116 IN THE WILDS OF SOUTH AMERICA 



the one corrugated iron and bamboo building comprising 

 the puerto, dancing, drinking, fighting, and trading at the 

 little shop. The owner of the house received us courteously 

 (and where in all Colombia was courtesy wanting?) and 

 we soon made ourselves comfortable in the large wareroom 

 which formed one end of the structure. There was no 

 thought of work that day, for everybody crowded about 

 to have a good look at and welcome the gringos, but we 

 made the best of the occasion and secured a good deal of 

 information concerning the surrounding country. 



The Cauca, a swift, muddy stream four or five hundred 

 feet wide at this point, is hemmed in on both sides by the 

 steep slopes of the Western and Central Andean Ranges, 

 the forest extending down to the water. It is navigable 

 from here on down to a small settlement called Caceres, 

 but rafts and canoes only are employed in making this 

 journey, which requires half a day going down and two 

 days coming up. The natives are a careless lot while on 

 the water, and numbers of lives are lost annually. About 

 the first thing we saw was the body of a man floating down 

 the river, with a vulture perched on it. We asked Don 

 Jose, owner of the place, why he did not send some of his 

 peons in a canoe to recover it. He replied that if he did he 

 would be required to care for the body until a government 

 official from Yarumal came to view it, and then he and 

 every one present would have to go back with the coroner 

 to give their testimony as to the finding of the cadaver. 

 This entailed so much trouble that it was customary not 

 to pay any attention to such occurrences. 



In few places have I seen such an abundance of interest- 

 ing fauna as at Puerto Valdivia. The forest was teeming 

 with birds; mammals were plentiful; shoals of fish and even 

 caimans swarmed in the river; there were also insects enough 

 to cheer the heart of an entomologist. 



In such a region the naturalist has no idle moments. 

 When we tired of working with birds and mammals, which 

 were of chief interest to us, we had only to step to the 



