192 



COLOMBIA. 



banking institutions, except the Credit Foncier 

 de France, at between 440 and 450 francs per 

 bond of 1,000 francs. Every two months a 

 drawing is to take place during forty-two con- 

 secutive years, the winning numbers to be 

 paid in full the nominal value of the bonds of 

 1,000 francs, 6,000 bonds to be thus drawn 

 during the first year. The fluctuations in the 

 value of 5 per cent. Panama Canal bonds on 

 the Paris Bourse had been : January, 1885, 

 390 ; October, 383 ; January, 1886, 372 ; June, 

 30, 380; July, 1, 367, and July, 13, 310. On 

 September 20 the last installment was called 

 on 500 francs Panama Canal shares. 



Out of the 458,802 new bonds negotiated in 

 August, 1886, 200,000 were paid at once, 

 26,000 shortly afterward ; in October, 230,000 

 more had been paid. 



Arbitration, The difficulty that had existed 

 for some years between Colombia and Costa 

 Rica, about their frontier, was submitted in 

 September to the arbitration of Spam. 



During the insurrection of 1885 an Italian 

 merchant, Signer Cerruti, was imprisoned be- 

 cause he had espoused the cause of one of the 

 rebel pretenders. The commander of the Ital- 

 ian man-of-war "Flavio Gioja" interfered in 

 the matter, threatening the port of Buenaven- 

 tura on the Pacific with bombardment if Cerru- 

 ti were not handed over to him. The demand 

 was complied with ; but when he landed at 

 Panama and was about to take passage on 

 board the steamer u Ho," he WHS thown into 

 prison by the Colombian authorities. Mean- 

 while all his property in the province of Cauca 

 had been confiscated b.v the Government. Italy 

 had dispatched several men-of-war to Colom- 

 bian waters, and the complication was assum- 

 ing a threatening aspect, when a protocol was 

 signed between the Italian ambassador at Paris, 

 and the Colombian ambassador, laying down 

 the bases of an agreement, which has been sub- 

 mitted to the arbitration of Spain. 



Bogota, a city founded in 1542, and once 

 called Santa Fe de Bogota, capital of the United 

 States of Colombia and of the State of Cundina- 

 marca; population 100,000. It is situated in 

 latitude 4 36' 06" north, longitude 74 13' 59" 

 west, 8,870 feet above the level of the sea. It is 

 built on a plateau of the Andes, 80 miles from 

 the mouth of Magdalena river, and at the base of 

 high mountains at the extreme eastern side of 

 the great plain of Bogota. The temperature 

 ranges from 52 to 62 F., summer and winter. 

 The showers that fall from a cloudless sky are 

 called para mitos, and blow over from the bar- 

 ren plains in the rear of the mountains, where, 

 in summer, rain is constantly falling. The gar- 

 dens abound in heliotropes, rhododendrons, 

 fuchsias, violets, and an infinite variety of flow- 

 ers which bloom perennially. The exports 

 consist of gold, silver, copper, platinum, to- 

 bacco, bark, coffee, dye-wood, cocoanuts, rub- 

 ber, hats, and other articles. Emeralds of the 

 finest luster and the greatest value are found. 

 All freight is transported on the backs of mules 



from the mouth of Magdalena river, 27 Span- 

 ish leagues, over the mountains, by a rough, 

 winding, steep, and narrow road, which in 

 some places is worn deep into the sandstone 

 rock. Pianos, the freight on which is $1,000, 

 are common in the houses. The streets are 

 without vehicles, except street-cars drawn by 

 mules. The town is built principally of adobe 

 houses, with elegant interiors, reached through 

 court-yards tastefully laid out in flower-gar- 

 dens. The buildings, mostly ancient, are rarely 

 more than two stories in height, with the ex- 

 ception of the convents and churches. They 

 are unpainted, and at a distance the city is al- 

 most invisible. They are roofed with tiles, 

 and have low, dark portals, true specimens of 

 Spanish architecture, being built in the form 

 of a square inclosing the court-yard and gar- 

 den. The streets, forming at intervals the 

 sides of plazas, are narrow, paved with cobble- 

 stones, and have a ditch running through the 

 middle, for drainage, rendering it impossible 

 for carriages or carts to pass through them. 

 The common people wash their clothes in these 

 drains. Pipes supply clear water from the 

 sides of the buildings at the corners of the 

 plazas, fed by a reservoir a few miles from the 

 city. The water is carried in jars from thesa 

 pipes to the houses on the backs of women. 

 The streets are lighted by gas. There is no 

 residence quarter, so called, fine residences t;nd 

 hovels confronting each other indiscriminately. 

 On one side of the Grand Plaza, occupying the 

 center of the city, are the cathedral and postal 

 buildings; on the other sides the President's 

 Palace and Government houses. In the square 

 is a statue of Bolivar, Liberator of Colombia, 

 in bronze, mounted on a large square pedestal 

 composed of various colored stones sent from 

 the several States of the Republic, on which are 

 cut the names of -his battles. It was executed 

 in Italy at the expense of a private individual. 

 The cathedral is 300 feet long and 100 feet 

 wide, and is noted for its magnificent decora- 

 tions and paintings brought here by the Span- 

 iards. There are 37 churches, two of them 

 situated 1,500 feet above the city, on the high- 

 est mountains. The popular religion is Ro- 

 man Catholic, but there is no religion of state. 

 There are 400 resident priests. The President 

 of the Republic resides in the Government Pal- 

 ace. The Senate holds its sessions in the Con- 

 vent of Santo Domingo, which also accommo- 

 dates the State, Treasury, and War Depart- 

 ments. The Senate-chamber is large and finely 

 furnished. Above the President's chair are the 

 arms of Colombia. On the walls are life-sized 

 portraits of Bolivar and Santander. The ses- 

 sions of the Representatives are held in an old 

 Jesuit college, in a hall inferior to the Senate- 

 chamber, but ample and suitable. The Opera- 

 House is furnished with boxes extending in two 

 tiers entirely around the house, with the stage 

 in the center. The market is a conspicuous 

 building, and has on sale the vegetables and 

 fruits of two zones, torrid and temperate. 



