65 
himself suspended, by laying hold of the roots, 
which penetrate to this depth from the surface of 
the ground. 
We traversed the mountain of Quindiu in the 
month of October, 1801, on foot, followed by 
twelve oxen, which carried our collections and 
instruments, amidst a deluge of rain, to which 
we were exposed during the last three or four 
days, in our descent on the western side of the 
Cordilleras. The road passes through a coun- 
try full of bogs, and covered with bamboos. 
Our shoes were so torn by the prickles, which 
shoot out from the roots of these gigantic gra- 
mina, that we were forced like all other travel- 
lers, who dislike being carried on men’s backs 
to go barefooted. This circumstance, the con- 
tinual humidity, the length of the passage, the 
muscular force required to tread in a thick and 
muddy clay, the necessity of fording deep tor- 
rents of icy water, render this journey extremely 
fatiguing ; but, however painful, it is accom- 
panied by none of those dangers, with which the 
credulity of the people alarm travellers. The 
road is narrow, but the places where it skirts 
precipices are very rare. As the oxen are ac- 
customed to put their feet in the same tracks, 
they form small furrows across the road, sepa- 
rated from each other by narrow ridges of earth. 
In very rainy seasons, these ridges are covered 
by water, which renders the traveller’s step 
VOL. XIII. F 
