354 



COLOMBIA 



upheaved plateaus and opened fractures that now 

 mark the courses of the principal rivers. Of the 

 sections outside the main Cordilleras, the princi- 

 pal are the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, in 

 the north, and the low Baudo range, along the 

 north -west coast, which extends into Panama. 

 From the Central Cordillera descend the two 

 principal rivers of Colombia, the Magdalena and 

 its tributary the Cauca, which flow north into the 

 Caribbean Sea, besides several affluents of the 

 Amazon in the east, and the Patia, which forces 

 its way to the Pacific, through a gorge between 

 cliffs 10,000 to 12,000 feet high, and forms the only 

 notable break in the long wall of the Western 

 Cordillera from Darien to Patagonia. The Eastern 

 Cordillera, by far the largest chain, consists of a 

 series of extensive tablelands, cool and healthy, 

 where the white race flourishes as vigorously as in 

 Europe. This temperate region is the most thickly 

 populated portion of the republic ; and on one of 

 its plateaus, at an elevation of 8694 feet, stands 

 the capital, BogotA (q.v.). Eastward from this 

 Cordillera stretch vast llanos or plains, through 

 which flow the Meta, the Guaviare, and other 

 tributaries of the Orinoco. Besides these, the chief 

 rivers are the San Juan (navigable 150 miles), on 

 the Pacific coast ; the Atrato (q.v.) and Zulia ( 150 

 miles), flowing north; the Arauca (600), which, 

 as well as the Meta (700) and Guaviare (850), 

 feeds the Orinoco; and the Caqueta (1350), the 

 Putumayo (1100), and the Napo (750), tributaries 

 of the Amazon. The lakes are unimportant. 



