ACROSS THE ANTIOQUIAN GOLD-FIELDS 113 



from Barbosa we covered only five leagues, and spent the 

 night at a hut called Sabanete, nine thousand feet up. 

 Early the following morning we reached Santa Rosa, the 

 centre of the Antioquian gold-fields. The town is of con- 

 siderable size, but stands in the middle of a bleak, arid 

 plain, and is about as cheerless a place as one could find. 

 The surrounding country is exceedingly rich in gold, and 

 numberless mines pierce the flat, stony surface, and pene- 

 trate into the hillsides. The only drawback to mining 

 operations on a gigantic scale is the lack of water. During 

 the rainy season the inhabitants of Santa Rosa gather 

 water in barrels and every available sort of container, and 

 then wash gold out in the street in front of their homes, or 

 in the back yards. Despite its many natural disadvantages, 

 Antioquia is one of the richest states in Colombia, and pro- 

 duces a great proportion of that country's yearly output of 

 gold, which in 1916 amounted to $5,400,000. 



The country beyond Santa Rosa is practically unin- 

 habited for a distance of ten or twelve miles; after that a 

 growth of low woods gradually appears, and with it an 

 abundance of bird life, such as California woodpeckers, 

 green and yellow jays, black thrushes, warblers, and par- 

 rots. This was in great contrast to the arid country we 

 had just left behind, where practically the only sign of life 

 was an occasional hawk hovering in the air for many min- 

 utes at a time, in the hope of surprising an unsuspecting 

 lizard or some small rodent among the rocks below. 



It was in this forest that we again encountered a number 

 of one of the most beautiful birds found in the entire region 

 the white-crowned tanager (Serricossypha albacristata) . 

 A flock of sixteen sat in the top of a bush and kept up a 

 continuous shrill peeping. 



The third night after leaving Medellin we reached Yaru- 

 mal, a large town built on a steep, rocky slope. From a 

 distance it seems as if the houses were standing one on top 

 of another, and it is difficult to understand what prevents 

 the whole town from sliding down the steep mountainside. 



