COLOMBIA 



1477 



COLOMBIA 



enormous. Mining (gold, coal, oil, copper), 

 the establishment, of packing houses near the 

 coast, and especially the building of railways 

 and dredging of rivers are the most immediate 

 items for investment. In fact, Americans have 

 just now in Colombia the same opportunities 

 that the English had and so cleverly took 

 advantage of in Argentina from 1860 to 1880, 

 and which made them the leading factor in 

 that country's progress (see PANAMA, REPUBLIC 

 OF). 



Physical Features. One-third of Colombia 

 is mountainous land, with only pack train 

 transportation. The eastern and southeastern 

 half consists chiefly of well-watered, treeless 

 plains, or llanos, adapted to pasturing, swarm- 

 ing with cattle, but as yet sparsely settled. 

 Crossing those plains are the rivers Guaviare 

 and Meta, branches of the Orinoco River, 

 which forms part of the eastern boundary; and 

 the rivers Uaupes, Apoporis, Caqueta, or Ya- 

 pura, and Putumayo, branches of the Amazon. 

 South of the plains lies a tropical forest belt, 

 the most useful trees of the region being rubber 

 trees. 



In the central and western half of the re- 

 public are concentrated the principal wealth of 

 the country and the bulk of the population; 

 but it is a mountainous section, whose fertile 

 uplands are of difficult access in spots. There, 

 running from south to north, are three ranges 

 of the Andes Mountains, continuations of 

 ranges in Ecuador. The western range, the 

 Cordillera Occidental, or "de Choco," rises to 

 heights of from 10,000 to 12,000 feet, dividing 

 at the north and extending in one direction 

 into the republic of Panama; in the other, 

 ending in the llanos of Bolivar, near the Carib- 

 bean Sea. 



The central range, the Cordillera Central, or 

 "de Quindio," was so named because crossing 

 its central portion is the famous Quindio Pass, 

 which connects Cartagena and Ibague. This 

 range has the highest peaks in Colombia, sev- 

 eral of which are lofty volcanoes, some active, 

 some semi-active and others extinct. Tolima, 

 the highest volcano, rises 18,400 feet above sea 

 level. Huila and Purace are nearly as high. 



The eastern range, the Cordillera Oriental, 

 is free from volcanoes, and its highest elevation 

 is 16,700 feet. There lie the great temperate 

 table-lands which form the most thickly-pop- 

 ulated portion of Colombia. Disconnected 

 from the Andes there is an isolated range run- 

 ning parallel with the Caribbean Sea in the 

 department of Magdalena. It towers into the 



Sierra Nevada of Santa Marta, which is cov- 

 ered with perpetual snow, and whose summit 

 rises, as if emerging from the ocean, to a height 

 of 19,000 feet. Important American settle- 

 ments, banana and coffee plantations are estab- 

 lished on the slopes of the Sierra. Dividing 

 the eastern range from the central, is the great 

 valley of the Magdalena River, commercially 

 the most important river of the republic, and in 

 length and volume of water the fourth river of 

 the continent. It flows north to the Caribbean 

 Sea, and is navigable for nearly 850 miles of 

 its 1,000 miles of winding length. There is 

 just one break in its even course, 600 miles 

 from its mouth, at the rapids of Honda. These 

 extend for twenty miles and are overcome by 

 a railway. 



All the mountain slopes are thickly forested, 

 cedars, hard wood, guayacan, mahogany, splen- 

 did fine woods, chinchonas, aloes and sarsapa- 

 rilla trees being found in abundance. In this 

 western section, too, in the regions adapted 

 to their modes of life, are found several kinds 

 of serpents, a few species of monkey, jaguars, 

 pumas, tapirs, anteaters and deer. Lending 

 touches of bright color to the forest greens are 

 humming birds, parrots and fruit-eating tou- 

 cans; and flying high are condors and vultures. 

 On the northern (Caribbean) coast are the two 

 best harbors, Cartagena and Barranquilla. On 

 the Pacific side are natural harbors in the 

 bays of Cupica, Nuqui, Malaga, Choco and 

 Tumaco. 



Climate. Within a day in the republic of 

 Colombia one can experience almost the ex- 

 tremes of temperature. From a place of in- 

 tense heat in the valleys one can rise to a 

 table-land of almost perpetual spring. Then 

 climbing the mountains and rising above the 

 timber land, about 10,000 feet above the sea, 

 a zone of severe cold and perpetual snow 

 would be reached. The greatest heat is ex- 

 perienced in the belt south of the plains. The 

 upper regions of the mountains have a pleasant 

 climate and abundant rain. On the coast is a 

 region of heat and rains throughout the year. 



Agriculture. Although agriculture is the 

 chief industry of Colombia, only a small sec- 

 tion of the country is under cultivation, from 

 want of means of transportation and communi- 

 cation. Primitive methods are still employed. 

 In the hot regions coffee, tobacco, sugar cane, 

 cotton and cacao are the important crops; 

 most of the ordinary coffees are sent to the 

 United States, the finest qualities going to 

 Europe, and the greater part of the tobacco 



