Climate
It has already been noted that the altitude of a district as well as its latitude affects the climate, which may be modified further by the direction of prevailing winds and by ocean currents. The extensive and lofty mountain ranges of Colombia therefore give the country a greater variety of climate than it would otherwise enjoy, with temperatures agreeable to every taste and suited to products of almost every character. The configuration of the mountain ranges and valleys causes a further difference in temperature and in rainfall among points at the same altitude; the elevations being responsible not only for their own lower temperatures, but for the greater heat of secluded valleys, and for other variations.
In the forest region of the Amazon there is much precipitation. The open plains of the Orinoco section have less rain, with a dry season when the rivers, which overflow in the wet season, return to their channels and the vegetation withers. Farther north, the Sierra de Perija of the East Cordillera condenses the moisture of the northeast trade winds, causing heavy rainfall on the eastern slope, but having a dry section on the west. The Caribbean coast near Panamá has plenty of rain, which diminishes towards the north, Goajira being quite arid. Excessive precipitation occurs on the West Cordillera, on the Baudó Range, and on the southern part of the Pacific Coast, where the plains are heavily forested and unhealthful like the valleys of the San Juan and Atrato farther north. The lower valleys of the Magdalena and Cauca, shut off from the prevailing winds, are decidedly hot. These and other lowland plains have the tropical climate, in general great humidity, and many dense forests, except for the open drier llanos.
Above this region are enjoyable climates, the sub-tropical ranging from 1500 to 7500 feet; still higher to 10,000 feet the seasons are agreeably temperate in character. Beyond this altitude it becomes quite cold, with bleak plains and passes, here called paramos, mostly from 12,000 to 15,000 feet above the sea. Higher yet are regions of perpetual snow.
The Santa Marta Plateau, the upper section of the Cauca Valley, the greater part of the country traversed by the East Cordillera, and the northern end of the Central enjoy the subtropical or the temperate climate. Here is a large proportion of the white population, and here the chief industries are located. In the tropical forests and in the lower plains and valleys the annual mean temperature is from 82° to over 90°; at Medellín with an altitude of 5000 feet it is 70°, and at Bogotá, altitude 8600 feet, it is 57°.
In the north there are two seasons a year, a wet and a dry, though not everywhere well defined; nearer the equator there are four, two wet and two drier, as the sun passes overhead twice a year. On the damp paramos the moist wintry seasons are long and cold, so these parts are unfrequented save by shepherds in the warmer periods. It is estimated that a section of 150,000 square miles, twice the size of England, has an elevation of 7000 feet or more, and there are few points on the coast from which an agreeable climate could not be reached in a few hours by automobile or train if roads were provided.
CHAPTER IV
COLOMBIA: THE CAPITAL, THE STATES AND TERRITORIES, CHIEF CITIES
The Capital
Bogotá, the Capital of Colombia, is situated on a plateau or savanna, a sort of shelf over 8000 feet above the sea, on the west side of the East Cordillera. The shelf, overlooked by fine snowclad volcanoes, has a low rim on the west and a high ridge on the east. About 70 miles long and 30 wide, it is entirely covered with towns and farms. The city is the largest in Colombia (population probably 150,000), on account of its being the capital and having a good climate; the mean temperature ranges from 54° to 64°. 600 miles from the north coast and 210 from the Pacific, Bogotá is the most difficult of access of any of the South American capitals. Nevertheless, the city has always been noted as the home of culture and of intellectual tastes. It is well laid out and covers a large area, as the houses are of only one or two stories with interior patios or courts, as in most South American cities. Many streets have asphalt pavements; there are hundreds of carriages and automobiles, also 23 miles of electric tramways. Like all South American cities, it has large plazas, open squares usually with trees and other green in the centre, and public gardens. The Capitol is an imposing building covering two and a half acres. Other good public buildings include the Presidential Palace, a public library, a museum, etc. Of course there is a cathedral and many churches, two theatres of the first rank, several fair hotels, a large bull ring, a hippodrome, polo grounds, etc. Here are telephones and electric lights as in all other considerable cities. The people are industrious, intelligent, and fond of amusement.
A more precise idea of the geography of Colombia and of the commercial possibilities of the different sections will be gained by reviewing them in order, beginning with the north coast, going around the outside, and concluding with the interior.
States and Territories
The Goajira Peninsula, a Comisaría at the northeast, is inhabited chiefly by Indians who are practically independent. They gather forest products such as tagua nuts (vegetable ivory), breed useful horses, and do some trading at the port of Riohacha in Magdalena. A few savage tribes make travel in some sections dangerous. The peninsula contains much wet lowlands, as well as mountains, extensive forests, and fine fertile country, with considerable mineral wealth yet unexploited: gold, and probably extensive veins of coal. Large sections covered with guinea grass are capable of supporting great herds of cattle.
Magdalena, adjoining the Peninsula, is a Department a great part of which is low and hot. The inhabitants include many Indians, a friendly tribe on the Sierra Nevada. Back of these mountains are rich valleys, where white settlers have been disturbed by savage Indians who live on the lower slopes of the East Cordillera. Among the products of the region are coffee, cocoa, sugar, and bananas. The upper valleys are the better settled and cultivated; mineral wealth including petroleum is evident.
Santa Marta, the capital, an ancient city and port, founded 1525, has recently entered upon an era of prosperity, largely due to the enterprise of the United Fruit Company. Finely located on a good harbor west of the Nevada of Santa Marta, some distance east of the mouth of the Magdalena, the city is an important centre of the banana industry, to which it owes its present development; other agricultural products are for local consumption. The climate is hot but healthful, though the banana zone is malarial. An excellent hospital is maintained by the United Fruit Company. Within a few miles are regions with a delightful temperature. A Marconi wireless, one of the most powerful in South America, is of general service, though the property of the Fruit Company. Their enormous banana trade is served by a 100 mile network of railways into sections favorable to this fruit.
Atlántico is a small Department occupying the flat hot delta of the Magdalena River.
Barranquilla, the capital, is a busy place with many resident foreigners. It has quays, a large new warehouse, hotels, one of which is said to have all conveniences, theatres, two clubs, electric lights, trams, and telephones. In spite of the heat, which averages 82° for the year, the deaths are less than 25 per 1000, a percentage better than in some other tropical cities.
Bolívar follows, a very large Department, with the Magdalena River for its eastern boundary. Bolívar like Atlántico has vast plains suited to tropical agriculture and to cattle raising, now a growing industry. The great natural resources of forest, agriculture, and mineral products are but moderately developed. The breeding of horses, donkeys, and mules is a profitable business followed by many. Ten gold mines are worked.
Cartagena, the capital, is considered the most interesting city on the Caribbean coast and one of the most picturesque in South America. Its massive walls and fortifications were erected at great expense nearly four centuries ago—1535. It has fine buildings both ancient and modern, and comfortable hotels. Montería and Lorica are busy commercial cities on the Sinú River, each with a population of 20,000 or more.
Antioquia, the next and largest department, has a smaller coast line. The coast section has Bolívar on the east and the Gulf of Urabá on the west; but the larger part is south of Bolívar, bordering at the east on the Magdalena River, with the Departments of Santander and Boyacá opposite. At the west is the Atrato River and through the centre the Cauca River. All these rivers are more or less navigable by steamboats as are some of their affluents; others at least by rafts and canoes. Traversed also by the West and Central Cordillera Antioquia has great diversity of character. It is the leading Department in mining, in education, and as centre of industries; it is among the foremost in agriculture, has the largest, most enterprising, and prosperous population. Nearly one-fourth of the coffee exported from Colombia comes from Antioquia, that from Medellín bringing the highest price. The forests contain hard wood and rubber. The Department has five cities besides the capital with a population of 20,000 or above, and 30 more with a population over 10,000.
Medellín, the capital, the second largest city of the Republic, is said to be the wealthiest for its size of any city in South America. It has wide streets, well built houses, many factories, and many educational institutions. The climate is excellent, the altitude being 4600 feet. Here is the National Mint.
