86 MISSOURI BOTANICAL GARDEN BULLETIN 
ery. I was particularly interested in some large heaps of 
the palm seed which I readily identified as the ivory nut 
palm. It is from this region that the ivory palm is exported 
to the states for the purpose of making buttons. 
‘‘After leaving this river port I had my first experience 
of seeing orchids upon trees, together with various other 
epiphytes, including bromeliads, Nephrolepis, Polypodiums, 
mosses, ete., the young growth being impenetrable. Particu- 
larly noticeable was the rattlesnake plant, leaves of which 
are used for wrapping the native brown sugar in cake form. 
Various species of Heliconia, presenting their bright orange 
colored bracts, were very picturesque. The scenery, with the 
mountains in the background, was almost beyond description. 
‘“‘The next port of interest, especially to Americans, was 
Barranca Bermeja which is the center of the tropical oil 
industry, so far only used for local consumption because of 
lack of transportation to the ocean port. This company owns, 
so I am informed, four oil-burning river boats for transport- 
ing oil. This town is the only one upon the entire river with 
up-to-date houses with screens and sanitation, due of course 
to the tropical oil industry. The town includes American 
shops and refineries, the oil fields being about seventeen miles 
inland at Las Infantas. There are upwards of 400 Amer- 
icans employed in this region. The oil is pumped to Barranca 
Bermeja by a pipe line. 
‘‘The next port was Puerto Berrio. From here there is 
railroad connection with Medellin, the second largest town in 
the country, famous as a coffee center. It has a population 
of 90,000. At Puerto Berrio we stayed for one day to un- 
load American freight, the principal part of which was wheat. 
One is very much relieved to find probably the most up-to- 
date hotel in the country here, built of concrete. The sur- 
rounding houses vary from the native houses composed of 
four uprights with thatched roof to the adobe hut. There 
were likewise small stores in which might be purchased 
various imports. 
‘‘Transit for these last two or three days was extremely 
slow in view of the various sandbars, so much so that travel- 
ing at night had to be abandoned. It is interesting to note 
that there is not a single government light along the entire 
river to indicate a navigable channel. The pilots evidently 
pick the channel out by observation or by instinct. The 
