Evening Republican, Volume 22, Number 160, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 9 July 1919 — Up the Magdalena River [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Up the Magdalena River

TIE trip by the Magdalena river from the sea to Bogota, the capital of Colombia, is one of the most 'interesting the traveler can find, says the. London Times. The time of the voyage varies from nine to fourteen days, according to whether it is made in the wet or dry season. During the trip one ascends from sea level to 9,000 feet above it; there are three separate train, and two steamer journeys; the scenery varies from sweltering forest to wide, airy pastures, wheatfields and ragged blue mountain peaks; the dwellings of the people change from insouciant, palmthatched huts to the imposing Spanish style stone mansions of the ancient city of Bogota. Puerto Colombia, with the turquoise Caribbean washing its feet, i» a port by courtesy. Steamers call there for the convenience of Barranquilla. Widespread, sunny, flower-bedecked Barranquilla sits upon the bank of the Magdalena, and continually and passionately discusses the question of water transport, for it can have no direct access to the sea until the Magdalena bar is conquered. From Barranquilla one takes a river steamer to La Dorada. On the flatbottomed river boat, drawing only a foot or two of water, travelers must provide themselves with bedding; the steamship company lends a canvas cot. but nothing else, and the Barranquilla hotels specialize in providing the visitor for Bogota with the outfit —a pillow of tree-cotton, a couple qf tiny sheets, a mosquito netting “bar,” a couple of little towels. No other bedding is needed, for the heat is stifling • but the judicious also take table delicacies and everything needed in the way of beverages, with the exception of coffee, of which there is a constant and most excellent flow. Soon the forest closes down to the edge of the water, as unconquered, as dominant, as in Quesada’s day, 400 years ago. Quesada took two years to ascend the river to Bogota, the survivors of his party arriving ragged and starving; the marvel is that a single one of those adventurers reached the plains. , ”

Scene of Great Beauty. The jade of banana leaves, whipped into rags by the wind, the glaucous green of lilies, the emerald of the palms, the jasper of the great forest giants, is only broken here and there by a trail of flowering vine or the rare sight of a high-perched mauve or gold orchid; where open spaces occur there are low-growing bushes covered with flowers, and one sees a host of butterflies and birds, but usually there is nothing but the river and the green wall of forest. When rain falls in a straight sheet even the forest is blotted out and the alligators and turtles of the margins are invisible until the sun reappears. When a stop is made for wood or to deliver merchandise to some little trading point the outlet for some rich region producing sugar, hides, coffee or tobacco, all the'village comes to the littl® wharf, guns are fired and church bell is rung, in the steamer’s honor; there are a number of such places below Puerto Berrio. Puerto Berrio is important as the starting point for the wonderful Cauca Valley, worth some trouble to reach and possessing a perpetual June climate, a wealth of fruit and flowers, a fertile soil and mountains sown with precious minerals. At La Dorada, where the blue mountains have suddenly come nearer and turn green and purple, there is little but a row of modest cottages, and the railway sheds; but here is the train for Beltran, the line leaving the river, and traversing a wonderful country of bright green pastures with sturdy herds grazing, fine lusty trees and bills that rise grotesquely, topped with fantastic rocks like battlemented castles of the middle ages. All this region ig famous for its tobacco, and has exported it to Europe for over a hundred years. The train stops at Honda, where one looks far down at the rapids; the town Is bright and pretty, the center of a gold mining industry, and here, by the way, one buys four cigars «f excellent tobacco for the equivalent of 2%d. There is another halt at Marlqulta,

where Quesada /lied, and where today an, English company has established one of the terminals of an aerial tramway across the broken country, forests and mountains Into the Cauca valley. The tall standards march along into the distance almostly directly west; I believe that the enterprise has been, as it deserves, very successful —I heard of a grand piano having been carried triumphantly by this air line.. . Trains Go Slowly. About five hours is occupied by the train journey and then Beltran (is reached with its waiting steamer for the rio arriba. The steamers for the upper river are small, the Mining-tables set out on the open main deck in picnic style. There are only six cabins on this little boat, and most of the score of passengers sleep outside under a sapphire velvet sky set with a million diamonds. This sky seems very close above; the air is soft, full of woodland scents; all night one hears the song of the river, only overcome when at first flush of dawn hundreds of ringing bird voices begin to call from the bushes. With full daylight comes realization of the beauty of the rio arriba. Here the steep, folded mountain spurs stand down to the water’s edge, little white cliffs marking the force of the flood in the rainy season; brilliant green on the long crests, these spurs take on deep violet shadows in the innumerable /lefts and gorges. When the steamer reaches Girardot, with its scarlet blossoms, its cobbled streets tipping down to the river, and its eternal clothes-washing on the flat stones of the margin, there is but one section of the journey still to be traversed —the railroad to Bogota. During this final stage there is a great deal of steady climbing to the upland plateau, and a long run across the cool plains. One passbs through regions of wonderful fruit —rose-apples and nisperos, grenadillas, and manzanas and melons; ascends through a cutting whose sides are jet black because here is a seam of excellent coal providing fuel for the railway; and, after rolling through level lands where cattle graze peacefully beside willow-bordered brooks, sees at last the twin peaks of Monserrat and Guadalupe, •with the white walls of Bogota at their feet. The mountains stand like a vast purple barrier; beyond lies that lake of legends, Guatavlta, a score of gold-bear-ing rivers; the emerald mines of Muso from which the finest stones in the world, and the largest annual quantities, are produced.

Scene on the Magdalena River.