Show persons who live la the temperate zone are aware of FEW the fact that there Is quite a large section of country in tropical america even at the equa tor which Is a land of elect and storm during the greater part of the year where many of the trails are frequently closed to men and beasts attempting to cross are frozen to death such a region Is the andean paramo in the republic of colombia three years ago dr arthur A alien explored that elevated land in search of bird specimens and ha has de ascribed scribed it in the american museum journal the following paragraphs says the bulletin of the pan amerl can union embody substantially the more important features of doctor aliens interesting account the paramo of santa isabel lies about two days journey from nto the largest town on the trail which crosses the central andes and on days especially at dusk can be seen at several points rising above the forest capped ridges to an albl tude between and feet beyond 1 and a little to the east lies the paramo of auls and most mag of all nevada del with its crown of crystal snow gleam ing in the rays of the setting sun many travelers pass over the trail without ever a glimpse of the snows to the north seeing only the banks of clouds that obscure even the tops of the moss forest and hide all but the near distance one morning in early september the naturalists natura lists slung their packs and started for the paramo of santa isa bel from colento the trail to the paramo leads first down into the bo qula valley and then follows the rivers meandering course through groves of splendid palms nearly to its source when it tuma abruptly and begins a steep ascent of the mountain side the palm trees in scattered groves continue to nearly 9 feet where the trail begins to zigzag through some halt cleared country where the trees have been felled and burned over and where in between many hours of travel up tle from to about feet where a budden change occurs the tree become dwarfed their leaves and thick heavily or cov ered with thick down and remind on of the vegetation about our northern togs with their andromeda and lab rador tea here too the ground lc places Is covered with a dense mat ol 01 sphagnum dotted with dwarf blubber and cranberries and similar which remind one of home out upon the paramo A cool breeze greets the traveler sky appears in place of the great dome of green and suddenly bo out upon the open paramo he has been traveling through the densest 0 forests seeing but a few paces alon the trail and only a few rods into the vegetation on either side he ha grown nearsighted and even th smallest contours of the landscape have been concealed by the dense for cst cover suddenly there Is thrown before his vision a waule world ol 01 mountains As far as h can see in all directions save behloul him ridge piles upon ridge in nevar series until they fuse in one mighty crest pierces the clouds with its snow capped crown this Is the para mo of santa isabel at this point the party anca led their horses along the narrow ridge they looked in vain for th jagged peaks that are so tic of our northern frost made mow bains here even th vertical did not seem entirely without legeta alon and as far as could be seen with binoculars the brown sedges and the gray covered the rocks even up to the very edge of the snow ah about them the strange as the native call them stood up on their pedestals ten or even fifteen feet in height in sheltered spots down among the sedges were many lesser plants similar to our north american species gentians composites a hoary lupine a butter cup a yellow sorrel almost identical with those of the united states birds also several of which proven the charred stumps a ew handfuls of wheat have been planted and now wave a golden brown against the black wonderful cloud forest and next the cloud forest it Is seldom that tho traveler s anticipation of any much heralded natural wonder Is realized when he Is brought face to face with it usually he feels a tinge of disappointment and follows it by a close scrutiny of the object before him in bearch of the grandeur depicted but not BO with the cloud forest according to mr alien it sur passes ones dreams of tropical lux auriance it Is here rather than in the lowland jungle that nature outdoes her belt and crowds every available inch with moss and fern and orchid here every twig Is a garden and the m laden branches co gigantic hat hv h v throw more shade than he leaves of be trees themselves G ant branches hang to the girourd from the hori contal branches of the larger trees and in turn are so heavily laden with moss and that they form an almost so d wall and present the appearance pe arance of a hollow tree trunk 15 or 20 feet la diameter one should pass through this forest during the rainy season to form a truy conception of its richness though even during the drnest months the variety and abundance of plant life covering every trunk and branch are beyond belief the great forest occasionally interrupted by clearings continues for ria A to be new to science were but all were of dull colors and reminded them in their habits of the open country birds of northern united states A goldfinch hovered above the a gray flycatcher ran along the ground or mounted into the air much like tho northern homed larks an ovenbird flew up ahead 0 them resembling a meadow lark a marsh wren scolded from the rank sedges and almost from under their horses boots one ot the large an dean snipes sprang into the air with bleat and went alg away on a benall lake which they came to barren except for a few algae rode an andean teal surprising ly like the northern badali and so the etory goes on here almost on the equator but feet above the level of the sea they had left the strangeness of the tropics and come upon a land that was strikingly their own |