I 



PRODUCTIONS OF THE COUNTRY. 383 



proved principles of Europe, and on a large 

 scale, with a good capital, much may be made 

 of them. The whole district of the Valley of 

 the Cauca is rich in mineral productions ; but 

 has, as yet, been only superficially investi- 

 gated — leaving much to be examined and 

 gained by clever and enterprising men. 



The hills about Cartago are much charged 

 with nitre : to extract a quintal costs about 

 two dollars and a half; but the expense 

 of transporting it to Carthagena would raise 

 it to seventeen dollars and a half, without 

 including any profit; so that, though abundant, 

 it is not likely to become an article of com- 

 merce. There is a medicinal salt likewise to 

 be procured in great quantities* 



The chief productions of the country are, 

 coffee, cacao, sugar, tobacco, and plantains; 

 in some parts, numbers of cattle are reared. 

 Coffee grows in great abundance in and about 

 Cartago and Caly, yielding about twenty-five 

 pounds a tree, on an average ; but this is only 

 cultivated for home consumption, as there 

 is no outlet from the valley, by which to 

 transport the produce to the coast, without 

 an expense that would not be defrayed by 



