14 
Annual Reports of Academy of 
Cartagena itself is quaint and Old World like, its churches and 
old walls, which caused Philip II so much concern and expense, 
show that the city dates back to 1553, while its streets suggest those 
of Cadiz, withal surprisingly clean and neat. Puerto Colombia is 
a small community clustered about the shore end of the iron pier 
of the Barranquilla railroad, a town whose existence is solely due 
to the dangerous bar at the mouth of the Magdalena River which 
prevents sea-going vessels reaching Barranquilla, the main port of 
the Republic. Thus, the imports and exports of a large part of the 
interior are left to the mercy of an antiquated, English controlled, 
narrow-gauge railroad, twenty odd miles in length. Puerto Colom¬ 
bia is anathema to most passengers bound for Santa Marta, as it 
may take as much as five days’ time to unload and load cargo. 
From the sea the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta appeared first 
as a cloud-like mass hanging in the sky, and of such apparent height 
that it seemed incredible the mountains were before us. As 
the outlines sharpened and ridge beyond ridge were distinctly evi¬ 
dent, the full magnitude of this mountain group forced itself upon 
one. We were not fortunate enough to be favored with a view of the 
snow summits from the sea, but our entrance into the beautiful 
harbor of Santa Marta will long be remembered. 
The highest peaks of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta are virt¬ 
ually inaccessible from the north, and the upper slopes are best 
reached by circling the mountains and ascending from the Rio Cesar 
valley on the south. To the north of the high snow mountains 
is an outlying range of the system, which reaches an elevation of 
approximately 9000 feet, separated from the major portion of the 
mountains by gorge-like valleys with percipitous sides. This range 
is known as the San Lorenzo Mountains, after the highest of its 
peaks. 
In the limited time at our disposal an effort to reach the higher 
snow mountains was virtually impossible, as well as undesirable 
from the standpoint of the work to be done. Our plan, as perfected 
after reaching Santa Marta, was to examine conditions about Santa 
Marta, in an arid environment much like that at Cartagena and 
Puerto Colombia; at a locality in the mountain forest; on the sum¬ 
mit of the San Lorenzo range and in the heavy Magdalena type 
lowland forest to the west of the mountains. Thus we would be 
able to study and work typical localities of the Caribbean fauna 
and the Cauca-Magdalena fauna of the Tropical Zone, the Sub- 
