326 CATARACT OF TEQUENDAMA. 
He next broke the rocks that enclosed the valley on 
the Tequendama side, and by this means drained off 
the waters; then he introduced the worship of the 
sun, appointed two chiefs, and finally withdrew to 
a valley where he lived in the exercise of the most 
austere penitence during 2000 years. 
The cataract of Tequendama presents an assem-— 
blage of all that is picturesque. The river a little 
above it is 144 feet in breadth, but at the crevice 
narrows to a width of not more than 12 yards. The 
height of the fall, which forms a double bound, is 574 
feet, and the column of vapour that rises from it is 
visible from Santa Fe at the distance of 17 miles. 
The vegetation at the foot of the precipice has a to- 
tally different appearance from that at the summit ; 
and while the spectator leaves behind him a plain in 
which the cereal plants of Europe are cultivated, 
and sees around him oaks, elms, and other trees re- 
sembling those of the temperate regions of the north- — 
ern hemisphere, he looks down upon a country 
eovered with palms, bananas, and sugar-canes. 
Leaving Santa Fe, in September 1801, the tra-_ 
vellers passed the natural bridges of Ieononzo, formed 
by masses of rock lying across a ravine of immense 
profundity. The valleys of the cordilleras are gene- 
rally crevices, the depth of which is often so great, 
that were Vesuvius seated in them its summit would 
not exceed that of the nearest mountains. One of 
these, that, namely, of Icononzo or Pandi, is pecu- 
liarly remarkable for the singular form of its rocks, 
the naked tops of which present the most pictu- 
resque contrast with the tufts of trees and shrubs 
which cover the edges of the gulf. A torrent, 
named the Summa Paz, forms two beautiful cas- 
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