Caldas, south of Antioquia and formerly a part of it, is a small Department, very mountainous, with Cundinamarca east and Chocó west. The population, mostly white, possessing sturdy qualities, is devoted to mining, stock raising, and to agriculture of various zones. The rivers have rich alluvium inciting to 2600 mining claims. In the valleys the mean temperature ranges from 77° to 86°. Palm straw and fibres are employed in making hats, cordage, and sacking.
Manizales, the capital, is an important, comparatively new city, founded in 1846. Although distant from any river or railway at an altitude above 7000 feet, it is growing rapidly as a distributing centre. Sulphur and salt mines are near and thermal and saline springs; large herds of cattle graze on the plains.
Chocó, the next coast region to Antioquia, is in striking contrast to Caldas. An Intendencia bordering on Panamá and the Pacific as well as on the Caribbean, it is rich in possibilities for mining, and for agricultural and forest products; but the excessive rainfall and great heat, unpleasant throughout the district, make the lowlands swampy and unhealthful, and the whole region unattractive to settlement. Less than one-tenth of the population is white; negroes form the great majority of the rest, and there are some Indians. Of the latter, there are three principal tribes in the Atrato Basin and four near the rest of the Caribbean Coast. The Atrato Basin with that of the San Juan forms one of the richest mining sections in Colombia, important for the rare platinum, most of the tributaries carrying this metal with gold. The San Juan Basin is probably the richer in platinum. Rubber, cacao, hides, and timber are other exports. The region will be developed some time.
Quibdó, the capital, is a busy trading centre, which within the last ten years has increased in population fourfold in spite of the disagreeable climate.
El Valle, the Department on the south, again is a striking contrast. Although including a strip of coast with the chief Pacific port, Buenaventura, the name of the Department indicates the part deemed of the greatest importance; and the one that is The Valley among so many we must expect to have especial merits. With an altitude of 3000 feet and upwards, it is a beautiful garden spot between the West and Central Cordilleras, where plantains grow two feet long, a bunch of bananas weighs 200 pounds, the cacao without cultivation commands a higher price than that of Ecuador, where its culture is a specialty; and sugar plantations are said to yield for several generations without replanting or fertilizing. At greater altitudes grow the products of temperate climes. Such a region must some day receive intensive culture, although now the leading industry is cattle raising; since the upper classes are indolent, it is said, the negro laborers also. Yet a brilliant future is sure to come. The mining outlook is good. Many claims for gold mines have been filed, some for platinum and for silver, one each for emery, talc, copper, iron. There is a large deposit of coal and of rich crystal. The rivers possess auriferous alluvium.
Cali, the capital, is an old, but progressive and important commercial city, with a fine climate, altitude 4000 feet, mean temperature 77°. It has fine old buildings and new ones, poor hotels, banks, automobiles, etc. Other busy cities farther north, are Palmira, 27,000 population, and Cartago, 21,000.
Cauca follows, five times the size of El Valle but with no larger population, of which 25 per cent is white. It extends back from the ocean south of El Valle and of the Department Huila as well. The region has many undeveloped coal mines, and other minerals, with vegetation tropical and temperate in abundance. In some parts there are dense forests. Over 4000 mining claims have been filed, and gold and platinum are exported, but agriculture is the chief industry.
Popayán, the capital, was founded in 1536 at an altitude of nearly 6000 feet. At the foot of an extinct volcano and 17 miles from an active one, with a good climate it has violent electric storms and earthquakes. It has some fine old buildings, a university, and some say that here the best Spanish in the New World is spoken.
Nariño, the last Department at the south, has a large settled Indian population, with some Indians uncivilized. It contains a number of volcanoes a few of which are active; several rivers flow into the Pacific, the Patía the most important. Gold mines have been worked from colonial times and gold is one of the chief exports. Other mines exist and 2500 claims have been denounced. Rich copper has been noted; corundum and sapphires have been found. Besides gold the chief exports are Panamá hats, hides, rubber, coffee, tobacco, and anise.
Pasto, the capital, at an elevation of 8650 feet, at the base of the volcano Galera, has a beautiful location, a fine climate, and a hardy industrious people. There are 21 Indian settlements near. Barbacoas, 100 miles from the coast, is a considerable city of over 12,000 population where the making of Panamá hats is a leading industry. Tumaco, population 15,000, is a picturesque island port with a better climate than Buenaventura.
Putumayo, a Comisaría east and extending far to the southeast of Nariño, is on the northeast boundary of Ecuador, from which it is separated by the watershed between the river Napo and the Putumayo, which latter separates it from Caquetá, both rivers affluents of the Amazon. The northern part with an elevation of 3000 feet or more has a comfortable climate.
Mocoa, the capital, is in this section, and a few small towns, several entirely Indian.
Caquetá, the adjoining Comisaría, is similar in character, the higher portion a good cattle country. The animals with other products could easily be shipped down stream to Manaos, where they would command high prices. The lower section is a good rubber district; cinnamon, cacao, tagua, hides, oils, balsams, sarsaparilla, varnishes, and feathers are other products of the region.
Vaupés, the next Comisaría shares the characteristics of the low, untrodden, rainy, forest region and of the more open and agreeable lands higher up, a promising territory for the rather distant future. In the Vaupés section the rivers are of black water, near which are no mosquitoes, therefore a more healthful region. Along the rivers of white water, which are in the majority, mosquitoes are a terrible pest. The distinction generally prevails in the countries of the north coast.
North of the Amazon region is that of the llanos belonging to the Orinoco Basin. There is hardly a real watershed between the two; in a number of places channels, especially in the rainy season, connect different tributaries, besides the well known Casiquiare connection between the Orinoco and, by way of the Rio Negro, the Amazon.
The Meta Intendencia, formerly separated from Vaupés by the Guaviare, the most southern tributary of the Orinoco in Colombia, extends to the Meta River on the north. This section with some country farther north is similar to the llanos of Venezuela, chiefly grass lands of inferior quality, with patches of forest. It supports some cattle and might a great many more, although much of the pasture land is very wet in the long rainy season, and so dry in the short dry season that in many districts the grass practically disappears. The Meta River in its lower part has Venezuela on the north; higher at the northwest is the Casanare region (similar) of the Department of Boyacá. Near the Meta River are more towns, a few cattle centres, richer soil, with easier outlet to Venezuela, to which the few exports chiefly go. The forests of the section teem with deer and other animals, the rivers are full of alligators; the only entrance to Casanare safe from tribes of wild Indians is the Cravo highway from Sogamoso, an ancient town in Boyacá, where Chibcha priests once dwelt in palaces roofed with gold.
The Vichada Comisaría, so recently organized as not to appear on any map (1921), is along the Vichada River between Vaupés and Meta.
Arauca, a small Comisaría, is a part of the region north of the Meta River between Boyacá and Venezuela.
Arauca, the capital, on the river Arauca is called but three days by water (generally seven) from Ciudad Bolívar, the eastern port of Venezuela on the Orinoco.
Boyacá, west and north, except for the Casanare Province, is a Department chiefly in the tierra fria of the East Cordillera. The population is mostly Indian and mestizo, the agriculture is mainly of temperate character: wheat, barley, maize, alfalfa, potatoes. Mining is actively carried on: gold, silver, copper, iron, quicksilver, marble, have been denounced, and 157 emerald claims. Asphalt is worked; there are salt works at Chita, an old Indian town, population 11,000.
Tunja, the capital, is called a fine old city with three public libraries.
Santander del Norte, north of Santander, is also traversed by the East Cordillera. The mean temperatures vary greatly: 46° on several paramos, and 81° in the valleys of the Catatumbo and Zulia. Gold, silver, copper, lead, coal are mined. Rio de Oro, tributary to the Catatumbo, has rich auriferous deposits, and what is now of greater importance, it passes through a district rich in petroleum. The varied crops are the chief source of wealth: wheat and potatoes, coffee and cacao.
Cúcuta, the capital, altitude 1000 feet, with a temperature of 84°, is an important commercial city.
Santander, written also with Sur, south of Santander del Norte and of Magdalena, has Boyacá on the east and south; Antioquia and Bolívar are across the Magdalena River on the west. Similar to Santander del Norte, it has more low plains. Gold, silver, copper, talc, asphalt are found.
