PASSAGE OF THE QTJIND1U. 



283 



mentioned. The central chain, which parts the 

 waters between the basin of the Rio Magdalena 

 and that of the Rio Cauca, often attains the limits 

 of perpetual snow, and shoots far beyond it in the 

 colossal summits of Guanacas, Baragan, and Quin- 

 diu. The western ridge cuts off the valley of Cauca 

 from the province of Choco and the shores of the 

 South Sea. In passing from Santa Fe to Popayan 

 and the banks of the river now mentioned, the trav- 

 eller has to descend the eastern chain, either by the 

 Mesa and Tocayma or the bridges of Icononzo, trav- 

 erse the valley of the Rio Magdalena, and cross the 

 central chain, as Humboldt did, by the mountain of 

 Quindiu. 



This mountain, which is considered as the most 

 difficult passage in the cordilleras, presents a thick 

 uninhabited forest, which, in the finest season, can- 

 not be passed in less than ten or twelve days. Trav- 

 ellers usually furnish themselves with a month's 

 provision, as it often happens that the melting of 

 the snow, and the sudden floods arising from it, pre- 

 vent them from descending. The highest point of 

 the road is 11,499^ feet above the level of the sea, 

 and the path, which is very narrow, has in several 

 places the appearance of a gallery dug in the rock 

 and left open above. The oxen, which are the beasts 

 of burden commonly used in the country, can scarcely 

 force their way through these passages, some of 

 which are 6562 feet in length. The rock is covered 

 with a thick layer of clay, and the numerous gullies 

 formed by the torrents are filled with mud. 



In crossing this mountain the philosophers, fol- 

 lowed by twelve oxen carrying their collections and 

 instruments, were deluged with rain. Their shoes 

 were torn by the prickles which shoot out from the 

 roots of the bamboos, so that, unwilling to be carried 

 on men's backs, they were obliged to walk barefooted. 

 The usual mode of travelling, however, is in a chair 

 tied to the back of a carguero or porter. When one 



