Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Fighting flies off each other. Despite the heat, the author often
wore a thick sweater in the tropics to ward off mosquitoes and because it tore less readily than a shirt.
Continuing our march over a fair trail we passed through a district where gold, silver, cop-
per and lead mines are worked on a small scale, and I am given to understand that the country
in this neighbourhood holds great possibilities in this line.
FodderwasagainveryscarcesoIboughtsugar-canewhichIchoppedintosmallpieces.At
first the animals did not like this but as time went on they took to it and derived great benefit
from its nutritive properties. Off and on I had to feed them on cane, bananas, bamboo, yuca -
once, even, green tobacco leaves - and this was by no means the end of strange menus they
hadonthetrip.Istill marvel howtheyneverwentsickwiththeconstant changes ofwater and
fodder, and often with the complete lack of either.
The Cauca valley is very hot, but is known as the most fertile in Colombia. A railway runs
most of its length and there is a good road until, farther north, one comes once more to moun-
tainous regions.
Palmira was the first town we struck in this valley. Quite a number of cars, and even some
buses, travel between here and Cali and other towns in the district. A fairly good road makes
motor traffic possible, but generally speaking, in Colombia roads are as scarce as railways. A
greatnumberofnegroeslivehere,mixingonleveltermswiththewhites,orthosewhobelieve
themselves to be of this colour. Women can often be seen smoking cigars, some having a way
of shifting them from one side of the mouth to the other with their tongues that might make
many men envious.
I made a side trip to Cali, the commercial centre of the Cauca valley. Although it is a pro-
gressive town there is nothing to be seen there; hotels are only fair but at the same time most
expensive, especially high tariffs existing for people who look like 'gringos' (slang for Amer-
icans).
As we all felt the stifling heat and there was a good road, we made several marches during
the night. I know nothing duller than riding by night. Nothing can be seen to distract one, dis-
tances seem enormous, and hours eternities.
'Pinto', or piebald, horses are unknown in Colombia, thus it happened that most horses
shied when they saw Mancha, and one once bolted with his rider when we suddenly appeared
round a bend. To my knowledge Mancha only frightened horses in Colombia, but I observed
that some in other countries seemed to look at him with great curiosity, whilst they never took
any notice of Gato who is a dark buckskin, or 'dun' as this colour is sometimes called in Eng-
land.