Bucaramanga, the capital, has a mean temperature ranging from 64° to 84°.
Cundinamarca, south of Boyacá, has Meta on the east, Tolima and Huila south, and Tolima west. Less than one-half of the population is white; about one-third is on the high plateau, the rest on the slopes or in the Magdalena Valley, or on the Orinoco watershed. The scattered population is in 110 municipalities. Agriculture is most important, the land near Bogotá being especially well cultivated. In the city many factories are operated and a variety of trades followed. Mines are widely distributed: iron, gold, silver, copper, lead, coal, jasper, etc.
Bogotá is the capital of the Department as well as of the country.
Huila, south of Cundinamarca and Tolima, has Meta and Caquetá east, Cauca south, and Cauca and Tolima west. Half of Huila is Government land, forest and mountain. Cattle raising is well developed. Wheat, maize, rice, coffee, sugar, tobacco, are cultivated on a large scale. There are four quartz mines, and gold placers receive attention.
Neiva, the capital, is practically at the head of steam navigation on the Magdalena River. With an altitude of about 1500 feet it has an even temperature approximating 80°.
Tolima, west of Huila and Cundinamarca, is a long Department with the Magdalena River on the east and the Central Cordillera west. Cacao and coffee are raised on the warm lowlands. Twenty-six million coffee trees have been producing; perhaps 4,000,000 more are now in bearing. Over 2,000,000 tobacco plants grow on the foothills, other crops higher, also cattle. Of the last there are 580,000, also 140,000 horses, 100,000 hogs, with fewer sheep and goats. The rivers are auriferous and 60 properties are worked for gold and silver.
Ibagué, the capital, is a pleasant and important city, an active commercial town with mines and thermal springs in the neighborhood, exporting a variety of articles, and with a considerable cattle trade.
CHAPTER V
COLOMBIA: PORTS AND TRANSPORTATION
Sea and River Ports
Foreign commerce is carried on chiefly through five ports, Buenaventura on the Pacific; on the Caribbean, Cartagena, Puerto Colombia, Santa Marta, and Riohacha. Besides these are Tumaco far south on the Pacific, and Villamizar in Santander on the river Zulia, near the boundary of Venezuela, well situated for trade with that neighboring country.
Puerto Colombia, the chief seaport of the country, is situated a little west of the mouth of the Magdalena River. Although with a notable pier a mile in length, the place is small, merely a landing port for the greater city on the Magdalena, to which leads a railway 17¹⁄₂ miles long.
Barranquilla is frequently mentioned as the port instead of Puerto Colombia, since it contains the national custom house through which at least 60 per cent of the commerce of the country passes. Yet it is not a real seaport, being 15 miles up the river, which is inaccessible to ocean steamers. When a channel is dredged through the Boca de Ceniza so that such steamers can reach Barranquilla, it will be of great advantage to commerce. This work, previously arranged for, but blocked by the outbreak of the European War, may soon be accomplished.
It might have been better to make use of the “Dique,” a natural river channel 60 miles long extending from Calamar to the sea 15 miles south of Cartagena. This is now used in the rainy season by river steamers, though swamps near Cartagena present difficulties. Intended improvements in the channel from Sincerín, where there is a large sugar plantation and refinery, will make it navigable for boats of a few hundred tons. Beginning at the “Dique” rich agricultural land extends south.
Cartagena, the port second in importance, has a fine natural harbor and excellent wharfage facilities; the custom house depots alongside are among the best in South America. It is less than 2000 miles to New York (4500 to Liverpool) and 266 from Colón.
Santa Marta, northeast, is finely located on a good harbor. Like the ports already mentioned, it has weekly steamers to New York, New Orleans, and also to England.
Riohacha, population 10,000, still farther east, is a poor port of much less importance. Merely an open roadstead, it is seldom visited by steamers but is frequented by sailing vessels from Curaçao and other points.
Buenaventura, the chief Colombian port on the Pacific, with a population of 9000, is situated on an island in the Bay of the same name, which can accommodate vessels of 24 foot draft. A new pier, 679 feet long, just completed, has twin docks and two railway approaches; on one side water is 28-44 feet deep. The place is regularly visited by steamers and is an important port of entry for the rich Cauca Valley.
Tumaco, farther south, a town of 15,000, is a port of some importance for southern Colombia, the bay receiving ships of 21 foot draft, which are served by lighters.
Villamizar on the River Zulia through that and the Catatumbo is connected with Lake Maracaibo and the Caribbean.
Orocué, population 2500, on the Meta, and Arauca on the Arauca River, may be reached by steamer from Ciudad Bolívar on the Orinoco and so communicate with the sea.
Inland Transportation
It is evident that the physical conformation of Colombia is such as to render extremely difficult the construction of railways or indeed roads of any kind. Lack of capital, and internal disturbances have contributed to retard development in this direction. The rivers therefore have been of prime importance for inland travel and transport. While these are supplemented by local railways and cart roads, the greater part of transportation over this extensive territory is, aside from the waterways, accomplished by means of pack and saddle animals over caminos or bridle paths of varying degrees of excellence.
The Magdalena River is the main artery of traffic, its normal transportation being more than doubled because of the important railways leading to or branching from the River. As its mouth is navigable only for light launches, nearly all freight and travel comes by rail either from Puerto Colombia to Barranquilla, 17 miles, or from Cartagena to Calamar, 65 miles. However, Barranquilla has some traffic with Santa Marta by means of steam launches of light draft through channels of the delta. By the Cartagena railway freight is shipped without cartage to Calamar within five days. At this town of 10,000, there is a good pier, but poor hotel accommodations for the traveler, who may be compelled to wait some time for a steamer. The river has a width of from half a mile to a mile, and an average depth of 30 feet, but in the dry season shoals sometimes prevent for a month the ascent of the river by steamer. Much time is consumed in loading wood for fuel, as well as in other calls, and part of the way is unsafe for navigation at night. This at least has been the case, but recent and prospective dredging both on the Magdalena and the Cauca promise much better conditions in the future.
The Magdalena, the regular route of travel for Bogotá, is navigable about 600 miles, to La Dorada on the west bank, for steamers of 500 tons. The facilities for comfort for the six to nine days’ journey (which has been prolonged to three weeks in periods of low water) include staterooms with electric lights; but passengers must now carry their sheets, pillows, and mosquito netting; and some take food to supplement the table fare, or make purchases en route. It is reported that 100 eggs were bought for $2.00 in February, 1919. If the five gliders drawing but a few inches, which have been ordered in France for the Magdalena, prove a success, facilities for travel will be immensely improved. A hydroplane service for passengers and mail, Barranquilla to Girardot, is now in regular operation. Other service elsewhere is proposed.
At La Dorada, the terminus of the sail on the lower river, a change is made to the railway 70 miles long, which was built to Ambalema, population 7000, to avoid the Honda Rapids. Overlooking these is the busy town of Honda, population 10,000, in the Department of Tolima, for 300 years an important centre of trade. A suspension bridge crosses the river from which, by a rough bridle path, until 1908 most of the traffic went to Bogotá 67 miles distant. Some freight still goes over this trail to Bogotá, or to Facatativá, 45 miles, a two days’ ride, as well as a few tourists, better to enjoy the scenery, to escape the heat of the valley, or more likely, when compelled by the upper river being too shallow for steamer traffic.
Usually the railway is left at Puerto Beltrán, altitude 755 feet, population 2000 (just below Ambalema), where a 100 ton steamer is taken for the 100 miles on the shallower stream above to Girardot, a new town, population 13,000, on the east bank, with ten hotels, and rapidly growing in commercial importance.
From Girardot, altitude 1000 feet, to Facatativá, population 11,000, the Colombia National Railway climbs the East Cordillera about 8000 feet in a distance of 82 miles on the way to Bogotá. Twenty-five miles more on the Sabana Railway, a road of a different gauge, brings one to the capital, having made six changes from the ocean steamer: first to the railway at the port; next to a steamer on the lower river; third to the railway at La Dorada; at Puerto Beltrán to a smaller steamer for Giradot; fifth to the railway to Facatativá; thence to the one to Bogotá.
