POPAYiN AND THE CERRO MUNCHIQUE 31 



We discovered a deserted Indian hut in the centre of a 

 large, overgrown, abandoned plantation, and made it our 

 headquarters for a week or more. The site was ideal. 

 Tall forest hemmed in the clearing on all sides, and a rivu- 

 let of clear, icy water flowed near the shack. The eleva- 

 tion was eight thousand two hundred and twenty-five feet. 

 Obviously, the place had been unoccupied for a number of 

 years, doubtless owing to the fact that maize and rice 

 would not thrive at this high altitude. However, these 

 same conditions were most congenial to a host of other 

 vegetation. Blackberries and rhododendrons, with lilac, 

 red, white, pink, and yellow flowers formed a solid tangle, 

 acres in extent, and creepers entirely covered the tall, dead 

 stubs, and crowned them with a thick canopy of green 

 leaves from which clusters of orange and scarlet trumpet- 

 flowers drooped. 



At night the temperature went down to about 45, but 

 this did not deter giant hawk, owl, and sphinx-moths from 

 appearing at dusk to feast on the nectar of the myriads of 

 flowers. The little stream was the rendezvous for number- 

 less frogs. One hardly suspected their presence during 

 the daytime unless a careful search was made of the rotting 

 wood that littered the ground, and of the tangled, snake- 

 like stems of second-growth sprouts and leaves; but at 

 night the concert was always sure to begin in startling 

 volume. Some of the notes reminded me of our own spring 

 peeper; others were sharp and metallic, like the twanging 

 of a banjo-string; and others were low and mellow like the 

 murmuring of a 'cello. They all blended into a deafening 

 chorus of unflagging animation and unvaried monotony. 

 At first the din was rather disconcerting, but gradually 

 there came to us the realization that this was but the bub- 

 bling over of care-free little hearts rendering a song of hap- 

 piness and thanksgiving to nature for the pure, unsullied 

 joy of an unfettered existence. 



Birds were not particularly plentiful in the forest. There 

 were, however, a number of interesting forms, particularly 



