1917.] Chapman, Distribution of Bird-life in Colombia. 65 



of fresh water and the soil responds fairly well to cultivation, there seems to 

 be no reasion why it should not have supported an extensive population. 



" The forest zone which, as stated before, begins at La Meseta, at 8000 

 feet, gradually extends its limits downward as we go farther north, until at 

 Peque it reached as low as 5000 feet in the deeper and well-watered ravines ; 

 and as previously reported, at Puerto Valdivia it reaches the very edge of 

 the Cauca. 



" We secured four half-breed porters to carry the equipment; and as there 

 was no trail to the Paramillo, a fifth man was secured to go in advance and 

 clear an opening with his machete. 



" On the 21st we started at 6 A. M., following a short trail that led to a 

 lonely hut known as El Madeiro; this three hours' walk took us through 

 country covered with large areas of tall brush, blackberry briars and guavas, 

 with occasional patches of forest, some of which had recently been burnt. 

 Arriving at El Madeiro (8000 ft.) we plunged into the magnificent forest, 

 going in a due westerly direction; it was our plan to follow along the top 

 of an undulating ridge, which one of the men said was the shortest and 

 easiest route. 



" At ^st the forest was fairly penetrable, but soon it assumed the charac- 

 ter of the well-known San Antonio (above Call) jungle, being composed of 

 a solid wall of moss, ferns, creepers and epiphytes which burdened every 

 tree-trunk and branch. 



" On account of the long climb, we made camp at 3 P. M., at an altitude 

 of 10,000 feet, having ascended 5000 feet in eight hours actual marching. 

 Water was obtained in a ravine over 1000 feet lower down on one side of 

 the ridge, and I may here add that this was the only water we had until 

 reaching the Paramillo, so that we went nearly two whole days without 

 drinking. 



"The second day's march we had hoped would be over a gentler slope; 

 but it was soon discovered that our ridge was composed of a succession of 

 knolls rising from 500 to 1000 feet above the main level, and the forest grew 

 denser constantly. We had to cut practically every foot of the way. In 

 places we actually walked over the top of the masses of vegetation; the 

 branches were a solid tangle of creepers, climbing bamboo, bromelias and 

 mosses, and formed spongy aerial bridges; more often it was easier to bur- 

 row through, and frequently ' tunnels ' many yards long were cut through 

 which the carriers crawled on hands and knees. The tops of some of the 

 hills were void of trees, their place being taken by a dense growth of 

 grass-like bamboo, wild oleander, thick-leaved shrubs, and thickets of 

 aftall, coarse grass with leaves eight feet tall and six inches wide. We 

 camped this night 11,350 feet up; the men eagerly cut down clumps of 