Aside from the traffic to the capital, the Magdalena with its 500 tributaries is of enormous service. The boats call at many small places (sometimes a single house) along the river, from which mule trails (or a stream) lead to interior towns in the various Departments. The first river port of importance, about 70 miles from Barranquilla, is Calamar, where travelers and freight from Cartagena are taken on board. Magangué, population about 15,000, is the next considerable town. Between Magangué and Banco the Cauca enters the river.
Up the Cauca steamboats run 170 miles to Caceres; also on one of its branches, the Nechi. Through most of its length the Cauca is nearly parallel to the Magdalena, but confined in a narrow valley its course is far less smooth. Above Valdivia navigation is prevented by a stretch of 250 miles of narrow cañon and rapids; in the upper valley is another navigable section of 200 miles, from Cali to a little below Cartago. Being disconnected from the Caribbean this section must seek an outlet on the Pacific.
The San Jorge River, nearly parallel with the lower Cauca and entering the Magdalena a little farther down, is navigable for 112 miles.
At Banco, a town of 7700 on the Magdalena, a smaller boat may be taken up the Cesar River coming from the northeast; at Bodega Central, population 4000, one up the Lebrija towards Bucaramanga, to which there is another route by way of Puerto Wilches beyond. From the latter a railway, long ago planned and in operation for 12 miles, is now in construction, imperatively necessary for the development of this part of the country. The distance is 90 miles. From La Ceiba, 70 miles up the Lebrija, a mule trail leads to Ocaña, population 20,000, as well as one to Bucaramanga, which is also reached by a shorter route from a point 22 miles up the shallower Sogamoso when that is practicable.
The first railway above Calamar, found at Puerto Berrío, population 1000, nearly 500 miles south of Barranquilla, leads to the important city of Medellín. This, the oldest road in Colombia, has a break where a 15 mile ride is necessary across the mountains. When the tunnel contracted for is completed the entire length of the road will be 120 miles. Its prospects are excellent. A second railroad has Medellín, the Amagá, running 23 miles south towards the rich Cauca valley, which it will soon reach. These two roads are said to carry more freight than any others in the country.
From Mariquita, population 6000, on the Dorada Railway, an aerial Ropeway Line goes up to Manizales, in Caldas, an excellent service for freight. From Manizales a railway is building towards the Cauca River; 15 miles open, 1921.
From the Magdalena River opposite Girardot, where a bridge is being constructed, the Tolima Railway extends a distance of 99 miles to Ibagué.
Above Girardot the steamers in high water run up to Neiva, at times a little beyond. Here and higher, small boats and rafts are in general use.
Cartagena, in addition to its connection with the Magdalena River, has commercial relations with the surrounding districts, including the Chocó region, which might be served directly by ocean steamers were it not for the fact that the Atrato River is barred to them by sand at its mouth, though navigable within, 280 miles to Quibdó. As only boats of three or four feet draft can pass, and as there is no good port on the Gulf of Urabá, commerce is carried on through Cartagena by transshipment, as to cities on the Sinú River also.
From Buenaventura, the chief Pacific port, a railway leads over the West Cordillera, 100 miles, to the important city of Cali. From here the road branches south 21 miles towards Popayán, and east 16 miles to Palmira, population 27,000, then north towards Buga, population 13,555, and Cartago, population 21,500. From Buenaventura, steamboats run up the San Juan River 140 miles, which with its tributaries has 300 miles of navigable channels, for boats of 7 or 8 foot draft only, on account of sandbars at its delta.
From Tumaco several steamers ply on the Patía and other rivers to Barbacoas and other towns for many miles.
Transportation by the tributaries of the Amazon has already been referred to, and that by the Meta and Orinoco. To Puerto Villamizar on the Zulia, there is a railway from Cúcuta, 45 miles long. From this road much traffic of the Department, Santander del Norte, is transferred to steamers running down the river to Lake Maracaibo in Venezuela.
Other Existing Railways and Plans
In connection with the plantation railways, one 60 miles long runs from Santa Marta to Fundición, from which point a continuation has been talked of to Banco on the Magdalena, at the mouth of the Cesar tributary. At present it is thought better to extend the line 30 miles toward Ariguani, a district with water for banana irrigation, timber, and good cattle land; and later to Valle de Upar to tap the rich copper and coal deposits found there.
A plan has been presented by Americans for a railway from Bahia Honda, an excellent harbor near the end of the Goajira Peninsula, to pass through good timber and cattle lands and Valle de Upar, ultimately to reach Bogotá. A branch would go from Tunja to a port opposite Berrío, and cross roads, from Cúcuta to Tamalameque and from Puerto Wílches to Bucaramanga. The work requiring six years would be financed by Americans.
The Sabana Railways are of great importance. Besides the railway to Facatativá, two others lead from Bogotá, one south about 20 miles to Sibate, one north about 40 miles to Zipaquirá and Nemocón, population 5000. From Zipaquirá, population 10,000, a road is being continued to Chiquinquirá, population 22,500, in Boyacá, whence it is planned to carry it down the Carare Valley to the Magdalena. Reaching the river below La Dorada, handlings of freight will be saved, and the time of the trip from Barranquilla greatly shortened.
The Tolima Railway it is expected to prolong to the Cauca Valley over the Quindio Pass to Palmira on the Pacific Railway by way of Zarzal at the foot of the Pass. Bogotá will then be connected by an all rail route with the Pacific at Buenaventura, a distance of 210 miles.
A contract has been made for a railway, to be completed in 1923, from Ambalema (Beltrán) to a point on the Tolima Railway, to give Tolima direct connection with the Lower Magdalena. A railway from Beltrán to Flandes opposite Girardot is said also to have been arranged for.
A much desired rail connection is from Cúcuta to the Magdalena. Although a road to the river port, Tamalameque, 265 miles above Barranquilla, would pass through a dense tropical forest with few inhabitants save wild Indians, to avoid paying tribute to Venezuela by bringing the freight of Santander del Norte out by Barranquilla might prove well worth while; and a new rich forest country might thus be opened. A cart or motor road is already under construction.
The Pacific Railway. Besides the cross country connection from the Cauca Valley to the Magdalena, it is expected to prolong the existing road from Buenaventura to Cali, farther down the Cauca Valley to the Medellín, Amagá, Cauca Railway (Amagá, a city of 10,000), the latter soon to be completed to the Cauca River; this link with the Magdalena Valley may be formed first. The Cauca Valley Road now running south towards Popayán will later be prolonged to Pasto and thence to the Ecuadorian frontier, there to join the Pan American all rail route, which may be concluded through Ecuador and Peru before the northern connection is made through Panamá to Colombia.
Among other railways planned is one from Medellín to Cartagena by way of Monteria.
Road Transportation and Building
Road building in Colombia is only less difficult than railways; hence few good roads exist. The Central Northern extends 200 miles or more towards Bucaramanga; as far as Sogamoso, population 16,500, 140 miles, it is used by automobiles, the best stretch of road in the Republic. A Northeastern Road extends for some distance. The Carretera de Cambao leads from that Port on the Magdalena 130 miles to Bogotá, thereby avoiding the changes by way of La Dorada. A road from Bogotá to Pasto, the Southern, is partly in use or in construction. From Pasto it is being continued to Tumaco and may be to Ibarra in Ecuador. A road with parts in service leads from Pasto by way of Mocoa towards Puerto Asis on the Putumayo, important for national defense as well as for the development of the region. A road from Pamplona, an old town, population 14,000, in Santander del Norte, is partly made towards the Casanare region. In Antioquia several roads diverge from Medellín. The Cauca Valley has a few, on one of which from Palmira to Buga auto service is established. Other roads are in various sections, as the important highway building from Cúcuta to the Magdalena. Many bridges have recently been constructed.
