The Mellette County pioneer. [volume] (Wood, Mellette County, S.D.) 19??-1971, 1924-03-21


this road through virtual tunnels of
verdure. one gains the impression that
it is only because trains continue to
pass and TO mash too venturesome
roots and branches and tendrils that
the jungle does not wholly overrun the
right of way. Palms, bamboos, ferns,
and an endless variety Of vines and
parasitic plants form almost impen-
etrable walls that line the track for
miles. There is no dust, for the soil
is never far below saturatiOn, and the
foliage always looks as though it had
been freshly scrubbed.
AS the traveller ascendc the western
Andes the effect of altitude and local
barriers on his surroundings becomes
fascinating. Topping an auxiliary
ridge he leaves the dense tropical for
est behind, for the ridge is barrier to
the heavy misunderstanding clouds. Be-
yond it is grass land, only reasonably
well watered. But once across the
valley and on the climb again up the
out of the rain shadow" and finds that
moisture has taken UP its forest build
ing again. This new forest zone, how
ever, is no longer tropical. The re-
duced temperature due to altitude has
made it into semi-tropical land with
plants and animals and birds as dis
tinct as if ii were thousand miles
instead Of Il dozen from the steamy
forest that was first traversed. Then
one tops the main ridge of the western
Andes. and again the scene is shifted
as suddenly as in theater. TO the
east of the crest one is again in a
"rain shadow" and the downward
slopes are bare of trees, but covered
with grass.
Cauca Valley Almost Ideal.
This is the beginning Of one Of
Colomba's principal geographic di-
visions, the Cauca valley, approximate
ly 40 miles wide, which extends for
more than 500 miles between the tall
walls of the western and central Andes.
Granted that one wishes TO live i'm n
mildly tropical climate, the upper
Cauca valley would seem to be- one OF
the half-doZen best locations in all the
world. It's floor near Cali, metropolis
Of the vale, has an altitude Of $500
feet and moderate rainfall which
climate; and almost at arms length
on either side is whatever cooler tenn
perature he may wish. ut which to
spend his vacations and holidays and
even week-ends.
The soils fertility seems beyond the
possibility Of exhaustion. On some
plantations sugar cane has grown lux
uriantly for a century and quarter
without fertilization; and grass, once
established on the cattle ranges, goes
on furnishing the raw material for
good beef year in and year out. Since
man does not live on sugar and beef
alone, one other valuable factor in the
Cauca valleys favor is worth noting
the beautiful scenery that meets the
eye at every turn, wEctt.r in the
crisp rays of the morning sun, the
warm MONDAY, or the mellow after
glow Of the mountain sunsets.
Down the valley flows the Cauca
river whose steamers furnish a de-
lightful means OF transportation
toward the outside world. AS one
steams down the stream the country
takes on a more and more tropical as
pect. Savannas give way to groves
Of bamboo and plantain and these to
deep primeval forests with birds Of
brilliant plumage and interesting fam
lilies Of monkeys.
Over the central Andes and into the
valley through which flows the cOun-
trys greatest river, the Magdalena,
one finds in way a repetition OF con-
ditiOns in the Cauca valley. The Mag
dalena valley is deeper, however, and
in it one finds real tropical heat. But
the region between the central Andes
and their eastern brothers is not all
tropical valley. The distance between
these two ranges Of mountains is 1OO
miles or more, and much Of it is Occu-
pied by the supremely important table
land of BogOta. This lies at an eleva-
ton OF more than 5000 feet, so high
that the unpleasantness Of the tropics
is all extracted. leaving the North
American to(cnjoy the sort of climate
that his own country can show 1T its
best. There is little wonder that the
n
even II ii is remote from the seacoast,