65 



himself suspended, by laying hold of the roots, 

 which penetrate to this depth from the surface of 

 the ground. 



We traversed the mountain of Quindiu in the 

 month of October, 1801, on foot, followed by 

 twelve oxen, which carried our collections and 

 instruments, amidst a deluge of rain, to which 

 we were exposed during the last three or four 

 days, in our descent on the western side of the 

 Cordilleras. The road passes through a coun- 

 try full of bogs, and covered with bamboos. 

 Our shoes were so torn by the prickles, which 

 shoot out from the roots of these gigantic gra- 

 mina, that we were forced like all other travel- 

 lers, who dislike being carried on men's backs 

 to go barefooted. This circumstance, the con- 

 tinual humidity, the length of the passage, the 

 muscular force required to tread in a thick and 

 muddy clay, the necessity of fording deep tor- 

 rents of icy water, render this journey extremely 

 fatiguing : but, however painful, it is accom- 

 panied by none of those dangers, with which the 

 credulity of the people alarm travellers. The 

 road is narrow, but the places where it skirts 

 precipices are very rare. As the oxen are ac- 

 customed to put their feet in the same tracks, 

 they form small furrows across the road, sepa- 

 rated from each other by narrow ridges of earth. 

 In very rainy seasons, these ridges are covered 

 by water, which renders the traveller's step 



VOL. XIII. p 