Aside from the river traffic by steamers and small boats, the greater part of travel and transport over this extensive territory is by means of horses and mules on caminos or bridle paths of varying degrees of excellence, many of them extremely poor, at times almost or quite impassable; a few paths are for foot passengers only. The best known camino is from Ibagué over the Quindio Pass to Cartago in the Cauca Valley. Another ancient way of great importance is from Neiva across the paramos of the Central Cordillera to Popayán. A network of these caminos overspreads the well settled part of the country, the meshes greatly varying in size.
CHAPTER VI
COLOMBIA: RESOURCES AND INDUSTRIES
While the varied sources of Colombia’s wealth have already been touched upon, some paragraphs follow concerning the different lines of production and export.
Agriculture
The country has such variation in altitude as well as such fertility of soil that not only does almost every sort of vegetation thrive within its borders, but it exists in most of the Departments. An enumeration of all the localities where the different articles are found would be needless repetition. Reference will be made, however, to Departments where certain products are chiefly grown. With proper cultivation and ample labor food stuffs might be produced to satisfy every requirement, but many are imported from other countries more easily than they could be carried from one section of Colombia to another.
Coffee, from the commercial and export point of view, is the most important agricultural product, in quantity coming next to Brazil, while in quality the coffee by some is considered second only to Arabian. Preëminent for its culture are the Departments traversed by the Central and East Cordilleras, especially Cundinamarca, Antioquia, Caldas, Santander del Norte; also Cauca, El Valle, Tolima, and the north slope of the Nevada de Santa Marta. In Colombia coffee grows best at altitudes of 2000-6000 feet, the higher the milder the coffee. At 5000 feet no shade is required, though necessary when first planted in most places where it is raised. Everywhere coffee seems to prefer sloping ground. In Cauca, where 720 trees are planted to the acre, they produce for 50 or 60 years. Coffee from Santander, mostly going out by way of Maracaibo, is sold under that name. We hardly think of coffee as a product of the temperate zone, but in Colombia it is so classed, growing in the same altitudes as temperate fruits, vegetables, and cereals.
Bananas are the most important crop of the lowlands, especially since the exploitation of the Santa Marta district by the United Fruit Company. Ninety per cent of the bananas raised in this section are exported by the company under contract with private growers. Banana land of the company is well laid out with irrigating canals, managers’ and laborers’ houses, etc. Export has increased enormously. As the section is watered by five rivers and many brooks, it is especially favorable for the irrigation needed. The trunks and leaves of the plant, which might be utilized for cordage, paper, card-board and textiles, at present go to waste. The cost of clearing and preparing land for the industry, with 350 trees to the acre, is about $45. Within two years the annual receipts are $40, largely profits. The Company owns 28,000 acres of improved land (10,000 devoted to cattle) and twice as much land unimproved. The bananas are free of export duty and taxation. The fruit may be grown in all the lowland sections where irrigation is practicable, which is almost everywhere. Before the War the Germans near the Gulf of Urabá started a plantation of 12,000 acres, one third of which is under cultivation.
Plantains are widely raised for native use, as they form the chief article of food for the masses in the lower districts. Higher up maize is the staple. The plantain requires little cultivation, the crops are heavy, and the plantations last for years. The fruit is eaten either green or ripe.
Sugar cane, grown extensively on the fertile lands of the valleys, without fertilizer and with occasional hoeing, gives crops of 80 tons per acre, averaging 40 tons. It flourishes up to 7000 feet. Small primitive mills are the rule, but a few with modern machinery have been established, one near Cartagena. A brown sugar is chiefly made in the small mills, pantana, which is palatable and nourishing; but some is refined for table use and for the chocolate factories. A large amount of sugar is used for chicha (sugar syrup fermented with corn), for denatured alcohol, and for aguardiente, a kind of rum; the last is a government monopoly. The sugar production is hardly sufficient for local needs.
Tobacco, which some think equal to the best Havana, is raised, mostly for local consumption; formerly much was exported to Bremen.
Cacao grows wild on thousands of acres, some trees reaching a height of 45 feet; but to give the best results it must be cultivated. It is planted for early protection under bananas, together with other trees which will give shade later. Local demand consumes most of the supply. Little attention is paid to its cultivation, though the Magdalena and Cauca Valleys are well adapted to it. Trees 60 years old are found in bearing.
Coconut palms might be more largely cultivated, plantations existing chiefly on the coast and islands. The fibres and oil are useful and many nuts are exported.
Rice grows freely in rich, hot, irrigated land, but it is not largely cultivated.
Cotton of excellent quality is raised from Egyptian seed on the Caribbean coast and in Antioquia; it is found growing wild at low and moderate altitudes all over the country. But little use is made of it except where factories are near, these promoting its culture. The plants, perennials, grow 12 feet high. The cotton, unrivalled for length of fibre, is all used locally.
Other fibrous plants are the Agave Americana or century plant, which is cultivated as a hedge; enough is produced to satisfy most of the home demand for fibre for ordinary rope and twine, also for making common packing sacks, and alpargatas, sandals worn by the poorer people. Here grow ramie and other shrubs, the fibre of which is used for vegetable silk. Ramie on the Bogotá River yields 6 crops a year without irrigation, the stems 6 feet long having a very tough fibre. Most of the Magdalena land could not be better used than for raising such plants. A recent invention to extract the fibre by a chemical process makes its culture important. Jute in Colombia on the same soil as ramie reaches double the height attained in its native country, and gives two cuttings a year, the first crop three months after planting.
Wheat gives good crops on the highlands, and maize (corn) grows everywhere, in the rich lower valleys producing three crops a year. Potatoes and other vegetables grow in various altitudes.
Forestry
The natural wealth of the forests is enormous, though at present largely inaccessible for lack of transportation facilities, a condition which might easily be remedied so far as the forests of the Pacific Coast and of the Atrato and Magdalena Basins are concerned. The chief products now are rubber and tagua nuts.
The Rubber is of both the caucho and the hevea varieties, the former of inferior quality, procured by cutting down the trees, the hevea or fine Pará by tapping. The former is obtained by the Tolimenses from the Rio Negro section, the latter by Indians of Vaupés, this being sent down to Manaos. Rubber also comes from Chocó, being collected by Indians and negroes who exchange it for goods at Quibdó, at places on the San Juan River, also at Barbacoas, back of Tumaco. A few plantations have been started in the Atrato and Magdalena Valleys and near Tumaco. Balatá and chicle are also exported.
Tagua Nuts, which have only to be picked up, are gathered in the forests on the Pacific slope and in the Atrato and the Magdalena Basins, the best quality from the Sogamoso tributary of the latter. This is called vegetable ivory, from which buttons, etc., are made.
Timber of great value exists, a little of which is exported: Colombia mahogany, cabinet and dye woods; but there are few saw mills, and the great variety of trees in a small area renders their exploitation difficult.
Medicinal plants are numerous: cinchona, sarsaparilla, ipecac, balsams, etc. Many other valuable plants abound but are little exploited.
Live Stock
The Cattle raising industry is one of the most favorable for immediate profit. The best quality of grass is found on the plains of Magdalena, Bolívar, and Atlántico, where there are large areas of planted pasture. An acre and a half supports a steer. Pará grass, native to Brazil, is used on wet or swampy ground and guinea grass on drier. On the eastern llanos are millions of wild cattle, with some ranches; but the grass is generally so poor that the cattle are sometimes brought to the Magdalena Valley to be fattened, though this is difficult. There are 4,000,000 head in the country with 80,000 annually available for export. Modern packing houses are now being established with important Government aid. Material and supplies for construction are exempt from import duties; and outgo for 20 years from export taxes. With attention to breeding and to good fodder for fattening the production may rival that of Argentina.
In the Sinú Valley region are said to be 1,000,000-1,500,000 cattle. An American and Colombian Company holding 75,000-100,000 acres along the River, with a herd of 40,000 cattle, is now (1921) erecting a packing house costing $1,750,000 on Morrisquillo Bay, 60 miles from Cartagena. They expect soon to begin operations, slaughtering 500 head a day. On account of proximity to the United States, the prices of Colombian cattle could probably not be equalled here by the countries farther south. A packing house at Cali may be desirable.
