ACROSS THE ANTIOQUIAN GOLD-FIELDS 117 



river-bank, where vast swarms of brilliantly colored butter- 

 flies settled in thick masses in the mud or rocks to drink. 

 A single sweep of the net often ensnared several score of 

 the insects. A species of Urania of a black and green color 

 predominated, but a Diana, deep red above and spotted 

 with silver dots on the under-side was not uncommon. 



Fish could always be secured in abundance. If we at- 

 tempted to catch them with hooks we usually landed cat- 

 fish or small eels. It is unlawful to use dynamite in Co- 

 lombia, but Don Jose" had a goodly supply stored away 

 and did not hesitate to use it when occasion required. The 

 peons detailed for that puipose selected a spot in the river 

 where logs and brush had grounded to form a drift, or 

 where the water eddied against a sharp bend; they tied a 

 rock to the explosive, lit the fuse and threw it into the 

 water. After a few moments, during which the water hissed 

 and bubbled as the gases from the burning fuse rose and 

 escaped, a dull thud followed and, almost immediately, the 

 surface was littered with numbers of dead and stunned fish. 

 They were invariably a species of "Pacu" (Prochilodus nigri- 

 cans), weighing from one to four or five pounds, and proved 

 to be excellent eating. 



Not far from the port is an old cacao-plantation which 

 has apparently been deserted for a number of years. The 

 trees are tall and covered with moss, while the sheltering 

 cochimbas or madre de cacaos form a high canopy of inter- 

 locking branches. To this cool retreat almost every species 

 of bird common in the region came to feed or to pass the 

 noonday hours. There were buccos and wood-hewers in 

 abundance — the former dull, stupid birds, which sat quietly 

 on the lower twigs in the hope that some insect would wing 

 its way not too far from their ever-hungry mouths; the 

 latter, agile and alert as they scampered up the moss-cov- 

 ered trunks, eagerly examining each crevice for a hidden 

 grub or an ant. Gorgeous trogons with resplendent green 

 backs and blood-red breasts flitted among the lower 

 branches, and little parrots of bright green with gold- 



