278 



SANTA FE DE B^boTA. 



Native 

 tradition. 



CHAr.xxIIL is 8727 foot above the level of the sea, and is conse- 

 Eiev^site. quently higher than the summit of St Bernard, The 

 river of Funza, usually called Rio de Bogota, which 

 drains the valley, has forced its way through the 

 mountains to the south-west of Santa Fe, and near the 

 farm of Tequendama rushes from the plain Iw a narrow 

 outlet into a crevice, which descends towards the bed of » 

 the Rio Magdalena. Respecting this ravine, Gonzalo 

 Ximenes de Quesada, the conqueror of the country, 

 found the following tradition disseminated among the 

 people : — In remote times the inhabitants of Bogota 

 were barbarians, living without religion, laws, or arts. 

 An old man on a certain occasion suddenly appeared 

 among them, of a race unlike that of the natives, and 

 having a long bushy beard. He instructed them in the 

 arts ; but he brought with him a very malignant, 

 although very beautiful woman, who thwarted all his 

 benevolent enterprises. By her magical power she 

 swelled the current of the Funza, and inundated the 

 valley ; so that most of the inhabitants perished, a few 

 only having found refuge in the neighbouring mountains. 

 The aged visiter then drove his consort from the earth, 

 and she became the moon. He next broke the rocks 

 that enclosed the valley on the Tequendama side, and 

 by this means drained off the waters ; then he intro- 

 duced the worship of the sun, appointed two chiefs, and 

 finally withdrew to a valley, where he lived in the exer- 

 cise of the most austere penitence during 2000 years. 

 The cataract of Tequendama presents an assemblage 

 TequenUama. ^f ^^j^ ^j^,^^. j^ pjeturesque. The river a little above it is 

 144 feet in breadth, but at the crevice narrows to a width 

 of not more tlian 12 yards. The heiglit of the fall, 

 which forms a double bound, is 574 feet, and the column 

 of vapour that rises from it is visible from Santa Fe at 

 the distance of 17 miles. The vegetation at the foot of 

 the precipice has a totally different appearance from 

 that at the summit ; and while the spectator leaves be- 

 hind him a plain in which the cereal ])lants of Europe 

 arc cultivated, and sees around him oaks, elms, and 



Cataract of 



