The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-09-03
COLOMBIA.

Inc name OF Colombia ~ lnkeo Win bno
earlier name Of that country, New Granada.
With the name New 0ranAdathSro are linked
the nAmos OF Amyas Leigh, Of Frank Leigh,
VIII Cary, Salvation Yso, the Rose OF Tor
ridge, and Ayacanova, the Daughter OF
the Sun. There comes 10 the mind group
Of travel worn men. Bidding farewell
onoe and forever to the neen ocean Of the
eastern plain, they have crossed the cor
dillera, they have taken q glance at the city
Of Santa Fe, lying in the midst Of rich gar
dens on It's lofty mountain plateau The
Santa Fe Of New Granada 10 The Bogota OF
to-day. Charles KingsIey's mastery story
may be fiction, but his picture OF the New
Granada Of the sixteenth century 10 drawn
with truth. New Qranada-an old land
Of romance, pathos, tragedy; Colombia
o new land carving for itself a place In q
new world.
In 1899 Alonzo de Ojeda. a companion
Of Columbus on his second voyage. disoOv~
cred but did not occupy the coast Of the
country now known as Colombia. About
forty years later Gonzalo Jimines dc Que
sada entered the city Of Bogota, to which
he gave the name Of Santa F4 de Bogota-
He entered II by well made roads and found
IL inhabited by q people whose civilization
has been compared to that OF the early
Egyptians. They were the Chibchas, about
whom perhaps even less Ia known than Is
known about the Caras Of Ecuador, the
Incas Of Peru or the Araucanisns OF Chile.
Soon after Quesada's arrival at Bogota by
the way Of the Magdalena River he was
joined by Sebastian de Benalcazar, who
was exploring northward from Quito, and
by another band which had moved west
ward from Venezuela. II Ii somewhat
remarkable that these different bands,
coming different directions and each acting
In total ignorance OF the movements Of
the others, should have reached q common
centre at so nearly the same time. All
were, however, moved by the same impulse
and bent on the same GRAND. All were
seeking FL Dorado.
A misconoeption prevails regarding this
term. FL Dorado, literally the gilded one,
was a man and not a place. Among the
religious ceremonials Of the Chibohas
there was a practice Of amounting their
ruler with a vegetable oil or gum n then
coating him from head to heel with gold
dust blown against his body by the use OF
hollow tubes. Confusion between the man
Ell Dorado and the land Of FL Dorado APP
pears to have arisen among the early
Spaniards and to have continued ever
since. Out of this misconception FL Do
RADIO has come to be q mysterious land Of
fabulous richness In gold and gems lying
somewhere in the mountains Of north
western South America. It was the hidden
Manoa, the golden city, with its fairy lakes
and golden palaces, so long and so painfully
sought by Amyas Leigh and his compan-
ions.
With the exception OF a short trip by rail
from Cartagena to Calamar on the banks
Of the Magdalena, the traveller Of to-day
on his way to the Colombian capital would
follow very much the same route as that
by which Mr.. Kingsley brought his travel
worn wanderers from the interior to the
Bay Of Santa Marta, where they captured
the galleon that took them back to Eng
land. The route would be reversed, Of
course, and a steamer would take the place
OF canoes for the river trip. But the jour
ney across the mountains is still made on
muleback with q pack train for the bag
gage. The steamboat and some improve
ment in the mountain road are about all
the advance that has been made In more
than 800 years.
The rule Of Spain in Colombia a. else
WIOAO VA DRaAAAol OgtOhACb OlAeA hOtOA AACN
by a bigoted and oppressive eoclesiasticism,
to which there are a few notable exceptions,
by misrule, brutality and avariOe. These
burdens fell upon the native Indians, upon
the ever increasing number Of haffbreeds,
and in no small measure upon the lower
Glasses Of the Spanish settlers. Revolt
followed, after many years Of discomfort
and protest. In 1910 q provisional junta
--- So l. Dz-zkn AwI l.. D q . - %
constitution was issued. The ensuing years
were a time Of domestic strife and Of revolt
against Spain. Under the leadership OF
Simon Bolivar Colombia united with Ecuador
and Venezuela In December, 1919, to form
the United States OF Colombia. The political
divisions were then known as the States Of
Bogota, Caracas and Tuito. The combina-
ton proved to be too extensive and too in
coherent, and in 1880 the trio split into the
present republics. The experience Of Colom-
bia since that time has been particularly
notable for its unrest, war and revolution.
Almost from the beginning Of its lndepen-
dence Colombia has been racked and torn
by strife between It's political parties, the
Liberals and the Conservatives, over the
question Of a centralized or deoentralized
form OF government.
The area OF Colombia is approximately
800 900 square miles. Its population, not
accurately known, is estimated at about
100000. Near the southern border of
Colombia the great Andes range forks and
forms the eastern and western cordilleras.
A little to the north Of the fork q central
range appears. The eastern range forks
again in the department OF S~antander,
one branch running n~ortheastward to
Point Gallinas. and the other, bearing more
to the eastward, running into Venezuela
south Of Lake Maracaibo. A number OF
the peaks Of the western and central
cordilleras, although within only q few
degrees OF the equator, are perpetually snow
crowned. I~nterspersed among these various
g are rich valleys and fertile table
lands abundantly watered. Bogota liz built
on one OF these plateaus, at an elevation Of
5000 feet, while around It the mountains lift
their heads to still higher attitudes.
The climate varies with locality. In the
lowlands Of the valley OF the Magdalena
RIvor tha traveller efewa IN n pnolat ard