Other Stock. Horses. As an absolute necessity on account of the scarcity of wagon roads, many saddle horses are raised, Andalusian crossed with Arabian or English. Some saddle horses are imported from Peru. Mules and donkeys are found in large numbers. Goats are numerous in all quarters, and sheep are raised on the highlands. There is a large exportation of hides and skins.
Mining
This is an industry of great promise, the as yet bare scratching of the surface showing infinite possibilities for the future. Practically every mineral of commercial value has been found, including the rarer metals. The lack of proper transportation makes some sections impracticable and others difficult, but important work has been carried on in many places; opportunities lie open in many more. Gold is found in almost all sections, both in quartz veins and in placers. There is native silver, and some with gold and tin. Platinum ores running from 80 to 85 per cent are found with gold and other metals. Iron is widely distributed; also copper; often with gold, tin, and in primitive rock formation. Manganese, lead, mercury, sulphur, zinc, antimony, arsenic, nitre, alum, exist, but are not much worked except sulphur, which is taken from some volcanoes. The working of the salt mines is a government monopoly, rock salt and springs existing in large numbers. From the Zipaquirá salt mine in Cundinamarca the Government receives a revenue of approximately $1,000,000 a year.
Coal was first discovered in 1865 near Santa Marta Bay, and subsequently other deposits. Most important just now are the beds near Cali, which are thought to be very extensive, and to extend through the mountains to the Pacific slope. It is said that enough coal could be mined to supply the neighboring Republics as well as Colombia. The probable supply is estimated at 27 million tons. The character of coal in the country varies from lignite to bituminous. A wide vein of cannel coal leads from the Nevada de Santa Marta towards the Goajira Peninsula; an anthracite deposit 25 feet thick extends 50 miles north and south near the Gulf of Urabá. Coal deposits exist for a distance of 300 miles north and south of Bogotá near the East Cordillera, others in the formation of the Central and West Ranges. One bed near Cali in places is 22 feet thick. Coal beds in three layers are cut by the Amagá Railway, and the locomotives are fired on the track.
Petroleum exists in quantity indefinite, but hardly to be overestimated. The great tract of country extending several hundred miles back from the entire south shore of the Caribbean apparently contains a collection of oil reservoirs which may exceed in magnitude those of any other section of the Western Hemisphere. Nowhere else in the world, it is said, is there so great a display of seepages and of petroliferous mud volcanoes.
Colombia presents three more or less distinct regions with various fields in which operations have been conducted; others in which the surface indications will doubtless incite to careful examination in the future. The three well known regions are the Caribbean, the Magdalena, and the Maracaibo; the last two are also spoken of together as the Magdalena-Santander Field, since an oil belt extends from Venezuela south-southwest across Santander and the Magdalena River. But as a mountain range separates the Maracaibo Basin from the Magdalena Valley, the two are quite distinct.
The Caribbean Region which extends along the coast from Riohacha to the Gulf of Urabá has 300 or more square miles of supposedly productive territory. Many American companies have obtained concessions; more than 100 are organized for the exploitation of this and other districts. So rapidly have sections been taken up that a considerable part of the coastal tract west of the Magdalena is already occupied. British interests also have acquired extensive holdings in the Republic. Emissions of gas occur in many places, this being the first country in South America where large amounts have been observed. Among the petroliferous mud volcanoes is the largest known anywhere. In the Tubara field is a well 3000 feet deep from which enormous quantities of gas came off. It has been proposed to pipe the gas to Barranquilla for use in the city.
The Magdalena pool or region extends along the river valley for several hundred miles. The fields already occupied are mainly on the east side. In this section the first oil gusher of Colombia was brought in not far from Barranca Bermeja, about 400 miles south of Barranquilla. A second well 2270 feet deep shot oil over the derrick several hours before it could be capped. It was rated at from 2000 to 20,000 barrels daily. Steady flow is estimated at 6000 to 8000 barrels daily. The oil, which is dark with some asphalt, gives about 30 per cent gasoline, 6 of kerosene, 20 lubricating oil, and 12 asphalt. A pipe line and wagon road are being constructed from the three wells drilled near the Colorado River 35 miles to Barranca Bermeja where a refinery has been erected. It is said that this is to supply Colombia with gasoline, kerosene, and lubricants at prices not above those of New York. The use of residual fuel oil on the river steamers will greatly facilitate their operation. It is likely that a larger refinery will be erected at Cartagena or as rumored on an island at the mouth of the Magdalena, but the cost of reported pipe lines 300 or 400 miles long in this region would be prohibitive. Tank steamers will well serve the purpose.
Higher up the river near Honda is the Tolima field where live seepages occur and a well has been drilled. [Many locations have been secured in a stretch of several hundred miles along the valley.] This field includes the upper Magdalena Basin, with which are classed the groups on the edge of the San Martín and Casanare plains east of the Cordillera. In the Orinoco Basin oil has been seen floating on the surface of the rivers.
The Maracaibo Basin, which is chiefly in Venezuela, has a section running over into Colombia where the Barco concession is located. An area of more than a million acres is occupied by an American company. Here oil seepages include some wonderful springs. Oil from one of these runs a small refinery which produces 25 barrels a day. The oil with a loss of only 1.1 per cent is said essentially to match the high grade Pennsylvania oil, selling for $4.00 a barrel at the well. Wells were first drilled on the Venezuelan side of the Rio de Oro, tributary to the Catatumbo; later on the Colombian side.
There is further a Pacific district extending north and south from Buenaventura a distance of 60 or 70 miles, from Quibdó on the Atrato to Cali on the Cauca with a small section on the coast. The probable productive area is 18 miles but none is proved.
The location of these extensive deposits, many within 200 miles of tide water, is of prime importance to the commercial world, especially because of their proximity to the Panamá Canal, soon to be one of the great shipping routes of the world. Moreover the port of Cartagena, which already has several refineries and will serve as the chief depot of export and supplies, is nearer to New York than is Tampico by 400 miles, than Galveston, Texas, by 50 miles. It is also much nearer to London, to Panamá, and to our own Pacific Coast. Clearly, the development of the petroleum deposits of Colombia is of the greatest interest and importance to the United States. It is believed that its oil fields will equal or surpass those of Peru.
Platinum. At the moment the greatest mining wealth is in gold, with a good bit in platinum. Over $2,000,000 worth of the latter was exported in 1917. Platinum, usually with gold, is found in rivers near the Pacific: the Atrato, Condoto, Platina, and San Juan. Operations have been carried on in several districts. The concessions of an American company include a tract on the San Juan and one on its tributary Condoto and its branches, with holdings north and east of the river deposits. By means of a small wood burning dredge with annual capacity of but 250,000 cubic yards, about $600,000 worth of platinum was obtained in 1918 when the Government price was fixed at $105 an ounce. With a second and larger dredge now operating and a third expected soon, much greater production will be realized. In 1920 the value fluctuated from $70 to $165 an ounce. In June, 1921, it was $75. The value of the two tracts is estimated at $52,000,000 at the former Government price. Costs are little greater than in the California and New Zealand fields, and with suitable precautions taken in the way of drainage, mosquito netting, etc., as at Panamá, and with good medical attendance, health conditions have been made about the same as on the Isthmus. Extraordinary platinum values have been shown; the gravel handled in 1918 furnishing $2.50 gold and platinum per cubic yard. The extensive use of platinum in dental work, in jewelry, and for important though limited service in certain manufactures, in sheet, wire, and granulated form, indicates an annual need of 165,000 ounces in the United States alone. A unique opportunity is offered in Colombia for the production of this valuable metal.
Gold. The gold of the Chocó placers has been widely known since the Spanish Conquest. Four hundred million dollars was taken by the Castilians from shallow waters and easily worked river banks. In recent years a number of companies have been operating. The Pato mines cover 40,000 acres near Zaragoza, population 2700, Antioquia, where a dredge is operated. At the Nechi mines the dredging cost is 9 cents a yard, the return about 75 cents. In Antioquia there are 20 rivers with gold alluvium, but operations are chiefly on the Cauca, Nechi, Pato, and Porce. The bench gravel is very deep and can be worked profitably (except at times by the natives) only with machinery, as is the case generally. Therefore considerable capital is necessary for a successful enterprise. More than 12,000 gold bearing sites are known in Antioquia; many in Nariño, Caldas, El Valle, Tolima and Chocó. The gold production in Colombia since the Conquest is estimated as above $600,000,000 and that of silver as $30,000,000.
