MISSOURI BOTANICAL GARDEN BULLETIN 83 
tables, all exposed to the many flies. Passing through the 
parque in the center of the town I was interested in seeing a 
row of empty barrels on each side of the walk and upon in- 
vestigation found that these were placed here for the pur- 
pose of protecting the young, freshly planted almond trees. 
This seems to be the favorite tree for street planting in the 
small villages and towns throughout Colombia. 
‘‘Leaving Cartagena we arrived at the port of debarka- 
tion the following day, Puerto Colombia. We left here at 
5:30 and reached Magdalena town, Barranquilla, at 11:30 
P. M. During this time one goes through the ordeal of 
finding bag and baggage and securing reliable natives to 
transfer same to the small train that takes one on to Bar- 
ranquilla. There is no checking system but in view of my 
ambassadorial letter I was shown every courtesy by the cus- 
tom officials, who examine bags only at the port. ‘The fol- 
lowing morning we went to the aduana, or customs, at Bar- 
ranquilla for trunk inspection. Here again system was lack- 
ing and people had to find their own trunks. We left the 
customs house at eleven o’clock with instructions to return 
‘manana.’ Again my letter secured us preference at in- 
spection the following morning. At the river steamer office 
we were informed that all river rates had been raised. How- 
ever, we booked on the ‘Ayacucho’ to sail that evening. On 
leaving the hotel Black said: ‘Pring, I forgot my bed equip- 
ment.’ On asking for an explanation I found that bed equip- 
ment for the trip had to be purchased, consisting of a pair of 
sheets, mosquito bar, pillow and pillow ease, and native straw 
mat, or ‘petate,’ supposed to take the place of the comfortable 
mattresses of home. This equipment cost $14.50. 
‘“‘The Magdalena river boat was rather interesting to a 
St. Louisan in that it was an exact replica of those used on 
the Mississippi River. In fact we later found that these 
boats are built in towns along the Mississippi and shipped to 
Colombia to be assembled. We were shown to our ‘cabin de 
luxe’ which was on the uppermost deck. The stateroom equip- 
ment consisted of an American iron cot, guiltless of mat- 
tress and covers, upon which were placed the recently ac- 
quired bedding; a wash stand, electric lights, and fan. The 
two doors were screened but the windows were bare. We 
left at nine o’clock. We found it impossible to walk upon 
the upper deck inasmuch as the air was filled with thou- 
