578 Annals of the Carnegie Museum. 



but steady rise, the elevation being about 600 feet. After crossing the 

 river at Barbacoas there is a very perceptible change in the character 

 of the vegetation. Acacia-like forms are still present in large num- 

 bers, also cacti, but mixed with numerous other new kinds of trees, 

 while the whole growth becomes more luxuriant. The sand and whit- 

 ish hard-pan of the country to the north changes to clay and alluvial 

 deposits to a great extent, while rock formations are more in evidence, 

 and the country becomes decidedly hilly, the trail "following the gen- 

 eral course of the river upward. About twelve miles south of Bar- 

 bacoas the little village of Treinta is reached. At one time Treinta 

 must have been a flourishing place, with not less than two hundred 

 houses, but today it presents a most dilapidated appearance of d§c^ 

 and abandon. It is well up in the edge of the foothills, and in all the 

 little narrow valleys hereabouts the woodland growth is heavy, and of 

 about the same character as that of the lower foothills back of Santa 

 Marta, although the species of trees are not all the same. From here 

 the trail ascends more rapidly, until at about ten miles we reach the 

 little settlement of Loma Larga, lying at an elevation of about 2,500 

 feet. Here the whole country js heavily wooded (except where clear- 

 ings have been made), the forest growth being much heavier than in 

 the hills back of Santa Marta at the same elevation. This forest is 

 undoubtedly continuous with thdt of the foothills of the north coast, 

 while the fauna is very similar to that of the hills back of DibuUa 

 and Don Diego. Bird-life (and animal life in general) was very 

 abundant, both in species and individuals. I think the only species 

 taken here which had not been noted either at Rio Hacha, Dibulla, or 

 Don Diego was Myrmeciza longipes panamensis, a species which had 

 heretofore been found only on the west side. 



" From Loma Larga to the summit of the range the ascent is more 

 precipitous, while the forest growth increases in luxuriance. No- 

 where else in the Sierra Nevada do I remember having seen such a 

 beautiful forest growth as here. The trees are mostly of one species 

 (not found on the south or west slopes), and they grow to truly 

 magnificent proportions. So dense is this forest that little or no 

 undergrowth is present, and so little sunlight comes through that it is 

 •continual twilight below. Bird-life was nevertheless fairly abundant, 

 even the terrestrial and sub-terrestrial forms. It was in this forest, 

 near the' crest of the range, where I heard a Formicarius whistling, 