Emeralds. The most famous mining industry of the country is emeralds; for nowhere else are they produced in quantity and here are the best. The mines were worked long before the coming of the Spaniards, and the actual labor has been performed by the Indians ever since. The mining has been a Government monopoly. The area is a region of 4000 square miles, but the only mine recently operated is the Muzo, 92 miles northwest of Bogotá. It is now worked by the open system though formerly by tunnel. The workers live on the ground in buildings provided for the men and officers, with police to prevent thieving. Present operations are in almost vertical cliffs rising from 100 to 550 feet above small valleys. The loose soil is not removed by water, as is stated elsewhere; the emeralds are separated from the soil by a dry method; water is used to carry away the detritus and also to wash the residue left by material from rotten veins in order to expose small emerald crystals. The output in normal years approaches 800,000 carats. No attempt should be made to obtain a possible concession without thorough investigation and ample capital. The same may well be said of any mining venture. A concession for emerald mining has been secured by an American company.
Other Industries
Manufacturing is fostered by high duties on many goods; further by concessions such as exemption from taxes, land grants, or money, to persons establishing factories. In return the goods must be sold lower than those imported. Some large business firms finance other enterprises such as coffee and factories. Of manufactures textiles are the most important. In Barranquilla there are 200 British electric looms run by boys and women; British yarns are imported and worked up into domestics and drills; there are other factories at Bogotá, Cartagena, Medellín, and two for fine woolen cloth at Bogotá. Some cotton spinning is done; two new spinning mills in Barranquilla each have 2500 spindles. In cottages are many looms for the spinning of wool, in which the Indians are very proficient.
In one place or another are factories of almost every kind: silk, flour, chocolate, matches, shoes, tanneries, ice, mineral waters, breweries, tiles, iron and steel, glass, candles, soap, etc. Bogotá has the largest number of factories, about 40, Medellín the next; others are well scattered over the country. Few do much more than supply local wants, partly on account of the difficulties of transportation.
Export. The only manufactured product important in export is Panamá hats. The principal centers of the industry are Antioquia, Nariño, Huila, and Santander Sur. The hats are made of toquilla palm, the young leaves of which are cut off, split into thin strips by a small wooden knife, spread out in the sun to dry, and then woven. The hats are not made under water, but the straw must be kept very damp to avoid breaks and splits; so weavers sometimes go into damp caves. Near Pasto, Nariño, hats are made almost equal in fineness to those of Montecristi, Ecuador. The industry has a bright future unless Japan by cheaper labor drives the South American product from the market. To prevent this the export of raw straw may be forbidden.
Investments
Colombia obviously offers a wide and varied field for investments, but like the other South American Republics, on account of low wages, it presents no opportunities favorable to ordinary laborers unless in agriculture. An immigrant may receive a free grant of land of 6175 acres, which he must within ten years cultivate over one third of the area; or if cattle lands, two thirds must be occupied.
Various forms of agriculture may be attractive to persons of moderate capital: sugar cane, bananas, coffee, cacao, cotton, fruits, etc., as also agave or other fibre material. Tagua groves in baldíos may be exploited.
Discoverers of mines in baldíos, Government lands, have a preferential right to 1250 acres of land adjoining the mines denounced. The abundance of water power is of great value to investors of every kind, being equally important for mining, factories, and agriculture.
Factories on account of high tariffs make excellent profits. Cattle and sheep raising offer good prospects. Public works including drainage, water supply, sewers, road and railway construction, bridges, and development of electric power should afford many and varied opportunities.
CHAPTER VII
VENEZUELA: AREA, HISTORY, GOVERNMENT, POPULATION, ETC.
East of Colombia is the only other Republic on the north coast of South America, Venezuela.
Area, Population, Boundary
Area. Next to Colombia in position, Venezuela is also next in size. Sixth of the South American Republics in area, her territory covers about 394,000 square miles, equal to that of California, Arizona, and New Mexico.
Population. With approximately 3,000,000 inhabitants, Venezuela is entitled to the same rank in population, for though Chile with smaller area surpasses her in this respect, Bolivia with greater extent of territory probably has fewer inhabitants. As neither country has accurate statistics to consult there is some uncertainty about the matter.
Boundary. Venezuela is irregular in outline, but in general her boundary is as follows. The Caribbean Sea is on the north, the Atlantic northeast, British Guiana east; also a part of Brazil is east of a southern projection of Venezuela; Brazil is on the south, with Colombia also south of a western projection; Colombia alone is on the west.
History
The land of Venezuela was sighted by Columbus in 1498; in 1499 it was explored to some extent by Alonzo de Ojeda, who gave the country its name (Little Venice), the Indian dwellings on piles in Lake Maracaibo reminding him of the famous Italian city. Settlements were made early in the 16th century, the first especially for the sake of the rich pearl fisheries. On account of the bad faith and cruelty of the Spaniards and the warlike spirit of the natives, many disorders and atrocities occurred, accompanied by quarrels among the Spaniards themselves.
In 1810 the citizens of Caracas deposed the Governor; the following year independence was declared, but it was not secured until the Royalists were defeated in the battle of Boyacá in 1819. The Great Colombian Republic was then formed by General Bolívar, though the last royalist adherents did not give up until 1823. Venezuela withdrew from the Union in 1830; the hero and patriot Bolívar died the same year. Many internal difficulties and changes of government have characterized the period of independence, though comparative quiet has succeeded the exit of Castro in 1909.
Government
In contrast with Colombia, the Republic is a federal and not a centralized union. It has the usual three branches: a President with his Cabinet forms the Executive Department; there are two Houses of Congress; also a Supreme Court.
The twenty States have each a President and a Legislature, a Supreme and other Courts. The two Territories and the Federal District are administered by Governors appointed by the President, who is elected for seven years.
The names of the States and of their capitals follow, with their populations estimated, as until recently no census had been taken since 1897. The new figures (December, 1921) are received only for the Territories. The Coastal States beginning at the northwest are Zulia, Falcón, Yaracuy, Carabobo, Aragua, the Federal District, Miranda, Anzoátegui, Sucre, Monagas. Anzoátegui and Monagas are also Llano States, with Guárico, Cojedes, Portuguesa, Zamora, and Apure. Táchira, Mérida, and Trujillo are Mountain States; Lara, north of Trujillo, almost comes into the coast region. Nueva Esparta is an Island State. Bolívar, south of the Orinoco, lies between the two Territories, Delta Amacuro and Amazonas.
| States | Population | Capitals | Population | Altitudes, in Feet |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zulia | 185,000 | Maracaibo | 50,000 | 20 |
| Falcón | 170,000 | Coro | 20,000 | |
| Yaracuy | 103,000 | San Felipe | 15,000 | 808 |
| Carabobo | 200,000 | Valencia | 60,000 | 1,577 |
| Aragua | 115,000 | Maracay | 15,000 | 1,463 |
| Federal District | 137,000 | Caracas | 100,000 | 3,036 |
| Miranda | 173,000 | Ocumare del Tuy | 10,000 | 693 |
| Anzoátegui | 162,000 | Barcelona | 16,000 | 43 |
| Sucre | 117,000 | Cumaná | 15,000 | |
| Monagas | 90,000 | Maturín | 16,000 | 244 |
| Guárico | 221,000 | Calabozo | 10,000 | 330 |
| Cojedes | 75,000 | San Carlos | 12,000 | 495 |
| Portuguesa | 115,000 | Guanare | 11,000 | 636 |
| Zamora | 75,000 | Barinas | 7,000 | 594 |
| Apure | 30,000 | San Fernando | 8,000 | 240 |
| Táchira | 133,000 | San Cristóbal | 17,000 | 2,722 |
| Mérida | 115,000 | Mérida | 15,000 | 5,415 |
| Trujillo | 184,000 | Trujillo | 12,000 | 2,640 |
| Lara | 231,000 | Barquisimeto | 35,000 | 1,868 |
| Nueva Esparta | 60,000 | La Ascunción | 3,000 | 356 |
| Bolívar | 70,000 | Ciudad Bolívar | 20,000 | 125 |
| Territories | ||||
| Delta Amacuro | 12,258 | Tucupita | 1,000 | [A] |
| Amazonas | 3,298 | San Fernando de Atabapo | 400 | [A] |
[A] Figures for the area of the States and others omitted are unavailable.
