80 



of Bog-ota, as they live in a climate where the 

 thermometer descends very often to the freezing 

 point. 



I succeeded, but not without danger, in carry- 

 ing instruments into the crevice itself, at the 

 foot of the cataract. It takes three hours to 

 reach the bottom by a narrow path (camino de 

 la Calehra), which leads to the ravine of La 

 Povasa. Although the river loses in falling a 

 great part of its water, which is reduced into 

 vapours, the rapidity of the lower current forces 

 the observer to keep at the distance of nearly 

 one hundred and forty metres from the basin 

 dug out by the fall. A few feeble rays of 

 noon fall on the bottom of the crevice. The 

 solitude of the place, the richness of the vege- 

 tation, and the dreadful roar that strikes upon 

 the ear, contribute to render the foot of the 

 cataract of Tequendama one of the wildest 

 scenes, that can be found in the Cordilleras. 



