316 



COLOMBIA. 



They are strengthened by a chain of casemated 

 towers, which contain several stories, and each a few 

 cannon. These are placed at some distance from the 

 city, as separate and detached works. Cologne has 

 thus become a strong place, though not, indeed, so 

 important a fortress as Coblentz. The small city of 

 Deutz, on the right bank of the Rhine, opposite Co- 

 logne, is fortified, and thus completes the double tete- 

 de-pont. In former times, Cologne was a very pow- 

 erful city, and its university famous. The mer- 

 chants of Cologne, who settled in London under 

 Elizabeth's reign, gave a great impulse to the Eng- 

 lish commerce. The old Chronicle of Cologne, 

 written in low German, is a highly interesting work. 

 The eait de Cologne is famous throughout Europe and 

 America, though only a small part of what is sold 

 under this name is genuine. One of the best ways 

 of distinguishing the genuine from the spurious is, to 

 rub a few drops on die hand, when the good eau de 

 Cologne must neither smell of any spirituous liquor, 

 nor of musk, nor any foreign substance, but only of 

 the ethereal odour proper to the water. 



COLOMBIA, THE REPUBLIC OF, in South America, 

 is comprised between lat. 12 30' N., and 6 S. ; and 

 between Ion. 58 and 82 W. ; extending over a sur- 

 face of 1,100,000 square miles. It is bounded on the 

 north by the Caribbean sea, east by Guiana and Brazil, 

 south by Brazil and Peru, and west by the Pacific 

 ocean ; on the north-west, it borders on the republic of 

 Central America. The face of the country is remark- 

 able : the western part contains the loftiest ridges of 

 the Andes, while the eastern stretches out into im- 

 mense plains, intersected by gigantic rivers. Towards 

 the southern part (Quito) are round the celebrated sum- 

 mits of Chimborazo, Antisana, Pichincha, Cotopaxi, 

 Colocache, &c. In this Thibet of the new world, in 

 the valleys of the Andes, raised 10,000 feet above 

 the surface of the ocean, the population of that part 

 of the country is concentrated. Farther north, the 

 height of the mountains is less, and in New Grenada, 

 the Cordillera is divided into three parallel ciiains, 

 of which only the two lateral ones are of great ele- 

 vation. Besides the Andes, the principal chain is 

 that of Caracas, running along the north coast, with 

 summits of from 12,000 to 14,000 feet high. The 

 principal lake is lake Maracaibo in Venezuela ; the 

 imaginary lake Parima has disappeared from the 

 maps. The most important rivers of Colombia are 

 the Magdalena, the Amazon, and the Orinoco. The 

 Amazon receives all the streams on the eastern de- 

 clivity of the Andes, south of lat. 3 N. North of 

 that point, they flow into the Orinoco- The immense 

 plains in the east, stretclung from Merida to Guiana, 

 and from the chain of the Caracas to the Amazon, 

 are partly inundated and fertilized by the waters of 

 the Orinoco, and partly composed of bare deserts 

 called llanos. The climate, in a country of such ex- 

 tent, and of so remarkable a diversity of elevation, 

 must differ exceedingly. In Venezuela, the year is 

 completely divided by the rainy and the dry season, 

 tiie former commencing in November, and ending in 

 April. New Grenada comprehends a remarkable 

 variety of climate : temperate, even cold and frosty, 

 but healthy on the elevated table lands, the air is 

 burning and pestilential on the sea-shore, and in 

 some of the deep valleys of the interior. At Cartha- 

 gena and Guayaquil, the yellow fever is endemic. 

 See New Grenada, Venezuela, and Quito. 



Among the productions of the vegetable kingdom 

 we mention cacao, Peruvian bark, coffee, and indigo, 

 sugar, cotton, and tobacco. Gold, platina, silver, 

 cinnabar, are among the mineral riches of the repub- 

 lic. The principal articles of export are cacao, indi- 

 go, tobacco', coffee, hides, and cattle. The imports 

 Bre manufactured goods of almost every description. 



