280 



GARDENERS' CHRONICLE 



spoonful of concentrated coffee heins;- poured in tlie cup. 

 after which boiling milk is added. I'^or dessert various 

 tropical fruits are always offered, such as mangoes, avo- 

 cado, pineapples, and papaya. During the forenoon and 

 afternoon various refreshing drinks are served. pre])ared 

 from the native brown sugar : others are also made from 

 oats. 



"Our first port the following morning was Calaniar. 

 which is the river port for Cartagena. The next ])ort was 

 La Morida where we stopped to take on wood for fuel. 

 This performance took place aliout every five or six hours. 

 day and night, on the trip. 



'"The vegetation on each side of the river for tlie first 

 two or three days was very disappointing and uninter- 

 esting, l>ecause of the lack of rain in this part of the 

 countrv. What vegetation was jiresent jjresented a yellow 

 appearance. 



"The next ])ort of interest was La Cjloria. Here one 

 was gratified in having sufficient time to view the native 

 houses. These resemble stucco hut Black informed me 

 that the skeleton is made of bamboo and the stucco made 

 from river sand mixed with cow manure. From here on 

 the vegetation began to be of interest, the mahogany delta 

 appearing. After leaving the town of Gamarra we began 

 to view some very picturesque scenery, with the western 

 Cordilleras appearing. The next important town was 

 Bodega Central, the river port for exporting cargo from 

 the prosperous town of Bucaramanga, the latter shipping 

 250,000 bags of coffee to the Ignited States annually. 

 F"rom Bucaramanga to the river port is a four-day mule- 

 back trip. 



"The next town was Puerto W'ilches, a river port for 

 the exporting and importing of both cargo and passengers 

 to and from Bucaramanga. It possesses a railroad of 

 seventeen miles which was intended when begun to con- 

 nect with Bucaramanga, but the remaining 120 miles is by 

 mule-back. During the rainy season the Bodega Central 

 route is used, combined with freighting over the river 

 Lebrija. 



"The vegetation here becomes very interesting, ])resent- 

 ing a darker green apjjearance than lower down the river. 

 Lots of trees, including the native cedar, bombax. lignum- 

 vitje, and closer to the river, the giant bamboo. Here we 

 passed the river Lel)rija where we unloaded some Amer- 

 ican machinery. 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 thi> river ]3ort I had my first experience 

 of seeing orciiids upon trees, together with various other 

 epiphytes including bromeliads, .Xephrolepis, Polypo- 

 diums, mosses, etc., the young growth being impenetrable. 

 Particularly 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 ])ictiiresque. Tlu' 

 scenery, with the mountains in the background, was al- 

 most i)eyond description. 



"We finally reached the uppermost ])ort of the Lower 

 Magdalena River. La Dorada. From here we caught a 

 wf)od-burning train to Beltran, a distance of sixty-five 

 miles. The object of this railroafl is to avoid the ra])ids at 

 Honda which cause the river to be uniiavigable at that 

 point. Honda is likewise in a big coffee-shi])ping district. 

 Arriving at Beltran at twelve o'clock we again weiU 

 through the uni)leasant panflemf)nium of transferring bag- 

 gage to the lx)at on the L'pper Magdalena River. We ar- 

 rived here after a very picturesque trip. f)ne of the 



interesting towns is .Ambalema, situated in a big tobacco- 

 growing district noted for its native-made cigars ; also for 

 its pottery. We arrived at Girardot the following morn- 

 ing. The distance traveled from Barranquilla to Girardot 

 was 700 miles. After going through the customs, we en- 

 joyed a very pleasant rest at the Pension Inglesa. 

 The next step of our journey was started the following 

 morning, to Bogota. Leaving at 7 A. M. by train, we 

 started our upward climb from the trojjics, 600 feet above 

 sea level, to the temperate climate of Piogota, 8, .^00 feet. 

 We got as far as Facatativa, where we were obliged to 

 change to another train because of a difference in rail 

 gage. We finally arrived at Bogota at five o'clock, on 

 -May 1. exactly one month from the time we left St. Louis. 

 -After traveling in the tropics, at I'.ogota one feels the 

 eft'ect of the altitude in the form of headaches and in- 

 creased heart action. The "Sabana' of Bogota is extremely 

 picturesque, surrounded by the eastern Andes. The 

 population is approximately 140.000. During my first 

 week in Bogota I suffered from a slight attack of ptomaine 

 poisoning, after which I had many consultations with 

 .Xorman Black, who kindly consented to act as my agent, 

 and with Mr. Cyril Allen, who very kindly put me in touch 

 with his native collectors who could obtain the varieties 

 of orchids wanted in quantity for the Garden. I was 

 advised by both P.lack and .\llen not to go with the native 

 collectors to gather orchids, inasmuch as I would be ex- 

 l)Osed to malaria, typhoid, etc., combined with the danger 

 of being absolutely at the mercy of the natives of that 

 region, especially as my knowledge of -Spanish was ex- 

 tremely limited. Again, the word would undoubtedly be 

 passed in advance that an 'Americano' was coming and 

 prices would be raised in proportion. 



"In view of the fact that Cyril Allen had collected and 

 ex]K)rted orchids for the past fourteen years, and that 

 Xorman Black, through his ex])erience with the natives in 

 dealing in coffee, knew of their financial trustworthiness. 

 I decided that their advice was final. As Air. Allen was 

 leaving shortly for Euro])e, quick action was necessar\'. 

 Within two weeks I was in touch with a native collector 

 of Cattleya Trianje and .•nintlKT to collect Cattleva 

 Schrccder;e, in two widely 'separated regions. To collect 

 these two varieties in the quantity desired Mr. Allen 

 stated that he would have demanded six months' time. 

 ( )n the other hand. I was contemplating a six weeks' stay 

 in I'logota. The transactions with the natives were ac- 

 complished by Allen and Black, it all being carried on in 

 the native tongue. I was present at the conference, but 

 only as a guest of P>lack, and not supposed to be interested 

 in the orchid transaction, in other words. I'lack was the 

 agent who wanted the shipment for export. This meant 

 that the Garden got the benefit of strictly native jirices, 

 which it would iiave been impossible for me to obtain. 



"The next difficulty for me to settle was the question of 

 tinancing the natives, who had to take sufficient money to 

 buy the i)lants from the collectors in the fields. Xorman 

 Black strongly advised me not to advance any money. 

 .Alien on the other hand, stated: Tf you don't adv.ance the 

 monev to buy the orchids, it is impossible to ex])ecl the 

 natives to bring them to yoiu" base of operations.' .So 1 

 finally decided to ailvance suff"K-ient money to purchase 

 the plants in their native habitat. .After arrangements 

 were made by telegram and later with the native agent at 

 the small village of Xatagaini.i. lie presented himself at 

 riirardot to receive the first payment. On seeing him 

 I'llack recognized him as one of his best coffee shippers, 

 which was much of a relief to me as he had always fouiu! 

 him absolutely reliable." 



(To he cPiitiiiHcii) 



