IN QUEST OF THE COCK-OF-THE-ROCK 81 



what protect it from the icy winds. It is said that the 

 ancient Indians cultivated the potato in this valley; hence 

 its name "The Valley of Potatoes." An elaborate net 

 work of canals or drains runs through the valley, but the 

 climate and soil are such that I doubt if cultivation could 

 be carried on to any great extent. Often, for many days at 

 a time, rain and hail fall steadily and the mist is so thick that 

 one cannot venture far on the treacherous boggy soil. Yet. 

 strange to say, cattle thrive wonderfully on the high pla- 

 teau, and their rearing is the occupation followed by the few 

 Indian families who live on these heights. Beautiful orchids 

 abound in the trees, especially in the forest that reaches up 

 to the valley; we saw many of yellow, purple, and snowy- 

 white. Some of the trees are of the evergreen family, in- 

 cluding a kind of holly. There were many indications of 

 deer and tapirs, although we shot none. Large snipe and 

 ant-thrushes were plentiful, and on the streams we saw a 

 number of peculiar little torrent-ducks, or merganettas; large 

 white gulls, which the Indians say are old birds that come 

 up from the sea to die, soared high overhead. 



At one end of the valley lies a small lake, of which we 

 had an occasional short view when the clouds drifted up 

 the slopes. All about grew clumps of frailejones. Two 

 streams leave the grassy borders of the lake, mere rivulets 

 ten or twelve feet wide, through which we waded daily; 

 one flows down the extreme eastern slope and develops 

 into the mighty Caqueta that helps to swell the yellow flood 

 of the Amazon; the other breaks through the ridges to the 

 northeast, and dashing down the mountains in a series of 

 rapids and cascades forms the Magdalena, which empties 

 into the Caribbean many hundreds of miles away. 



Allen was suffering considerably from the fever con- 

 tracted in the Choco four months before. Instead of being 

 benefited by the high, cold climate as we had hoped, his 

 condition grew steadily worse, so we found it necessary to 

 continue our journey sooner than we had anticipated. I 

 hastened back to San Sebastian to engage Indian porters, 



