The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1903-01-16


r=st Of his figure. The poncho is an
other South American institution which
should by m means be neglected. 1t Is
; rOthing but very large. square blan-
kct II varying degrees Of coarscness or
elegance, with short slit exactly in
the middle of it, through which tire
Wearer thrusss his head. 1t fits close
around the neck. Of course falling down
equally On all sides, so that a man on
horseback is well protected from dust,
rain or cold The comnoner n0nchos
are Of Sleeps wool, woven by the Indi-
ans in their hand looms. Others are
very fine heavy and expensive. made Of
the long, silky fleece Of the llama, Or
alpaca. I have seen a few from Chill
that are really works of art-the out
side Of dark-bue cloth, very thick and
! woody, like the heaviest and finest chin
chilla, lined throughout with the same
texture in brilliant scarlet. Nothing
could be better adapted for ocean Or
railway travelling, and nobody need be
ashamed Of the odd fashion Of a gar
nent that plainly shows its value, The
cheaper varieties are generally gaily
| striped after the manner of Mexican
zarapes; or are Il dingy yellUWish
brown, the notural color Of llama wool.
Close behind Santander the steep and
rugged mountains of Torca jus down to
| the roadside, covered with low shrubs
and scant grass, where lean cattle are
feeding. That accounts for the cxis-
| tence Of the village, which would other
wise have no excuse for occupying the
barren spot. Wherever even this poor
| apology for grass grows among Co.
! Iomba's hills cattle can be raised for
the city markets; and of course there
must be people to take care Of the cat
! tie
The way grew wilder as the distance
from Bogota increased. Tall ferns
fringed the wayside, and no end of wild
flowers fourished among the boulders,
! gray and messy, that were pitched
about heller shelter, as if the mountain
brownies had been playing football
/ with them. Little brown birds, in
shape and size like English sparrows,
twittered overhead; larks were heard
! in the meadows, and an occasional
phoebe" uttered his CHEEKY call. And,
most welcome sight Of all, because so
familiar at home-We saw dandelions,
yellow as gold Though with quite a diff
ferent scent from those Of the north,
of which we gathered handfulls, in
memory of far-away days and places.
The famous salt mines are located in
the desolate looking hills behind Zipa-
quira. Nobody knows how old the
mines may be, nor how many millions
! of tons Of salt have been taken out Of
them 1t is recorded that in the year
| 1925 the Spaniards found them '0ld and
we'll established" having been worked
! by the aboriginal tribes since before
the memory Of the oldest inhabitants.
| And ever since they have been c0ntinu
ously worked by the changing govern
1nents, to this day furnishing the re-
| public of Colombia with about one
eighth of it's total revenue.
| Walking up q steep hill to the most
| extensive workings, We witnessed both
| the English and American systems of
| condensing salt: the former is in one
! big iron tank, and the latter in numer-
Gus small tanks. In other large build
! ings the crude salt is condensed into
| solid blocks, and all the moisture
| squeezed out of it by rude machinery,
with lever at one end, forced down by
men with ropes. Tub-shaped blocks of
| salt are thus made perfectly solid and
| these, we were told, are sold on the
! spot at cinco reals EACH or about fifty
cents American money. Sometimes a
| thousand arrobas Of salt are sold in
| single foren0on-an arroha being TWEEN
| ty-five pounds. In another shed a row
of earthenware kettles are fixed over
| furnaces, and the salt is thus eVapora-
! ted into cakes the kettles having to be
! broken to get the salt out of them. In
another establishment the kettles are
made of clay. the same as that used for
adobe bricks. Afterwards we followed
| a steep path up to the opening of the
principal mine. On the way thereto we
met carts loaded with salt, drawn by
oxen; and women bearing heavy bags
of salt on their backs. While waiting
for candles we had time to look about
us and enjoy the unrivaled view. In
front stretched the great plain of Boga-
ia, the Chibchas ancient eIysium; to
the left, shut in by high mountains, the
important town of Nemacon; arel DIM
ly discernable few miles to the right
the village of SepO, made famous by
one feeble and crippled girl who does
the most wonderful wood carving, rep
resenting characteristic Colombian
scenes.
Inside the earth we followed the, salt
mine to higher and higher levels, in
stead of descending, as in other mines
The darkness, rendered more intense by
Jour fiaring talloW dips, was appalling,
and utter silence, of which one can
form no conception above ground, en-
velOped us as with a shroud. The
walls are supported by solid columns Of
salt; salt everywhere, above, around,
below, nothing but salt.
The superintendent informed US that
the stupendous mountain of salt must
have been formed by the ocean which
in prehistoric ages washed over the
place where We were standing; but
whether biologists agree with him or
not, I cannot say. In some places the
salt was white as snow and sparked
like diamonds in the light of our can
dies; but as a rule it was q dirty slate
color. Away up in the heart of the
mountain, where the air is close and
oppressive and the blackness and 81
lence more terrible than before, is a
| Iittla choDpI hO11pIvo1 01,t nf solid colt