128 Travels and Adventures 



cathedral. The municipal buildings take up one 

 side of the principal square, the residence of the 

 President of the Republic. In the immense building 

 called the Mint was coined, at the time when gold 

 was as plentiful here as in Australia, one hundred 

 millions of dollars in eold and seven millions in silver 

 coin. There is also an excellent library, containing 

 about fifty thousand volumes, a museum crowded with 

 thousands of natural history specimens and curiosities, 

 besides an astronomical observatory, founded as lately 

 as the year 1803, which claims to be one of the 

 highest in the world. The manners of living and 

 the dress of the people are with few exceptions 

 entirely European, and poodle dogs and perambulators 

 are as much a nuisance on the side- walks and gardens 

 of Bogota as they are in London. As a rule, in the 

 Colombian towns there is a peculiar spirit of easy 

 indolence and want of stir which paralyses business, 

 and the Colombian's, as well as the Indian's motto is 

 always "Mariana," or, To-morrow. In Bogota, how- 

 ever, there is an exception. There seem to be fewer 

 loafers ; everyone appears to be occupied and to go 

 about his business, and, especially in the principal 

 streets, there is quite a bustle. 



Continuing along towards the centre of the city, 

 we come to another small park, called Park Santander. 

 This is planted with a profuse wealth of tropical trees 



