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Show jjiAIRAMQ of ppiHANTA Wr Isabel VTm EW persons who live in the temperate zone are aware of jpS the fact that there is quite a 1 large section of country in tropical trop-ical America, even at the Equator Equa-tor which is a land of sleet and storm during the greater part of the year, where many of the trails are frequently fre-quently closed to men and beasts attempting at-tempting to cross are frozen to death. Such a region is the Andean paramo, In the Republic of Colombia. Three years ago Dr. Arthur A. Allen explored that elevated land in search of bird specimens, and he has described de-scribed it in the American Museum Journal. The following paragraphs, says the Bulletin of the Pan American Ameri-can Union, embody substantially the more important features of Doctor Allen's interesting account: The paramo of Santa Isabel lies about two days' journey from Solento, the largest town on the Quindio trail, which crosses the central Andes, and on clear days, especially at dusk, can be seen at several points rising above the forest-capped ridges to an altitude alti-tude between 16,000 and 17,000 feet. Beyond it and a little to the east lies the paramo of Ruis, .and, most magnificent mag-nificent of all, Nevada del Tolima, with its crown of crystal snow gleaming gleam-ing in the rays of the setting sun. One morning in early September the naturalists slung their packs and started for the paramo of Santa Isabel. Isa-bel. From Solento the trail to the paramo leads first down into the Bo-quia Bo-quia valley and then follows the river's meandering course through groves of splendid palms nearly to its source, when it turns abruptly and begins a steep ascent of the mountain side. The palm trees, In scattered groves, continue to nearly 9,000 feet, where the trail begins to zigzag through some half-cleared country, where the trees have been felled and 20 feet in diameter. One should pass through this forest during the rainyj season to form a true conception ot its richness, though even during tha dryest months the variety and abun-j dance of plant life covering every! trunk and branch are beyond belief. The great forest, occasionally interi rupted by clearings, continues for many hours of travel up the mountain! from 9,000 to about 12,000 feet, where a sudden change occurs. The trees become dwarfed, their leaves small and thick, heavily chitinized or covered cov-ered with thick down, and remind one of the vegetation about our northern bogs with their Andromeda and Labrador Lab-rador tea. Here, too, the ground in places is covered with a dense mat of sphagnum, dotted with dwarf blueberries blueber-ries and cranberries and similar plants 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 he steps out upon the open paramo. He has been traveling through the densest of forests, seeing but a few paces along the trail and only a few rods into the vegetation on either side; he has grown nearsighted, and even the smallest contours of the landscape have been concealed by the dense forest for-est cover. Suddenly there is thrown before his vision a whole world of mountains. As far as he can see in all directions, save behind him, ridge piles upon ridge in never-ending series until they fuse In one mighty crest which pierces the clouds with its snow-capped crown. This is the paramo para-mo of Santa Isabel. At this point the party dismounted and led their horses along the narrow ridge. They looked in vain for the jagged peaks that are so characteristic characteris-tic of our northern frost-made mountains. moun-tains. Here even the vertical cliffs did not seem entirely without vegeta: 1 f " ' , . 'Met v -rf X"C- vJ. li r r V . h I ' ' s . I f- - 4 - v - : , JL- ; - ' , I L J . . J t ; " v s U -? ' S ' 1 v tiv : , . -M h t si'1 , - , ; , t On the Paramo or Santa Isabel burned over, and where in between the charred stumps a few 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 the traveler's anticipation of any much-heralded natural wonder is realized when lie 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 search of the grandeur depicted, but not so with the Cloud forest. According to Mr. Allen it surpasses sur-passes one's dreams of tropical luxuriance. lux-uriance. It is here rather than in the lowland jungle that nature outdoes herself her-self and crowds every available inch with moss and fern and orchid. Here every twig is a garden and the moss-laden moss-laden branches so gigantic that they throw more shade than (he leaves of the trees themselves. Giant branches hang to the ground from the horizontal hori-zontal branches of the larger trees and in turn are so heavily laden with moss and epiphytes that they form an almost solid wall and present the appearance ap-pearance of a hollow tree trunk 15 or tin, tinj tls fur ciS could be seen witn binoculars the brown sedges and the gray frailejons covered the rocks even up to the very edge of the snow. All about them the strange mulleinlike frailejons, 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 buttercup, butter-cup, a yellow sorrel, almost identical with those of the United Slates. P.irds also, several of which proved to be new to science, were numerous, but all were of dull colors and reminded re-minded them in their habits of the open-country birds of northern United Unit-ed States. A goldfinch hovered above the frailejons; a gray flycatcher ran along the ground or mounted into the air, much like the northern horned larks; an ovenhird flow up ahead ot them resembling a meadow lark; a marsh wren scolded from the rank sedges; and almost from under their hordes' hoofs, one of the large. Andean An-dean snipes sprang into the air with a characteristic bleat acl went zig-zaging zig-zaging away. |