of an Orchid Hunter. 



07 



of the climate this hall is left entirely open on one 

 side, so that the well-to-do Colombian, instead of 

 requiring floral decorations to adorn his dinner-table, 

 literally dines under the shade of orange-trees laden 

 with blossom and fruit. Huge gardenias, whose 

 crowds of waxen flowers fill the air with their exquisite 

 perfume, with large clumps of the lovely orchid 

 Cattleya Mendelii, give to the whole group a masterly 

 finish of colour. The business houses of Bucaramanjja 

 are quite equal to any in other parts of Colombia, and 

 a large trade is done in cotton goods and hardware, 

 as well as immense exportation of products of the 

 country. There are many excellent hotels ; a club, 

 telegraph and telephone offices, post-office and banks 

 are to be found ; while the latest novelty for the tops 

 of the Andes is to be the electric light, the machinery 

 being, at the time I write this, on the way from 

 Europe to be carried up the mountains on the 

 backs of mules. Apart from all this, what strikes the 

 visitor as the most curious of all the curiosities of 

 Bucaramanga is the market, which is held some 

 three times a week in the principal plaza, an 

 extensive square in front of the church. Here 

 every Saturday may be found such a collection of 

 products of a diversity of character as is rarely met 

 with. Flesh-meat is sold under small tents to protect 

 it from the blaze of the sun, while bales of gutta- 



