372 



THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



Photograph by Frank M. Chapman 



FOLIAGE THAT WELL DESERVES ITS NAME 



A luxuriant growth of "elephants' ears" in 

 the Subtropical Zone of the Western Andes at 

 an altitude of 6,500 feet. 



to the streets of the financial section of 

 the town, no less thickly peopled with 

 white men in frock coats and high hats, 

 who, in default of a warmer place, meet 

 here to discuss the affairs of the day. 



Bogota is a well-ordered, superficially 

 at least, clean city with a large and efficient 

 police force, with an opera-house, metro- 

 politan in appearance, with polo, foot-ball, 

 and tennis clubs, museums, a national 

 library of 60,000 volumes, a charming 

 social and a highly developed intellectual 

 life. 



THE OLD MULE TRAIL FROM BOGOTA TO 

 HONDA 



The traveler may spend much time 

 profitably and pleasantly at Bogota, and 

 when he tires of the city he may make 

 excursions to the haciendas on the sa- 

 vanna, to the Falls of Tequendama, or 

 the cafetalcs (coffee plantations) of Fusa- 

 gasuga. These journeys may be made in 

 part by train, in part by horseback. Cars 

 for horses are attached to all passenger 

 trains, and when buying a ticket for him- 

 self the traveler buys one for his horse, 

 the charge being alike for both. 



Prior to the completion of the railroad 

 to Girardot, in 1909 Bogota was connected 

 with navigation on the Magdalena by the 

 mule trail to Honda, a fact which should 

 always be remembered as one considers 

 the city's growth in relation to its re- 

 moteness. This route is still used for 

 freight, the mule proving an effective if 

 humble competitor of the locomotive, and 

 I strongly urge the traveler to follow it 

 when returning to the Magdalena. The 

 country traversed is far more interesting 

 than that through which the railway 

 passes, and history and tradition hang 

 thick about the trail and the posadas. 



Above all, from the heights between 

 Guaduas and El Consuelo, known as "El 

 Alto de Sargento," there is a view across 

 the Magdalena Valley of the Central 

 Andes with the snowfields of Ruiz and 

 Santa Isabel and cone of Tolima, which 

 is worth coming to Colombia to see. In 

 composition, modeling, color, and gran- 

 deur it cannot, in my experience, be 

 matched by any mountain panorama in 

 the Western Hemisphere. 



Some day I hope to return to the little 

 inn of El Consuelo to watch, morning 

 after morning, the sublime spectacle vi 

 the sun illuminating the snow crests of 

 the Central Andes, revealing the deep 

 seams on their rugged slopes, and stealing 

 slowly out in the valley at their base until 

 it turns the winding Magdalena into bur- 

 nished silver. Certainly the traveler 

 should plan to spend at least one night at 

 El Consuelo, and when the daily miracle 

 of sunrise is over, he may continue his 

 journey to Honda. 



A VOYAGE DOWN THE MAGDALENA 



Honda is a hot town and will seem 

 doubly so after the cool, invigorating air 

 of the tableland. It is a relief to board 

 the train for the 18-mile run to La 

 Dorada, where we embark on the steamer 

 for Barranquilla. Once under way, cur- 

 rent and stream combined give us a speed 

 of 10 to 12 miles an hour and a grateful 

 breeze sweeps through the boat. 



The voyage down the Magdalena was 

 an enlarged edition of our cruise on the 

 Cauca. The river is broader, varying 

 from a quarter of a mile to half a mile 

 in width ; the steamer was more spacious. 



The fauna of the shores and playas was 

 more varied, the passengers more numer- 



