Especially is this the case when, in the dry season, travel is less onerous and when nothing can be more pleasing than the varying scenery. Here "dipping down into a delightful little valley, formed by a sparkling rivulet whose banks are edged with cane, bamboo and tropical trees, inter-wreathed with twining vines; there, circling a mountain-side and looking across at a vast amphitheatre where the striking vegetation, in wild profusion, is the gigantic wax-palm, that towers sometimes to a height of 100 feet; then, reaching the level of the oak and other trees of the temperate zone, or still higher at an altitude of 10,000 or 11,000 feet, the paramos, bare of all vegetation save low shrubs, which might be desolate were it not for the magnificent mountain scenery, with the occasional view of the glorious snow-peaks of the Central Cordillera.
"At times the road is poor: now and then, cut into the solid rock of the mountain-side, towering sheer hundreds of feet above you, while a precipice yawns threateningly on the other side, it may narrow down to a scant yard or two in width; it may, for a short distance, climb at an angle of almost forty-five degrees, with the roughest cobble paving for security against the mules slipping; or in a stretch of alluvial soil, the ruts worn by the constant tread of the animals in the same spot have worn deep narrow trenches, characteristic of Andean roads, against the sides of which one's knees will knock roughly if constant vigilance be not exercised; worse yet, these trenches will not be continuous, but will be interrupted by mounds over which the mules have continually stepped, sinking the road-bed deeper and deeper by the iterated stamping of their hoofs in the same hollow, till deep excavations are formed, which in the rainy season are pools filled with the most appalling mud. Such is a fair picture applicable to many a stretch of so-called road in Colombia.
"The 'hotel accommodations' on the way are poor, of course; one stops at the usual shanty and takes such fare as one can get, a sancocho or arepas, eked out with the foods prudentially brought along. It is in such passes as the Quindio, too, when one reaches the paramos, thousands of feet in altitude, and far above the clouds, that one experiences the rigorous cold of the Tropics. The temperature at night is nearly always below forty degrees; occasionally it drops to freezing-point, and one feels it all the more after a sojourn in the hot lowlands. No amount of clothing then seems adequate. Travellers will remember the bitter cold nights they have passed in the paramos."[2]
This bitter atmosphere is experienced, let us remember, on or near the Equator. But we are led on to the beautiful Cauca Valley perhaps, whence, if we wish, we may continue on through the pretty town of Cali, and up over the tablelands of Popayan and Pasto, and, passing the frontier, so ride on to Quito, the capital of Ecuador—a journey which will leave us with sensations both painful and pleasurable.
TRANSPORTING MACHINERY IN THE COLOMBIAN ANDES.
Vol. II. To face p. 22.
"If you cannot withstand the petty discomforts of the trail for the sake of the ever-shifting panorama of snow-peaks, rugged mountains, cosy valleys, smiling woodlands, trim little valleys, then you are not worthy to be exhilarated by the sun-kissed winds of the Andes, or soothed by the languorous tropical moonlight of the lower lands, or to partake of the open-handed hospitality which will greet you.
"Such is the fame of the Cauca Valley that it was long known throughout Colombia simply as the valley, and that is now its legal name. It is the valley par excellence. The name is used to designate especially that stretch, about 15 to 25 miles wide and 150 miles long, where the Cauca River has formed a gently sloping plain, at an altitude of 3,000 to 3,500 feet above sea-level, between the Central and the Western Cordilleras. A little north of Cartago and a little south of La Bolsa, the two ranges hem it in. The Cauca is one of the real garden spots of the world. No pen can describe the beauty of the broad smiling valley, as seen from favourable points on either range, with its broad green pastures, yellow fields of sugar-cane, dark woodlands, its towns nestling at the foothills, the Cauca River in the midst, silvered by the reflected sun, and looking across the lomas of the rapidly ascending foothills, with cameo-cut country houses, topped by the dense forests of the upper reaches of the mountains, rising to majestic heights. From some places in the western range will be seen the snow-clad Huila in icy contrast to the blazing sun shining on the luxuriant tropic vegetation beneath.
"The best developed parts of the hot and temperate zones of Cundinamarca are along the Magdalena Valley and the routes of the Girardot Railway, the road to Cambao and the Honda trail. In the warmer zone there are good sugar plantations: in the temperate zone is grown the coffee so favourably known in the markets of the world under the name of Bogota: it attains its perfection at an altitude of about 5,000 feet, and nowhere else in Colombia has such careful attention been given to its cultivation. The Sabana itself, by which name the plateau of Bogota is known, is all taken up with farms and towns—there is scarcely a foot of undeveloped land. The climate is admirably adapted to the European-blooded animals, and the gentleman-farmer of Bogota takes great pride in his stock. The finest cattle in Colombia, a great many of imported Durham and Hereford stock, and excellent horses of English and Norman descent are bred here. This is the only section in Colombia, too, where dairying on any extensive scale is carried on, and where the general level of agriculture has risen above the primitive. The lands not devoted to pasture are utilized chiefly for wheat, barley and potatoes.
"To offset bad water, the food supply is excellent, and of wonderful variety. That is one of the beauties of the climate of the Sabana. One gets all northern fruits and flowers, blooming the year round, and vegetables as well as quite a few of the tropical ones. It is an interesting sight to see tropical palms growing side by side with handsome northern trees, like oaks and firs. Some of the Sabana roads are lined with blackberries, and one gets delicious little wild strawberries; apples, pears and peaches are grown, though usually of a poor quality, not properly cultivated. Even oranges can grow on the Sabana, and from the nearby hot country they send up all manner of tropical fruits and vegetables. Then there is no dearth of good cooks: the epicure can enjoy private dinners and public banquets equal to any in the world. The one lady who reads this book will be interested to know that the servant problem is reduced to a minimum in Bogota; good domestics are plentiful and cheap—five to ten dollars a month is high pay. In the houses of the well-to-do the servants are well treated and lead happy lives; they have ample quarters of their own, centring around their own patio; and enough of the old patriarchal regime survives to make them really a part of the family."[3]
Descending from the mountainous part of the country, we reach, to the east, that portion of Colombia situated upon the affluents of the Orinoco, a region which we may more readily consider in our description of that great river, lying mainly in the adjoining Republic of Venezuela. Here stretch the llanos, or plains, and the forests which are the home of the wilder tribes, for Colombia has various grades of civilization among her folk, of which the last are these aboriginals, and the middle the patient Christianized Indians, who constitute the bulk of the working classes. These last have the characteristics, with small differences, of the Indian of the Cordillera in general, of whom I have elsewhere ventured upon some study.
In Colombia, although in some respects the Republic is pervaded by a truly democratic spirit as between class and class, power and privilege, land and education are in the hands of a small upper class. This condition does not make for social progress, and in the future may seriously jeopardize the position of that class. Wisdom here, as elsewhere in Spanish America, would advise a broader outlook. Political misrule in the past has been rampant, although revolutions of late years have been infrequent.
There are innumerable matters in Colombia which the observant traveller will find of the utmost interest, but upon which we cannot dwell here. Our way lies back to the Spanish Main, whence we take steamer along the coast to the seaports of Venezuela.