30 IN THE WILDS OF SOUTH AMERICA 



the mule trail, and by that time we had reached an eleva- 

 tion of eight thousand feet. 



From this point up the mountains are covered with a 

 dense growth of primeval forest. Below this elevation there 

 are occasional strips of woods and patches of brush inter- 

 spersed with clearings. Maize grows splendidly up to an 

 altitude of seven thousand feet; this was proven by the 

 few small fields cultivated by the Indians. The slope was 

 also dotted with areas planted in rice. 



The ascent of Munchique is veiy abrupt; there are no 

 streams near the summit, as the top of the mountain is 

 composed of solid rock that sheds rain as soon as it falls. 

 The highest pinnacle is a flat, bare rock, about ten thou- 

 sand feet above sea-level. 



Robert Blake White states that from this spot one may 

 "obtain a view over more than fifteen thousand square 

 miles of country. The whole of the Central Cordillera, 

 from the frontier of Ecuador to the confines of the State 

 of Antioquia, with the valleys of the Cauca and the Patia, 

 were visible to the north, east, and south; whilst, on turn- 

 ing to the westward, the Pacific coast from the bay of 

 Tumaco to the mouth of the San Juan River seemed spread 

 out like a map before us. 



"A more gorgeous panorama cannot well be imagined. 

 The belts of bright-colored vegetation, marked by the val- 

 leys with their winding rivers and streams, were backed 

 with masses of the Cordillera with their varied tints and 

 snow-capped peaks. On the other hand, the dark-hued veg- 

 etation of the virgin forests of the Pacific slopes stretched 

 down to the ocean's margin, which with its thousand bays 

 and inlets and fringe of foam which was quite visible, 

 looked like an edging of lace. The island of Gorgona could 

 be distinctly seen. 



"The Cerro Munchique should be visited in the dry sea- 

 son, for its peculiar prominence makes it a grand lightning 

 conductor, as we clearly saw from the shattered rock on 

 the summit." 