Climate and Productions. In the course of one 

 day's journey, the traveller may experience in this 

 country all the climates of the world ; perpetual 

 snows cover the summits of the Cordilleras, while 

 the valleys are smothered in the rich vegetation 

 of the tropics. The mean temperature ranges 

 from 32 to 82, according to the elevation. The 

 climate of PanamA is notoriously unwholesome, 

 and in some parts of Bolivar and Magdalena, in 

 the north, marsh fevers abound. The rainy season 

 falls from November to April, except among the 

 low-lying forests of the south-east, where the rain- 

 fall is distributed throughout the year, and in the 

 Choc6 coast district of the north-west, where, shut 

 in from the north-east winds, the heavy atmo- 

 sphere hangs motionless, arid mists and torrents of 

 rain alternate. Colombia naturally yields a variety 

 of productions corresponding to this great diversity 

 of climate and of elevation. The hot region, extena- 

 ing to an elevation of about 3200 feet, produces in 

 abundance rice, cacao, sugar-cane, bananas, yams, 

 tobacco, indigo, cotton, caoutchouc, vegetable ivory, 

 arid many medicinal plants ; and the forests, with 

 their tagua and other stately palms, their rare 

 balsamic resins and valuable dyewoods, are ablaze 

 with flowers and creepers, and steeped in the 

 perfume of the delicate vanilla orchid. In the 

 temperate zone, from 3200 to 8500 feet above the 

 sea, many of these plants are equally common, but 

 the cocoa-nut palm gives place to the oak, the 

 encenillo, groups of laurels, and arborescent ferns, 

 and here flourish the coffee plant, the odorous 

 Cherimoya (q.v.) and curibano, the fig, and the 

 cinchona-tree. The Wax-palm (q.v.) extends 

 beyond this region, and is found at a height 

 of nearly 11,000 feet, and large crops of potatoes, 

 grain, and leguminous plants are raised in the 

 cold region ; but from 10,000 feet rises the bleak 

 paramo, with its scanty vegetation, ending in 

 lichens at the snow-line. The fauna of Colom- 

 bia is very extensive. Both coasts abound with 

 turtles and pearl-oysters ; the rivers swarm with 

 fish and alligators, and on their marshy banks 

 the capybara is found ; the forests are the haunt 

 of the tapir, armadillo, cavy, opossum, and deer, 

 and during the day are alive with monkeys 



(of which no less than seventeen species are- 

 common), squirrels, paroquets, and numerous 

 bright-plumaged birds, whose notes give place at 

 night to the plaintive cry of the sloth. Beasts 

 of prey are the jaguar, puma, ocelot, margay, 

 and bear. The boa and numerous other snake* 

 are common, but venomous serpents cease afc 

 an elevation of 6000 feet, the centipede and 

 the chigoe are not met beyond 9850 feet, while 

 the plague of mosquitoes and ants, and of other 

 more dangerous insects, is mainly confined to 

 the lowlands. In the northern departments, and 

 in the immense llanos of the east, great herds of 

 cattle, descended from those imported by the 

 Spaniards, are reared ; in the central districts,* 

 shorthorns and other English, Dutch, and Norman 

 cattle and horses have oeen introduced, and are 

 largely raised throughout the temperate zone. 

 Fish life ceases in the lakes at 13,000 feet; and in 

 the solitudes above, the condor dwells alone. In 

 minerals the country is exceedingly rich, although 

 its scanty population, their poverty, and the 

 absence of roads have combined to limit the ex- 

 ploitation of the precious metals. Nevertheless, 

 in 1887, claims were presented to 751 mines in 

 Antioquia ; and from this department alone over 

 400,000 worth of gold is annually exported. 

 The department of Tolima is the richest in silver. 

 It is estimated that gold to the value of 

 125,000,000, and silver to the value of nearly 

 7,000,000, have been exported since the 16th 

 century ; and over 95 per cent, of this ore has 

 been found west of the Magdalena. Iron, copper, 

 lead, coal, sulphur, zinc, antimony, arsenic, cinnabar, 

 rock-salt, crystal, granite, marble, lime, gypsum, 

 jet, amethysts, rubies, porphyry, and jasper are 

 also found ; while much of the world's platinum 

 is obtained from the upper San Juan, and the 

 principal source of the finest emeralds is at Muzo 

 in BoyacA, although there are other mines near 

 Nemocon, in Cundinamarca. 



Commerce, Finance, &c. The only industries- 

 common to all the departments of Colombia are 

 agriculture and the rearing of cattle. Coarse cloth 

 fabrics for the inland trade are manufactured to- 

 some extent in Santander and BoyacA, and china- 

 ware and cardboard in Antioquia ; also soap, 

 matches, and candles are made in BogotA, and 

 there are two foundries and a shoe factory in 

 Cundinamarca ; but straw-hats, known abroad 

 by the name of Panama, although they are 

 made only in certain parts of Tolima, Anti- 

 oquia, and Santander, are perhaps the only 

 manufactured article exported from the country. 

 The transit trade across the Isthmus of Panama, 

 valued at 15,000,000 per annum, is of far 

 more consequence than the direct commerce. 

 The foreign trade proper is mainly with Great 

 Britain and the United States. The imports are 

 mostly food-stuffs, textiles, machinery, and iron- 

 wares ; the exports, coffee, gold, silver, and other 

 ores, caoutchouc, ivory-nuts, divi-divi, tobacco, 

 cacao, cotton, cinchona, cattle, balsams, timber 

 and dyewoods, hides and wool. The average 

 annual value of imports in the period 1875-84 

 was $9,662,806, of exports, $13,584,890; in 1893 

 the value of imports was $13,403,300, and of 

 exports, $14,630,330 ; but it is difficult to reduce 

 these figures to British currency, for although the 

 dollar has a nominal value of four shillings, the 

 rate of exchange has since 1878 varied between 

 five and a half and nine dollars to the pound 

 sterling. The nation has repeatedly undergone a 

 severe financial crisis. For the fiscal year 1895-96 

 the expenditure was estimated at $26,203,950, and 

 the revenue at $33,801,900, showing a very con- 

 siderable nominal surplus ; in 1894 the internal 

 debt, floating and consolidated, amounted to 



