53 



twenty metres. The cascade is extremely pic- 

 turesque, and attracts the attention of travellers ; 

 but the inhabitants of Popayan regret, that the 

 river, instead of mingling itself with the Rio 

 Cauca, is not ingulfed in some abyss : for the 

 latter river is destitute of fish for four leagues, 

 on account of the mixture of its waters with 

 those of the Rio Vinagre, which are loaded both 

 with oxid of iron, and sulphuric and muriatic 

 acids. 



On the foreground of the sketch is a group 

 of pourretia pyramidata, a plant resembling the 

 pitcairnia, known on the Cordilleras by the 

 name of achupallas. The stem of this plant is 

 filled with a farinaceous pith, which serves as 

 food to the great black bear of the Andes, and 

 in times of scarcity even to men. 



