CHAPTER V 



THE CHOCO COUNTRY ON THE WESTERN COAST OF 



COLOMBIA 



Upon returning to Cartago from our expedition to the 

 bleak paramo of Santa Isabel, we began preparations for a 

 visit to the notorious Choco, which lies along the western 

 coast and within the San Juan River watershed. This sec- 

 tion of the country presents the other extreme in climatic 

 conditions. It has been rarely visited by naturalists on 

 account of its inaccessibility; and the few who have suc- 

 ceeded in forcing their way within its inhospitable borders 

 have found it impossible to remain any length of time. 

 Malarial and yellow fevers are endemic among the natives, 

 but quickly sap the vitality and life of newcomers into the 

 region; rain falls daily — four hundred inches being the 

 average precipitation for one year — and the heat is so in- 

 tense that when the sun appears during the intervals be- 

 \y tween showers the whole jungle is converted into a steam- 

 ing inferno. Small wonder, then, that the fabulous wealth 

 in gold and platinum of the Choco has been little more than 

 touched. 



Our plans called for an overland trip to Novita on the 

 Tamana River; after reaching that point local conditions 

 would have to guide our subsequent movements. Trail 

 there is none, but a footpath, often so faint that it loses 

 itself among the vegetation or in the beds of streams, serves 

 the purpose of partially guiding the stalwart negro who 

 carries the mail to Novita at infrequent intervals, as well 

 as others who undertake to cross the Western Range into 

 the tropical lowland. 



The townspeople of Cartago had heard a good deal, in a 

 general way, about conditions existing in the Choco, but 



S4 



