8 Alexander G. Ruthven 



naturalist, who cannot but be fascinated by the prospect of collecting in 

 this great, isolated, almost unknown mountain mass. The region received 

 the attention of some of the earliest naturalist-explorers who visited 

 Colombia, and many species of animals and plants were described from 

 the meagre collections made here, but the fauna and flora are still largely 

 unknown. To the biologist the interesting features of the Sierra Nevada 

 de Santa Marta are that it is a lofty mountain mass, rising abruptly from 

 sea-level and entirely separated from any other mountain range or system, 

 that it has undoubtedly never been connected with the nearest mountain 

 range — the eastern Andes of Columbia, — and the diversity in conditions. 

 The diversity in ecological conditions is probably exceeded in few areas of 

 the same size, as the range rises from the sea and from lowlands which are 

 arid wastes, or covered with semi-arid woodland or dense humid forests ; 

 there are scores of miles of mountain slopes covered in places by a dense 

 tropical forest, in others by semi-arid woodland, and in still others by great 

 savannas or bare, rock-strewn slopes ; and the upper regions constitute a 

 vast solitude of paramos, extending from the timber-line up to the eternal 

 snows. 



In animal and plant life the region is very rich, and there are appar- 

 ently a large number of endemic species. Of all of the groups represented, 

 only the mammals, birds, reptiles, and amphibians have received particular 

 attention, and even in these groups there is still much to be discovered. 

 The greater part of the region at all altitudes is a vast wilderness, unknown 

 and uninhabited, and the number of biological and archaeological problems 

 is legion. 



In this paper I will attempt to give, as nearly as possible, the infor- 

 mation on the physical and biological conditions I have accumulated during 

 the past nine years. Since the published data are meagre, this information 

 should be useful to those who shall be able to continue the exploration and 

 study of this remarkable region and its exceedingly rich flora and fauna, 

 and to those who have already done some work in the range, but who do 

 not have a comprehensive idea of the region as a whole and the relations 

 which the different parts bear to each other and to the adjoining areas. It 

 should also assist in preventing useless duplication of work and aid future 

 workers to select untouched fields. 



It should be pointed out here that biological work in the Santa Marta 

 range should be done at once if it is to be done at all. There is now begin- 

 ning a colonization of the mountains which may, in a few years, wipe out 

 the great forest areas and make such changes in the natural conditions that 

 it will be most difficult, if not impossible, to arrive at a correct knowledge 

 of the original composition and distribution of the flora and fauna. There 

 are two colonization schemes on foot now in Germany, with the Sierra 

 Nevada de Santa Marta as their objective, while great interest has been 

 aroused in the region throughout Colombia, and a large amount of land has 

 been taken up during the past two years. A new road has been opened, 

 beginning at Fundacion, the present terminus of the Santa Marta Railway, 

 and extending into the mountains a distance of 25 to 30 kilometers and to 