The contraband trade has been carried on to such na 

 extent by the foreign colonies in the neighbourhood, 

 that it is impossible, from the custom-house returns, 

 to form any estimate of the real value of the imports 

 or exports. The Dutch in Curagoa have been en- 

 gaged in this trade for nearly two centuries, ami the 

 Kii-lish have recently prosecuted it very extensively 

 from Trinidad, Jamaica, and Guiana ; and such are 

 the facilities afforded by the vicinity of these colonies 

 the extent of coast, and the navigation of the Ori- 

 noco, tfiat it will be very difficult to suppress it. In 

 1825, the exports from La Guayra and Porto Cabello 

 amounted to 1,885,257 dollars, of which more tlian 

 two-thirds were to the United States ; the imports, 

 during the same period, amounted to 3,428,042 dol. 

 M. Mollien (Voyage dans la Rep. de Colombia, Paris, 

 1823) estimates the total amount of exports at 

 8,000,000 dollars, and the imports at 10,000,000 dol. 

 The ports of La Guayra, Rio del Hacha, Santa Mar- 

 tha, Carthagena, Chagres, Porto Cabello, Panama, 

 and Guayaquil are the most frequented by foreigners. 

 Various plans have been proposed for connecting the 

 two oceans by canals. The small river Chagre, 

 which falls into the Caribbean sea a little west of 

 Porto Bello, is navigable to Cruces, five leagues 

 from Panama. The elevation of the country between 

 Cruces and Panama has never been accurately ascer- 

 tained, but it is supposed, would interpose no obstacle 

 to a canal for boats, though it might be wholly im- 

 possible to construct one for large vessels. A branch 

 of the Rio Atrato, which falls into the gulf of Darien, 

 approaches within 5 or 6 leagues of the Pacific ocean, 

 and the intervening country is quite level, and pro- 

 per for a canal. Another branch of the Rio Atrato 

 approaches so near to a small river which falls into 

 the Pacific, that a small canal has actually been dug 

 between them, by means of which, when the rains 

 are abundant, canoes loaded with cacao pass from sea 

 to sea. By means of the Orinoco and its tributary 

 streams, all the country south of the chain of Vene- 

 zuela enjoys an easy communication with the sea. 

 This river forms a natural channel for the convey- 

 ance to the ocean of the cattle and produce raised on 

 the banks of the Apure, and its wide-spreading 

 branches. By means of the Meta, also, a navigable 

 communication is opened almost to the very foot of 

 the Andes. The flour, and other productions of an 

 extensive district near Bogota are conveyed to mar- 

 ket by the Orinoco, in preference to the Magda- 

 lena. 



The republic is composed of the three colonial go- 

 vernments of Quito, New Grenada, and Venezuela, 

 and, by the law of June 23, 1824, is subdivided into 

 twelve departments, namely, 



1. The Isthmus, 



2. Magdalena, 



3. Zulia, 



4- Venezuela, 



5. Orinoco, 



6. Cauca, 



7. Cundinamarca, 



8. Boyaca, 



9. Apure, 



10. The Equator, 



11. Guayaquil, 



12. Asuay. 



These are composed of 49 provinces, which are again 

 subdivided into 218 cantons, and each canton into 

 municipalities. The population may be estimated at 

 about 2,711,000. It is composed of whites, Indians, 

 mestizoes, negroes, and mulattoes ; one-half being" of 

 the mixed races, one-fourth Creoles, one-eighth In- 

 dians, and the remainder, negroes and Europeans. 

 Travellers have observed that beauty, vigour, and 

 courage are more common in the mixed races. The 

 Creoles or whites, as they are called, have in general 

 some Indian or black blood in their veins. Those 

 on the sea-coast have the Spanish features, but little 

 beard ; those of the more elevated regions resemble 

 the inhabitants of the north of Europe, but they com- 

 monly have the black, stiff hair of the Indians. The 

 goitre is very common '.a some parts of Colombia ; 



