112 7 A'.-/ 1 r ELS / / A 7) A D I r EA r TL T RES 



rich variety of tropical fruits. The majority of the 

 houses are commodious, and even spacious, while the 

 people, at the same time possessing all the sprightly wit 

 of the modern Colombian, are free from that knavish, 

 over-reaching disposition which develops into a system 

 of roguery in most of the outlying mountain villages. 

 The natural situation of the town is as admirable as 

 the climate and the people are agreeable. I was glad 

 to find the beautiful Epidendrum atropurpureum cover- 

 ing the walls around the houses and flowering in pro- 

 fusion ; and here also I found one of the most 

 beautiful of the South American birds — the scarlet 

 and black tanager. This is called here by the natives 

 the " Cardinal Bird," and, compared with a flock of 

 these, no Roman prelate ever made a more brilliant 

 effect. It is a small bird, about the size of a starling, 

 the wings and tail of a velvety black colour, while the 

 rest of the body is a most intense scarlet ; the other- 

 wise black beak is adorned with something like plates 

 of ivory on each side of the lower mandible. I was 

 delighted to obtain several good specimens of this 

 gaudy little woodland gem. 



The mule-track, on leaving Pie de Cuesta, keeps 

 along the fertile banks of a stream, in a southern 

 direction, for some miles, and then commences an 

 ascent of about one thousand feet, until we reach 

 what is called La Mesa de los Santos, an extensive 



