RAPIDS OF MURA 171 



that the other passage, called Cinco mil pesos,^ although 

 very much shorter, was too dangerous. Quite close to the 

 spot where we landed is the site of an abandoned settle- 

 ment, probably the collection of houses mentioned by 

 Humboldt under the name of Ciudad de San Carlos. 

 There were many cocoa-trees in the second forest growth 

 which has sprung up where the old settlement stood, 

 showing that the families who had taken up their abode 

 at this spot cultivated the land to some extent, and had 

 intended making a permanent stay, for the cocoa-tree 

 does not yield any return for several years. The people 

 of La Prision and Temblador are in the habit of 

 coming in their dug-outs to pick the crop of these 

 trees, the beans of which they grind between stones into 

 a coarse kind of chocolate. We often drank this choco- 

 late when our own cocoa gave out. While the boats 

 were being reloaded some of the men had been wandering 

 about over the site of the old settlement. They found a 

 broken apothecary's mortar, and an old silver coin 

 stamped ' Cundinamarca.' These I have kept as memen- 

 toes of the first attempt to found a town on the picturesque 

 but turbulent passage of Mura. 



Crossing the rapids in heavily laden boats such as 

 ours is risky work. A moment's carelessness or hesita- 

 tion on the part of any of the men may cause disaster ; 

 the breaking of a rope, if the boats are being hauled up 

 where the current is too strong for paddling, may have 

 equally dire results. In ascending rapids long strong 

 ropes are of the greatest use. In fact, without them it 

 would be impossible in certain places to make any pro- 

 gress. By one o'clock we were in the middle of Mura 



' ' The passage of five thousand pesos,' so called on account of the loss 

 of a boat at that spot during a tonca-bean crop, with a large sum on board. 



