 ; Huila 
115, 141* 158, 213; Iliniza, 24 
Imbabura, 54, 61, 63 ; Pasto, 91, 
119; Pichincha, 24, 34, 125; Pu- 
race, 141; Ruis, 215; Sincho- 
lagua, 24 ; Sotaro, 141 ; Tolima, 
213-216; Yana-urcu, 54. 



w 

War of Independence, 115. 
Water power, 64, 123, 267. 
Wheat, 41, 54. 
Wilches, Gen., 321. 
Wine, 222. 

Wolf, Dr., 56, 61, 80, 187. 
Wooden bowls, 98, 99. 
Wool, 87, 269. 



Vadilla, 113, 212. 

Valencia, Dr., 140. 

Velasco, 55, 82, 187. 

Venadillo, 306. 

Ventanillas, 62. 

Venezuela, 77- 

Vergara, 125, 215, 272, 296, 299, 

325- 
Vestal Virgins, 60. 
Villavicencio, 270. 
Ville de Madrigal, 92. 
Villaviciosa, 93. 



Yacuanquer, 92. 
Yaguar-cocha, 62, 63. 
Yana-urcu, 54. 
Yarumal, 299. 
Yomara, 170. 
Yumbo, 178. 



Zapatoca, 300. 
Zapatosa, Lake of, 206. 
Zaque, 245, 246. 



338 INDEX 

Zaquasazipa, 242. Zipa, 226, 235-236, 250, 272. 

Zazipa, 242. Zipacon, 224. 

Zea, 315. Zipaquira, 248. 



Structure ofthe Eastern Andes 

IN THE 

Region of Bogota 

6 A.C.VEATCH. N)V« 1913. 



SketC h Map- GEOLoav 
/vroundJOSSJ^' 

ofthe-Sabana of BOGOTA. 
| A, ' U ( Tan Ration aBSOFeee.) 

»*" Bear ' n9 t ^^-^^ 
3 and in part wicmi 

1 UpperSandstones 2,000 Feet 



t u I „««r ( 7,500 lIpP^S" 3 ' 
Shales w ' th M L0 "^ r :J 2 oO0'Lo»erSandsto1 

Sandstones M ^^\,o.ooo*| L ^S|j| 
Region EastofBogo^ J^. 

O Fossil Localities. 







k]J_ttt 


IluJ-m- 


aw — — — 1 - s 




tTt 


— [9\ r 

1411 — L 






Idfc 


t — " 1 ^\ 


1*8 



1st 



Tofltne Uo^er on 





Compiled by A.C.Veatch. Drawn by S.J. Long. 



Outline Map of Colombia and Ecuador 

Note. — So far as could be determined, the political divisions shown for 
Colombia are correct for 1st January, 1914. Since that time the Inten- 
dencia del Choc6, the Comisaria de Jurad6 and the Comisarfa de Urabfi 
have been abolished and the Provinces of Atrato and San Juan created 
in their stead. The new provinces cover the drainage basins of the rivers 
whose names they bear, with the addition to San Juan of the lower 
part of the Bauds and to Atrato of the Comisaria of Jurad6. 




Compiled by A.C.Veatch. Orawn by S J Long 



Physical Features or Colombia 
Based on a relief model by the Colombian artist, Sr. Jos6 Miguel Rosales. 




78° "West of Greenwich. 7*' 



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