BUENAVENTURA TO CALI 5 



and few foreigners can withstand the ordeal of a lengthy 

 residence there. This notoriety had reached our ears long 

 before we embarked on the journey; it was, therefore, with 

 a feeling of relief that we learned of the departure of a train 

 for the interior early the next morning. 



For a distance of twenty-five miles, after leaving Buena- 

 ventura, nothing was visible but swamps filled with man- 

 grove thickets. Then the foot-hills of the Andes appeared, 

 the steady climb began and the character of the vegetation 

 changed. Instead of the low, matted growth of shrubbery, 

 there grew trees and palms of goodly size. Stops for wood 

 and water were made frequently; the train usually halted 

 near a collection of native huts, the occupants of which 

 earned their living chopping wood for the railroad com- 

 pany. Each habitation was surrounded by a small clearing 

 in which broad-leaved banana, plantain, and papaya trees 

 grew in wonderful luxuriance. Jungles of tall bamboo bor- 

 dered the plantations and grew beside the track. Plan- 

 tains and bamboo seem to be the staples of the people. The 

 former they eat, and of the latter their houses are built. 

 The flimsy structures were ramshackle affairs with ragged, 

 thatched roofs, and fitted well into their surroundings. Fre- 

 quently we had a fleeting view of the almost nude occupants 

 of the huts, lolling about in the darkened interior. 



The first town of any importance was Cisneros. We were 

 delayed an hour at this station because the train from the 

 opposite direction had met with an accident that blocked 

 the track, and, as the people were celebrating one of their 

 numerous fiestas, it was impossible to get men to clear away 

 the wreckage without great loss of time. 



The railroad continued up the slope, following the wind- 

 ing canyon of the Dagua. It has been said that the cost 

 of constructing it was a million dollars a mile. Tunnels, 

 deep cuts through spurs and ridges, trestles and high bridges 

 followed one another in quick succession. The perpendicular 

 sides of the excavations were covered with long moss and 

 drooping ferns that waved plume-like overhead. Mountain 