Population
The number of inhabitants, estimated as a trifle less than 3,000,000, is about seven to a square mile. Seventy per cent of the people are called poor, hence with a rather small purchasing power. The Federal District has about 15 persons to the mile, the density in general decreasing in proportion to the distance from the capital. The Guayana region, the Delta, and Apure, supposed to have less than half a person to a mile, are among the least populated regions of the globe.
The white population is ranked as about 10 per cent of the whole, the mestizos, those of mixed race, as 70 per cent; the rest are Africans, Indians, and foreigners. About ³⁄₄ of a million live in 48 towns; 75,000 are engaged in agriculture. In most of the cities are people accustomed to European society, with a taste for European luxuries, as well as those of simpler habits and desires. As in Colombia, the requirements of those who live high on the mountains and those on the llanos are very different. Attractive inducements are offered to immigrants for colonization.
The Indians are of many tribes, some quite distinct from the others. As a small part of the Goajira Peninsula is in Venezuela, there are Goajiros like those in Colombia. A large proportion of the aborigines became mingled with the Spaniards; in the mountainous sections of the north live few Indians of pure blood. In the region of the Delta and in the southern part of the country are many Indians of at least 16 tribes; some are dirty and stupid, others intelligent and fierce; some are good workers and boatmen, others are timid and agricultural. The Arawaks are gentle, industrious, and clean.
Education
Venezuela’s percentage of illiteracy has been high, but since 1912 the system of education has been reorganized. The National Government has established in the principal cities primary schools with six grades. Attendance at four of these since 1919 is compulsory. The teaching of English was then ordered. In the various capitals are 22 colegios (high schools), several cities having also Commercial Schools, Schools of Fine Arts, and of Arts and Trades.
There are Universities in Caracas and in Mérida, with Schools of Law, Medicine, Philosophy and Letters, Engineering, Dentistry, Pharmacy, and Theology.
States and Municipalities make additional provision.
Press, Religion, Etc.
The Press includes official gazettes in the capitals of the States, and other periodicals devoted to scientific, literary, and other special subjects.
Religion. There is freedom in religion; the State, however, contributes to the Roman Catholic Church. Civil marriage alone is legal; the religious ceremony generally follows, although in the rural districts, where priests are scarce and the fees high, both ceremonies are often omitted. Divorce is now permissible.
Venezuela belongs to the Postal Union and has parcel post; but service to the interior is rather primitive.
The Telegraph service, with about 6000 miles of wire, is cheap and called efficient; the telephone lines have double their length of wire. At Caracas, Maracaibo, and Maracay there are wireless stations communicating with Curaçao and so with the outside world. There is also cable service.
Money is in gold, silver, and nickel coins, and there are bank notes issued by four banks. The bolívar is the unit of money, equal to the French franc: 19.3 cents. A dollar passes for 5 bolívars. American money circulates near the coast, as does the English sovereign. The natives frequently use the term peso for which they employ the $ sign. As the peso equals but 4 bolívars this creates confusion and mistakes must be guarded against.
The Metric System is official, compulsory, and in general use.
CHAPTER VIII
VENEZUELA: PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS
The configuration of Venezuela is simpler than that of Colombia; the country has four distinct sections:
First, a mountain region including the Venezuelan Andes, which is a branch of the East Cordillera of Colombia; and a range called the Maritime Andes extending along the coast.
Second, lying east and south of the mountains, the great plain of the llanos occupying a large part of the Orinoco Basin.
Third, the Guiana or Guayana Highlands south of the Orinoco, extending to the eastern and southern boundaries and occupying a great extent of unexplored territory.
Fourth, the coastal plain around Lake Maracaibo.
First Section
The Andes coming in from Colombia cross the northwestern portion of Venezuela in two or more ranges, separating the great Orinoco Basin from the lowlands lying between this chain and that part of the Colombian East Cordillera called the Sierra de Perija. A number of the mountains are above 13,000 feet, the highest, La Columna, is 16,522 feet. Though none of the mountains are volcanoes, earthquakes are common. The general height of the range decreases on the south towards Colombia, and north towards the Caribbean Sea, till at one point at the north, near where the city of Barquisimeto is located in the valley between the two ranges, the Rio Cojedes goes through to the Orinoco Basin. Beyond the Cojedes River the Maritime Andes stretch along the coast in two parallel ranges, the high valley between them being the most densely populated part of the country. The peak above Caracas, called the Silla de Caracas, one of the highest of this section, has an altitude of 8650 feet; Naiguatá passes 9000. After a considerable break at Cape Codera the mountains continue to the Gulf of Paria.
The western branch of the Venezuelan Andes, turning north, continues towards the coast in low ranges called the Segovia Highlands, with the Maracaibo district on the west.
Second Section
East and south of this mountainous country is the vast region, thinly populated and not well known, of the great Orinoco Basin, occupying three fourths of the country; first come the llanos, followed by a forested district, with hilly, mountainous country beyond. The llanos, covering 87,000 square miles on the north side of the great river, are grassy plains broken by islands of trees. Near the mountains north and west are extensive forests. The llanos are of slightly varying altitude, in parts rising imperceptibly, but often by terraces or banks a few feet high. In the western section there are large tracts in the Portuguesa Valley but 300 feet above the sea; in other places the land rises to 650 feet, and to a still greater height on the mesas which form the watershed between the Orinoco and the rivers Unare and Aragua flowing into the Caribbean Sea.
Third Section
South and east of the Orinoco River are the Guiana Highlands, said to cover 200,000 square miles, for the most part a plateau 1000 feet and upwards in elevation, from which rise several mountain chains connected by lower hills, the Parime Range separating the Orinoco and Amazon Basins. A few peaks rise 8000 feet; the highest known is Mt. Roraima, 8500 feet, at the southeast corner, where the boundaries of British Guiana, Brazil, and Venezuela come together.
Fourth Section
This region, much smaller, occupies the northwest part of the Republic, which may be considered as a coastal plain. It includes the alluvial area around Lake Maracaibo, the Coro and the Paraguana lowlands, with open sandy hills extending along the shore of the Gulf of Venezuela to the end of the Paraguana Peninsula, and some islands of the same character.
The Lake district is somewhat similar to the Orinoco Delta, with many rivers coming in at the south, and with open lagoons and swamps; it is bordered by dense forests often inundated by rains. East and west towards the north between the swamps are higher lands with some grassy plains. At the west is the Sierra de Perija on the Colombian frontier.
Rivers and Lakes
Venezuela is said to have 72 large and more or less navigable rivers, of which the Orinoco is the chief. Its length, variously stated, may be 1570 miles and the area of its basin 370,000 square miles.
The Orinoco, rising near the Brazilian boundary, first flows northwest, then northerly forming the boundary line with Colombia, and from the entrance of the Meta River, northeast and east to the Atlantic Ocean. Its low forested delta covers 8500 square miles. Boca de Navios, the largest mouth, is 20 miles wide with a depth of 17 feet at the bar. Among the 400 or more tributaries the most important are the Caroni, the Caura, and the Ventuari, draining the mountainous and forested section at the south; and the Guaviare, Vichada, Meta, and Apure coming in from the west, the first three from Colombia. The Casiquiare, previously mentioned, connects the Orinoco with the Rio Negro.
Among other rivers of importance are the Catatumbo and the Escalante flowing into Lake Maracaibo and the Tocuyo into the Caribbean.
Among the 205 lakes, Maracaibo, covering 8392 square miles, is obviously the largest and most important. Other lakes are Valencia, Zulia, Laguneta, and Camaguán, but many of the 200 are mere shallow lagoons which serve as breeding places for mosquitoes.