Arizona republican., 1916-09-17
Crossing the Calulcal

f crossing torrential rivers as ,racticed in the Republic of Colombia. | south America. l had been commissioned to make | m examination of a group of placer | mining claims located along the gorge | ike part Of the great Cauca river in | he western part of the department l l )i Antioquia. Preliminaries com | pleted, early one morning We mounted | our mules in Medellin, the capital city l | of Antioquia, for an all days trip to ! Sopetran, a city of 5000 inhabitants | This city holds status comparable to | that of q county seat in this country. | Sepeilan is a city typical of tropical | South America. As with other Co., 1 lombian cities the first object 10 be seen in t from a distance $ the great ! cathedral About this grand edifice 1 the smaller houses seem to nestle in | comfort and security as a brood Of | chickens huddle about the mother hen 1 The gleaming white washed houses i immersed in luxurious tropical green ! are suggestive as o. Henry says of | boiled eggs in lettuce" The old town redolent of peace and somnolence was most inviting to the travel worn visit. ors. We made the most of that cool
 
 found me with the alcalde or mayor of the city. He was one of the many proprietors of the claims and the let ters l carried apprised him of my mis- sion. The necessary negotiations were concluded in the polite and leisurely manner of the Spanish and 1t was ar ranged that We were to leave for the inspection trip on the morning of the l following day. To my surprise and | pra ftftggfiAp I lasF nA lac. al
 calde in place of delegating some peon to act as guide, was to accompany us and would pilot us down the turbulent Cauca
 I knew little or nothing of Spanish and had to rely upon an interpreter The best of interpreters is always more or less unsatisfactory as a channel of communication. My interpreter was , little more than boy as unfamiliar as myself with the country we were to | explore. He was quite overcome with diffidence in the august presence of ! the alcalde and was disposed to con l ceal his ignorance and to pretend | knowledge where he had none In the ' course of the conversation between the l. interpreter and the alcalde l noted the n frequent occurrence of the word 8 ''palo.' This, l understood, to mean r the trunk of tree. The interpreter ex- ! r on a "palo" but he vouchsafed nc - further explanation. l was so sure a that the alcalde meant a foot log that Q l did not trouble myself more about 1t h Shortly after sunrise the next morn ing we were in our saddles and fol- - lowed by our pack outfit were plod- ding along the crooked trails towards the town of Sabanalarga which WIG reached late in the afternoon anC | txfh txra hulfal fgs ha tgh+ VI were now about four miles from tn, roaring Cauca- As we approached tn, river the next morning vending oul way along the steep Andean slopes, tn, heavy grumble of the river began to bs discernible. When we stood upon tho rivers bank and looked over into tn, rushing waters I could think of noth.
 ing with which to compare it but tn,
 Nigara river in the gorge. This rivel
 meanders in a lazy, sluggish cours,
 over the high plateau on which tn, city of Supretan is located. At tn,
 nearest point to this city it is from
 half to three quarters of a mile il
 width but deep. But as the rive
 passes over the edge of the plateau i
 changes it's character abruptly. Within
 distance of fifty miles between tn,
 plateau and the low alluvial plains nea
 the sea coast, the river falls betweei
 
 width of half a mile on the plateau tn
 river narrows to less than two hun
 dred feet within six miles from tn
 edge and at point just above the al luvial plains the river has reduce,
 it's width to less than one hundre, feet though in this fifty mile stretcl
 the Cauca has received the accession
 of the waters of four small rivers an,
 over one hundred creeks. Great spec,
 alone makes it possible for the mar
 row channel to deliver the waters o
 the river. Like the Niagara river i
 the gorge the center of the flow
 bulged up. The margins of the rive
 are eddies the general movement c
 which is up stream.
 The alcalde turned his mule into trail leading up and parallel to tn river We followed obediently; tn interpreter behind the alcalde I cam
 next and Turner third with the peo and pack animals following. Conversa tion was difficult but Turner man aged to ask me how we were to eros
 that river. l told him that it was m understanding that we were to eros on a foot log. I hea,c something tha 1 sounded like "Spiggoty joke" Turne did not care much for Colombians. H
 was from Nevada, happy go luck
 chap. disposed to let the future talk
 care of itself and giving himself littl concern about it. As I looked int
 that boiling torrent and measure with my eye the width of it I bega to have some misgivings about tt foot log idea. There were difficultis
 the solution of which was not appai ent. However, I thought that if Il
 loo fzr,