98 



A FLYING TRIP TO THE TROPICS. 



buzzards, black vultures, anis, and flocks of the little blue-rumped 

 parrakeets. Some of the swallows that Ave saw were somewhat like 

 our purple martin, a little smaller and not so brightly colored, and 

 they had their nests under the curved tiles of the roofs. 



The town is larger than Honda and is spread out over compar- 

 atively level ground. The houses are of the usual type, though 

 many are roofed with tiles instead of thatch. Everything seemed 

 dull and sleepy except the cathedral. During our stay some trav- 

 eling missionaries 

 were visitino- the 

 place, and the church 

 ^^^^ bells were jangling 



from morning till 





nioht, and 



were 



crowds 

 in and 



out all day long. 

 The valley is fertile 

 and the clmiate de- 

 lightful, the temper- 

 ature far cooler than 

 at Honda, and blank- 

 ets are needed at 

 night. Guaduas is 

 said to be about 

 3,400 feet above the 

 sea. 



I was struck with 

 the o-reat numbers of 

 women of the poorer 

 class suffering from 

 goitre. Hardly one in five of the middle-aged women was free from 

 it, and many of the men were also sufferers. Some have attributed 

 this disease to the drinking of water from melted snow of the snow- 

 clad peaks, but hardly within a week's journey of Guaduas could 



GOITRK. 



