COCHISE. 



COLOMBIA. 



131 



T 



III 



casional participation in the debates in the 

 I.-:-. Is. He \va- an :il)lo apoakor, well informed 

 on many [mints, and, through the influence of 

 his wito, a \\oinan <>f remarkable talent and 

 uxalted obaracter, be was enabled to 

 maintain a position in society wbicb his repu- 

 tation would have otherwise rendered impos- 



blu. Ho hail vast estates in Ireland, and was 

 ery popular tlu-iv. 



I! ISE, a famous Indian chief, the head 

 of t ho Ooyotero Apaches in Arizona ; died in 

 the White Mountain district in Arizona, Juno 

 9, 1874, at the supposed age of sixty years. 

 Oochiso had been for some years friendly to 

 the Mexicans and the few white settlers of 

 Arizona, when his hostility was aroused by a 

 very treacherous and criminal massacre of In- 

 dians hi Arizona by United States troops un- 

 der the direction of Colonel (afterward Gen- 

 eral) Harney. Thenceforward he was a bitter 

 enemy of the whites, and his band of Coyote- 

 ros was the most daring and destructive of all 

 the Apaches of the Territory. No efforts were 

 made to quiet or pacify them for a number of 

 years, it being supposed that all efforts to that 

 end would prove ineffectual. In 1870 General 

 Safford entertained a different opinion. He 

 visited the Coyoteros in the White Mountains, 

 and became convinced that by judicious man- 

 agement they might be pacified, and urged 

 upon Congress the necessity of providing men 

 and means to- aid them. Nothing was done, 

 however, and they became more restless and 

 predatory than before. In the autumn of 1871 

 Mr. Jefferds, the Indian Agent of Arizona, made 

 an effort to open negotiations with Cochise. 

 Penetrating to his stronghold, he found him 

 in a favorable mood for a treaty, but afraid to 

 go to the Indian agency, lest he should be 

 seized and put to death. Subsequently Gen- 

 eral Crooke succeeded in having an interview 

 with him and effected a complete reconciliation. 

 Since that time Cochise has been exerting a 

 powerful influence for good over his tribe, and 

 there has been no further trouble with the 

 Ooyoteros. His sickness was long and dis- 

 tressing, but he manifested his friendly spirit 

 in his dying speech to his people, telling them 

 to come to the agencies, men, women, and 

 children, and to live at peace forever with the 

 white people. His son Taza, or Tuch-la, suc- 

 ceeded him. 



COLOMBIA (ESTADOS UNIDOS DK COLOM- 

 BIA), an independent republic of South Ameri- 

 ca, occupying the territory formerly known as 

 the Republic of New Granada, which formed 

 the central part of old Colombia, a nation found- 

 ed and liberated by Bolivar, and comprising be- 

 sides Venezuela and Ecuador. The territory 

 of the republic extends from the isthmus of 

 Panama (one of the nine States of the Union) 

 to the peninsula of Goajira, on the Atlantic 

 coast, and to 2 80' south latitude on the Pa- 

 cific coast, and thence to the banks of the 

 Orinoco, which separates it from Venezuela, 

 and to the Amazon, which separates it from 



the empire of Brazil. The area of the terri- 

 tory of new Colombia has been estimated at 

 rather more than 500,000 square miles; of 

 , 400,000 square miles lie to the north 

 and the remainder to the south of the equator. 



The great height attained by the Andes 

 (which in some parts rise to the region of per- 

 petual snow) gives to the country a variety of 

 climate, from the biting cold of the arctic seas 

 to the burning heat of Senegal. Between these 

 two extremes, in the superandine plateaus and 

 the slopes of the Cordilleras, are to be found 

 all the mild climates of the temperate zone. 



The valley of the lower Magdalena, around 

 which is grouped the population of seven 

 States, comprises the vast region of the central 

 part of the country, having a length of 500 

 miles, and a width varying from 70 to 100, till 

 it finally loses itself in the plains that border 

 on the Atlantic. This valley is covered with 

 dense forests, rich in all sorts of timber, cab- 

 inet woods, resinous and medicinal plants of 

 the tropics. In those places where the forest 

 has been cleared and the soil brought under 

 cultivation, its fertility has proved equal to the 

 best in the world. 



The Atrato Valley is generally similar to that 

 of the Magdalena in its physical aspect. 



The Cauca Valley is, on the contrary, an ele- 

 vated plain covered with spontaneous and arti- 

 ficial pasturage at a height of 5,200 feet above 

 the level of the Pacific Ocean. Its average 

 temperature is 25 Cent. (77 Fahr.), and it is 

 peopled by 435,000 civilized inhabitants. The 

 general aspect of this valley is uniform in its 

 physical constitution. On a bird's-eye view 

 from the south, the country presents the ap- 

 pearance of a narrow plain wedged between 

 the western and central ranges of the Andes, 

 and extending northward as far as the eye can 

 reach. Its soil, remarkably suited for pastur- 

 age, produces cacao, coffee, sugar-cane, rice, 

 tobacco, cotton, and indigo, without counting 

 the plantain, maize, and mandioca, which grow 

 luxuriously in every part of that fertile 

 country. 



The towns and villages lying along the Cor- 

 dilleras enjoy alternately the advantages of 

 both heat and cold, situated as they are among 

 the numerous breaks, slopes, and plateaus 

 formed by the spurs of the Colombian Andes. 



The Magdalena, which runs northward be- 

 tween the central and eastern ranges of the 

 Andes to its embouchure in the Atlantic, is the 

 great fluvial highway of the country, through 

 which is conducted all the foreign traffic of the 

 five central States, and the greater part of 

 those bordering on the Atlantic. This traffic 

 is so important that, for more than twenty 

 years, the river has been navigated by steam- 

 boats of fifty to two hundred tons, without any 

 pecuniary aid from the Government. During 

 that period from eight to twelve steamers, the 

 property of private companies, have been con- 

 stantly employed in the service, each carrying 

 a mean aggregate of 50,000,000 Ibs., or 25,000 



