184 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL 



— and mud — of the Magdalena twelve more, we already have over six hundred birds 

 and the study for the great Magdalena group has been made. We let no opportunity 

 to collect escape us while sailing up the Magdalena. Whenever the steamer stopped 

 for cargo or firewood the six men of our party rushed ashore — somewhat to the 

 astonishment of the inhabitants, who not infrequently asked if we were starting a 

 revolution! The bird skins were prepared at once on the steamer, where we were 

 given every facility for work by a sympathetic captain. 



The view for the group was made at a point above Honda, at an elevation of 

 2700 feet, near the summit of the first ridge of the Eastern Andes. From this point 

 one looks west across the Magdalena Valley to the Central Andes. The floor of the 

 valley is broken by a series of low, strongly modeled ranges through which the 

 Magdalena winds in graceful curves and the blue wall of the Central Cordillera is 

 crowned by three snow masses, Tolima, Isabel and Ruiz, having an elevation of 

 16,000 to 18,000 or more feet. In its impressive proportions, its variety of form and 

 color, its singularly beautiful and pleasing composition, this view is by far the finest 

 I have ever seen. 



All the men 1 are working with enthusiasm and this in the face of conditions try- 

 ing even to those of us who have had experience in the tropics. Lying at the western 

 base of the Eastern Andes, the Magdalena is not cooled by the easterly trades and 

 the mercury hangs about 90°, while the air is charged with a high percentage of 

 moisture. I am glad to say that to-morrow we begin our section from the Mag- 

 dalena to the Meta at the eastern base of the Eastern Andes, thus completing the 

 survey of the three Colombian Andes from the Pacific to the Orinoco drainage. . . : 



"Heart of the Andes," February 25 ■ 

 .... In order to avoid the expense of running a large pack-outfit for the two hun- 

 dred miles through the Eastern Andes, I have divided the party into two or three 

 each, and am relaying it along the trail with six mules, three for the saddle and three 

 for " cargo," as it is here called .... Things move slowly here and a week was of neces- 

 sity passed in Bogota while I purchased the mules and hired men for our journey. . . . 

 The week was also used to establish relations with resident naturalists (few in num- 

 ber and chiefly French priests), to pay the respects of the Museum to various officials 

 including the President of the Republic, the American and British Ministers, and to 

 ascertain the sources of the so-called " Bogota " birdskins which for the past seventy 

 years have been reaching the museums of Europe and America, hitherto constituting 

 practically the only specimens of birds from this region .... Investigation has 

 yielded the most surprising and definite results. In brief, the area drawn on by the 

 Bogota dealers is so large that these dataless specimens are not only scientifically 

 valueless but also actually misleading, and the discovery of this fact alone is worth a 

 journey to Colombia. 



Buena Vista, February 28 

 We finally reached the summit of the last ridge of the Andes (altitude 4000 feet) . 

 At our feet the llanos stretched indefinitely eastward and for the first time since enter- 

 ing the mountains we saw the horizon below us. Westward we look back up the valley 



of the Rio Negro. Justly is this place named Buena Vista: It is very rich 



in bird life. One collecting of sixty-six specimens brought a result of thirty-four 

 species, and in a single morning's work we have collected as many as thirty-eight 

 genera .... 



1 The assistants of the expedition are as follows: Mr. Louis Agassiz Fuertes, artist; 

 Messrs. George K. Cherrie, formerly of the Brooklyn Museum, Paul G. Howes of New 

 Haven, Connecticut, Thomas Ring of Saginaw, Michigan, and Geoffrey O'Connell of Ithaca, 

 New York. 



