Evening star., 1939-01-01

toise shell, old silver, small paintings
on bone and copper, old embroidered
silks, beautiful table linens, hand
painted post cards, dolls dressed in
regional misunderstanding is full
of thrills.
Nowhere in America are there
more magnificent church facades,
affairs, pulpits, religious paintings
and sculptures. For sheer display
of wealth-gold, silver and precious
stones-the interiors of these
churches are overwhelming.
Amazing Churches.
Days could be employed profitably
visiting Quito's churches and con-
vents. For instance, there is San
Francisco. The visitor crosses huge
bustling plaza, alive with the hum
OF motor cars, of people intent upon
their tasks; city noises that denote
prosperous, modern metropolis.
Yet minutes later a hooded and
sandaled monk admits the visitor
to the tranquil confines of the
cloisters where whole centuries of
time are turned back.
Side by side with such venerable
antiquities there are model cottages
Tor Workingmen, municipal power
plant. modern hospitals, imposing
public buildings, parks and a fast
growing suburb of fine homes.
Leaving Ecuador behind, the fly
ing ship sails on to Cali, in Colom-
bia, crossing large part of the
Cauca Valley, famous for its enor-
nous natural wealth and its incom-
parable beauty. From a splendid,
modern hotel the traveller goes to
visit the Country Club and other
social centers, the swimming pools
and the churches.
Bogota, the capital, lies in the
center of the Colombian Andes, at
nearly 5000 feet above sea level
OF all the capitals of the South
American Republics, that of Colom-
bia used to be one of the most Sc
cluded from the outer world, but
now it is only a few hours from
the coast by air.
Although the city has made re-
markable strides in modernization
and improvement in recent years,
Bogota still retains wealth of his
toric memories of the days when 1t
was a vice-royal seat in the proud
Spanish colonial empire. The city
stands on a plateau over which the
mountains Of the eastern range of
the Andes seem to hover. The
houses are low for the most part
with caves projecting over the
street. One may see many homes
where iron bars protect the win
dows and the plants and flowers
that adorn them, reminding the
visitor of the yet unspoiled sections
Of Cordoba and Seville. Bogota
has a plentiful share of imposing
buildings of both the old and the
new age, luxurious hotels, fine the
aters, beautiful parks and excellent
museums.
A few miles to the south of Bo-
gotta one may visit by rail the Falls
of Tequendema in the Bogota River,
properly ranked among the great
cataracts of the world. The waters
of this river, which flow so unhur-
riedly through the plains below,
here are virtually squeezed to a
width OF less than 100 feet in sheer,
mad fight before they plunge al
most $50 feet to the rocks beneath.
The salt mines of Zipaquira, a few
miles north of the capital, are also
worthy of visit. These mountains
Of salt, which extend for many
miles, have .been exploited for CEN
turies, but as yet practically no i'm
preston has been made upon them.
One enters the mines through wide
doors, and goes down long pas
sages to immense white galleries,
which CLEAN and scintillate from
the electric lights. The effect is
that of vast cathedral with end
less naves upheld by colossal arches.
About Is miles from Bogota are
located what are probably the only
mines today producing emeralds,
found embedded in the green quartz
of the world-famous Muzo mines.