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 purpose 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- 



