BUENAVENTURA TO CALI 9 



hydrangeas growing everywhere; monstrous ferns with 

 lace-like leaves formed a thick, velvety background for 

 the brilUant, many-colored blooms. In the garden, black- 

 berries, strawberries, cabbages, coffee, and an edible tuber 

 called aracacha grew; there were also a few stunted banana 

 and plantain stalks, but on account of the cold climate it 

 requires two years for them to mature, and the fruit is small 

 and of poor quahty. 



Thanks to an early start on the following morning, we 

 reached the summit of the range, or the Cordillera Occi- 

 dental, as it is better known, by ten o'clock. The whole 

 slopes are covered with the densest of subtropical jungles. 

 A steady downpour had fallen the entire morning, against 

 which ponchos availed little. A halt of two hours was there- 

 fore called at a rather cheerless inn just beyond the pass, 

 named San Antonio; the senora who conducted the estab- 

 hshment was glad to see us, for Richardson had apprised 

 her of our coming; she soon had plantains roasting on the 

 embers, and her shop provided sardines for lunch. 



The descent of the eastern slope now began. The trail 

 narrowed down and was rough; in places the decline was 

 45°. On both sides rose the living walls of impenetrable, 

 gloomy jungle. One thing could not fail to impress us, 

 and that was the great, breathless silence of the forest. 

 Where we had expected to find multitudes of gorgeous birds, 

 a babble of animal voices and brilliant flowers, there was 

 only the sombre, silent mass of unvaried green. Within 

 two hours we had left the regions of cold and penetrating 

 mists. For the first time we beheld the beautiful valley 

 of the Cauca far below, spread before our vision like a velvet 

 carpet of softest green that reached the very foot-hills of 

 the Central Range not less than forty miles distant. 



The steady, rhythmic skuff of bare or sandal-shod feet, 

 mingled with the louder tramp of mules and discordant 

 cries of the arrieros, now reached our ears at frequent inter- 

 vals, to be followed shortly by the appearance of pack-trains 

 heavily laden with coffee and hides as they swung around 



