182 



SOUTH AMEEICA-THE ANDES EEGIONS. 



inscribed rocks, and for tlie natural bridge of Icononzo. Below Pandi tbe Cuja 

 rivulet joins the Suma Paz torrent, which descends from the hills of the same 

 name, and which is navigable for boats from its confluence with the Magdalena 

 to Me/gar, centre of all the trade in the Suma Paz valley. 



Choconta — Zipaquira — Bogota. 



The "savanna," that is to say, the old lacustrine basin traversed by the 

 Funza, or upper Bogota, recalls in its local nomenclature all the memories of 

 pre-Columbian history. At the north-west corner lies Choconta, one of the 



Fig. 68.— Suma Paz Basin. 

 Scale 1 : 830,000. 



f^»*'» *\«^ 'l" JuntSLSj^jS^' J^fXr^ /•X'*» «.!»»* 



-j ■■ -:'^ .y,", -.^.//.'''..liti^. -^.«g<lv. ta.,,-, .■,:,; i,^^ 



West or GreeiA ch 



^r ; 



f 

 ■'n. 



-it ' 



« 



18 Miles. 



strongholds of the old Muyscan kings. Near a side affluent farther south stood 

 the two holy cities of Gnatavita and Guasca, whose lagoons were the receptacles 

 of so many precious offerings to the tutelar gods. Nemocon, one of the chief of 

 Muyscan markets, forwarded to the northern regions the produce of its salt- 

 springs, which are still worked by the Colombian Government. In 1889 

 Nemocon yielded as much as 6,100 tons of salt, valued at £13,000. 



Zî/^rtç-uïm, whose very name (" Eesidence of the Zipa") indicates that it was 

 the " Windsor " of the Muyscan sovereigns, is still a provincial town with some 

 flourishing industries. Thanks to its salt-mines, and to the coal and iron ores of 

 the surrounding mountains, it is fast becoming the busiest manufacturing centre of 



