Birds of Columbia. 129 



peculiar to the Andes of Columbia and Ecuador, Cinclus leuco- 

 notus. We followed the course of this stream down a deep val- 

 ley, and left it a small river in the Cocuta valley, along which 

 we returned to Bucaranianga well pleased with our visit to the 

 high regions. 



There are two diflferent routes down from Bucaranianga to the 

 Magdalena, each striking the river at a different point. One of 

 these passes through a country inhabited by the Opon Indians, 

 who are so called from the name of a small river which flows into 

 the Magdalena. They live in the forest of the Magdalena valley, 

 and, from all accounts, seem to be little better than animals. A 

 boy was captured not long ago, and is now living in Bucara- 

 nianga; with this exception, so far as I could ascertain, they 

 have never been seen except from the decks of the steamers which 

 ascend and descend the river. People, however, occasionally get 

 shot by them, and their bodies are found stuck full of arrows 

 between eight and nine feet long. It is said that these Indians 

 are great cowards and never attack a party. Another road has 

 just been opened by an enterprising Englishman, the only one 

 we met, who has cut and made a path through the primeval 

 forest. The difficulties to be encountered in doing this can 

 hardly be understood unless one has really seen such forest and 

 the nature of the ground. No Indians have been met with on 

 this road, the forest being, probably, too thick even for them. 



This road we decided to follow; and as no one could tell us how 

 long it would take to -go down, we allowed nearly a fortnight. 

 It is, however, only a six days' journey. 



We left Bucaramanga, March 2nd, and spent one day at S. 

 Nicolas again, and two at Naranjo. This was the last place 

 we came to, and consists of a small village, near which the 

 mountains sink abruptly to the Magdalena valley. Among 

 the birds we shot here were Melanerpes j)ulcher, a Woodpecker 

 lately new to science, and PhcenicotJwaupis yutturalis, hitherto 

 known only by some skins in the British Museum. 



On March 11th we were again looking down upon the Magda- 

 lena valley. Some 1500 feet below us lay a sea of primeval 

 forest extending as far as we could see, broken only by the 

 Magdalena winding like a silver thread some thirty miles off, and 



SER. Iir. VOL. I. K 



