TOPOGEAPHY OF COLOMBIA. 199 



and population, and is at present the chief outlet for the cacao of the upper 

 Cauca basin. 



Northwards follow Neira, Araazazu and Filadeljia, both recent foundations, 

 and Salamina, facing Supia and the mining town of Marmato on the opposite 

 (west) side of the Cauca. The numerous mines of gold, silver, and other metals 

 occurring in this district have long been known, and some of them were even 

 worked by the Indians before the Conquest. The Cauca is spanned by a suspension 

 bridge at the foot of tbe Marmato heights, which rise 2,230 feet above the 

 river, 



Pacora, north of Salamina, recalls the Paucuera Indians exterminated by the 

 Spaniards. Sonson stands at an elevation of 8,285 feet, on the river of like 

 name, which here develops the Aures falls, where the stream is precipitated 

 from a great height over three successive cascades. Thanks to its rich pastures, 

 Sonson, although founded since the War of Independence, already rivals Mani- 

 zales in trade and population. 



Antioquia — Medellin — Santa Rosa. 



Farther down follow numerous mining towns, such as Fredonia, Sahanetas, 

 Titiribi, and Amaga, Here the eastern slope of the Cauca valley, lying nearest 

 to Medellin, capital of the department, is by far the more densely peopled, 

 although Antioquia, which gives its name to the whole region, is situated on the 

 west side on a terrace 1,880 feet high, at the foot of which flows the Rio Tonusco. 

 Like so many other Spanish settlements, Antioquia no longer stands on its original 

 site in the valley of the Frontino affluent of the Atrato, where it was founded in 

 1541. 



Below Antioquia the hot malarious banks of the Cauca remain almost unin- 

 habited, the movement of the population having been deflected farther east to the 

 upland valleys of the Force and Nechi, which, if of difficult access, at least enjoy 

 a bracing climate. Here MedelUn, named from the Medellin of Spanish Estre- 

 madura, has long outstripped Antioquia, and at present ranks as the second city of 

 the republic. It lies in the pleasant valley of Aborra, which sends its running- 

 waters through the Rios Force and Nechi down to the Cauca; but, although dis- 

 covered in 1541, no settlement was made in this district till the foundation of 

 Candelaria in 1674, which remained little more than a group of farmsteads down 

 to the close of the War of Independence. But since then rapid progress has been 

 made by Medellin, as it is now called, which, standing at an altitude of 4,860 feet, 

 lies within the temperate zone, with a climate in which the enterprising inhabi- 

 tants retain all their characteristic energy. 



Medellin is an active centre of the gold-mining industry, and specie to the 

 value of over £1,000,000 was issued by the local mint between the years 1867 

 and 1888. In 1890 the capital invested in this industry by its citizens was 

 estimated at £3,000,000, and much vigour is displayed in working the gold- and 

 silver-mines in the district and farther east along the unfinished line of railway 



