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. 
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