28 



A FLYING TRIP TO THE TROPICS. 



We were on board all the day o£ Sunday, June 19, and went 

 along nicely with wind and current in our favor. I saw during 

 the day a few petrels, and some large gannets, white, with black 

 wing-tips, like the common one of our north Atlantic coast. We 

 expected to reach Savanilla on the following morning. It was cloudy 

 and hot during the day, and there were several small showers. 



This would seem to be an appropriate place to make a few 

 remarks about Colombia. I will not attempt to give a lengthy 

 account of the country ; for this I would refer to the Encyclopsedia, 

 to Bulletin No. 33 of the Bureau of American Republics, or to 

 some of the works mentioned in the appendix ; but I will simply 

 refer to some of the leading features. 



The Republic of Colombia consists of nine divisions or depart- 

 ments, each having a capital of its own, and is situated in the north- 

 west corner of South America. Its northwestern extremity, the 

 department of Panama, joins Central America ; on the southern 

 boundary is the Republic of Ecuador, and to the east lies Venezuela 

 and Brazil. Our ideas of the relative size of the South American 

 republics are apt to be vague. For instance, the area of Colombia is 

 over 500,000 square miles, or equal to the combined area of the 

 New England States, New^ York, New^ Jersey, Pennsylvania, Dela- 

 ware, Ohio, Indiana, Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, 

 North Carolina, and Georgia. It is of irregular shape ; its greatest 

 length is about 1,250 miles, its breadth 1,100 miles, that is, each 

 dimension is, roughly, a third greater than the distance from New 

 York to Chicago. It is one of the most mountainous countries in 

 the world. The great Andes of Ecuador, crossing its southern 

 boundary, split into three nearly parallel ranges. The western 

 range f ollow^s the Pacific coast, decreasing in altitude as it enters the 

 Isthmus of Panama. The central range runs directly north until it 

 terminates about one hundred miles from the Caribbean Sea. On 

 its western side flows the Cauca, on its eastern the Magdalena, 

 which unite at its termination and continue northward to the sea. 

 The eastern range is more irregular and bears off to the northeast. 



