The record-union. [volume] (Sacramento, Calif.) 1891-1903, 1899-03-05

| IL takes about two and half days
or rough riding over the Andes to reach
! the savanna of Bogota. This was
originally the bottom of a volcanic lake.
1t Is situated some 5000 feet above the
! sea, and is surrounded by mountain
peaks. The mule-bacl journey ends
at the little town of Facatativa, on thu
| eoge OF the savanna, and q short rails.
way across the plain leads to the Capi..
tai Once here, great change is felt
In the climate We seem to have en-
tirely left the tropics. At Honda tha
heat is so great that the very stones
We're too hot to touch, and the river
water was lukewarm. Here we are i'm
climate temperate. fresh and cool. In
the evening 1T is even chilly, and over@
coats and warm blankets are required
Bogota was founded in 1886 by Gon,
zalez Jimenez Quesada, and is in many
ways the finest and most interesting.
city in the republic. On one side 1t is
approached through a long avenue Of
eucalyptus trees. Above the city
tower the massive nights of Guadalupe
and Monserrate, their SUBMITS often
Wreathed in vapor. Here, high up i'm
the mountains, reached only by the
worst of mule tracks, and within five
degrees of the equator, is this rich old
city with 10000 inhabitants. we'll
paved streets, electric lights. telephones
and trolley cars and filled with the
artistic productions of Europe. In the
center of the city is the Plaza Bolivar.
with it's gardens filled with old-fash-
Toned European flowers, side by side
with tropical plants. On the eastern
side of the square stands the old Ca
thedral with it's twin towers of gray
masonry, looking very stately against.
the dark purple mountains behind. Mean,
the Cathedral is the beautiful CapeIa
San Salvador, its arcades filled with
ancient paintings-many of them Of
great interest-and it's vaulted ceiling
covered with deliberately carved panel-
ing. Below are the quantity carved
wooden galleries on either side of the
nave; above, the stone arcade The
kneeling, black-robed figures seen
against the beautiful old gilded altar
pieces in the dim light give an impress
sion long to be remembered.
On the south side of the square stand
the incomplete Government building;
and arcaded stores, bright with the
productions of Paris and New York,
complete the quadrangle.
As contrast to this, a little way off
is the market place, with its crowds of
Indians selling fruits and vegetables
side by side with red terra-cotta pottery
of all shapes, piles of straw hats, and
cheap Manchester goods, also sugar
canes, and cages with green parrots.
Numerous mules and drivers, dogs and
squatting Indian women are inter-
spersed amid the heaps of bananas,
mangoes, apples and plums. Stands of
cheap jewelry and odds and ends of all
sorts make up a curious medley. Civ
ilization stands hand in hand with saw
agery, and so mingled are they at times
as to produce a singularly chaotic ef-
feet.
This is an epitome of the whole coun-
try. The civilized centers with their
busy city life and their touch, though
slight, with modern life, are still but
as small spots. in vast country, swell
tering under a tropical sun. A few
miles from these cities civilization is oll
swallowed up, and nature reigns SILENT
ly supreme on her grandest scale. Only
q short distance from bustling town.
and you may lose yourself in forests
where the white man has never yet
penetrated, and the primeval stiffness
is unbroken.-F. Williamson in Frank
Leslie's Popular Monthly.