rushes down the neighbouring mountains of Mariquita to join the Magdalena in the centre of the town. This torrent is crossed by a wooden bridge of one arch, boldly constructed on fragments of rock which serve as piers, but now in a very precarious state.

The distance from Honda to Bogota is reckoned twenty-two leagues: it is a four day's journey. The worst parts of the road from Caracas to Bogota, cannot, we are told, compete in difficulty with the passes which occur in this high road to the capital, the most frequented, probably, in the country. It can scarcely indeed be called a road, being more like the bed of a mountain torrent. "You have every moment to climb rocks, many of which the mule can hardly reach with her fore-feet." On the summit of the Sarjento, is an inscription, stating the elevation which the traveller has gained, to be 860 toises (5,160 feet) above the sea, and the distance from Bogota eighteen leagues. The descent to the picturesque valley of Guaduas is in some places equally difficult. This place, situated about 3,800 feet above the sea, enjoys a mild and salubrious temperature, and is famed for its excellent water. It is styled by Captain Cochrane, the Cheltenham of Bogota, being visited by the citizens of the capital for the benefit of their health. A manufactory of straw hats is carried on here, and a fine breed of horses and mules is reared in the neighbouring pastures. Rice, bananas, coffee, sugar, and oranges are grown in this district.* The steep summit of the Alto del Trigo has next to be surmounted by a zig-zag road, which has been paved, but is now out of repair: the descent conducts the traveller to the town and plain of Villietas. The paramo of Cerradera is an ascent not less difficult: from its

* "At the distance of three day's journey from Guaduas, is Palma, a village containing gold, iron, and emerald mines, which it is intended to work.". -MOLLIEN, p. 61.

satisfaction of looking The venta at the foot

summit, the traveller has the down on the plains of Bogota. of the paramo is nine leagues from the capital, and about 7,500 feet above the level of the sea. Two leagues further is the small town of Facatativa a day's journey of seven leagues (M. Mollien says, above ten French leagues) from the capital. The road now lies along a plain for the most part bare, and entirely level; in many places frequently inundated. At a distance of about twelve miles is gained the first glimpse of the capital. The white towers of the cathedral and the monasteries of Montserrat and Guadalupe, seated on lofty peaks in the back-ground, are first discerned. Being built on rising ground, the city forms a sort of amphitheatre. The ascent to it is by an alameda or public walk, which was formerly beautifully planted, but the trees were cut down during the revolutionary contest. Altogether, the first appearance of Bogota is very imposing, and worthy of the capital of the Colombian Republic.*

BOGOTA.

The city of Bogota (its former dedicatory title of Santa Fé is suppressed) was founded by Gonzalo Ximenes de Quesada, who, in 1538, built twelve huts, in honour of the twelve apostles, on the skirts of the two mountains which now bear the names of Montserrat and Guadalupe. It is situated on an elevated plateau 8,615 feet above the level of the sea,

"The most important town of Colombia," says M. Mollien, "is Panama; the best fortified, Cartagena; the most agreeable, Santa Fé (Bogota); the best built, Popayan; the richest, Guayaquil; the most lively, Zipaquira; the best situated, Maracaybo. Caracas is said to have eclipsed them all, but Caracas is now in ruins. Quito is, by all accounts, more populous than any."

in lat 4° 10' N., long 73° 50′ W., at the base of mountains towering nearly 17,000 feet above the sea. It was created a city, and made the seat of a royal audiencia, in 1548. In 1561, it was advanced to the honours of a metropolitan see. It was the capital of the kingdom of New Granada, and the residence of the viceroy. From its extreme boundaries, it extends about a mile in length, and, in the widest part, about half a mile in breadth, the ends tapering off to a single line of houses. The streets are generally narrow, but regular; all of them are paved, and the principal ones have foot-paths. "When seen from the mountains at the back, the city has a very pretty effect. The streets, built at right angles, present an appearance of great regularity, and have a stream of water constantly flowing down the middle; there are also several handsome public fountains. Great as is the extent of the city, the churches and convents cover nearly one-half of the ground. Many of the convents are in part, and others wholly deserted since the Revolution. The ground that some of them cover is immense." There are nine monasteries and three nunneries; those of the Dominicans and of San Juan de Dios are the best endowed. Four-sixths of the houses in the city are said to belong to them. "The architects of Santa Fé," says M. Mollien, "have an excuse to justify the deformity of their edifices in the nature of the soil, which, being so frequently convulsed by earthquakes, compels them to sacrifice elegance and majesty to solidity. Thus it is, that the houses are so low, although the walls are prodigiously thick. The public buildings are also obliged to have enormous foundations, and the shafts of the columns of the churches are less in proportion to the weight they have to sustain than to the shocks which they are required to resist.

"The architecture of some, however, is in a purer style. The cathedral in particular, erected in 1814,

is remarkable for the simplicity of its interior, redeeming, in some degree, the bad taste to which its façade is indebted for an accumulation of lines produced without harmony, and intersecting each other without the least symmetry.

"The other churches of Bogota, to the number of twenty-six, are, on the contrary, resplendent with gold; no temple of the Incas was ever so dazzling. But, although the magnificence of the cathedral itself is not so great, the treasures it possesses are more valuable. One statue of the Virgin alone, out of the many which adorn the altars, is ornamented with 1,358 diamonds, 1,295 emeralds, 59 amethysts, one topaz, one hyacinth, 372 pearls, and its pedestal is enriched with 609 amethysts: the artist was paid 4,000 piastres for his labours."

Some of the convents have hospitals dependent upon them, but they are in a most loathsome and disgusting state. There are three colleges, which are conducted in a superior manner: the principal one is that of the Jesuits, in which the majority of the professors are monks, a few only being laymen. The pupils are instructed in Latin, mathematics, natural and moral philosophy, and divinity. "Besides these, there is now forming a school of mineralogy, under the auspices of Dr Mariano di Rivero, a most sensible, scientific, and clever man, a native of Peru, educated in the schools of England, France, and Germany, and recommended by Baron Humboldt to the Government. This gentleman, who is particularly skilled in the practical knowledge of the best methods of mining in all its branches, is also founding a national museum, which has, under his hands, made considerable progress, and for which he has travelled to increase the collection already amassed: out of the 4,000 dollars per annum allowed him by the Government, he has generously resigned 1,000 to augment the funds of the museum. They have estab

lished here a Lancastrian school on the most liberal principles, for which the natives are principally indebted to the praiseworthy exertions of the vice-president, General Santander, through whose strenuous endeavours to put in force the commands of the Congress, these schools have been established not only in the capital, but in the most remote villages of the republic.

"It might be imagined," says M. Mollien, "from the pompous title of palace, given to the ancient residence of the viceroys, which is now occupied by the president of the republic, that a sumptuous edifice would present itself; it is, however, nothing more than a house with a flat roof: two adjoining ones, much lower, ornamented with galleries, together with the prison, constitute the whole of its dependencies; here are also the offices of the ministers of state. Upon entering the palace, stair-cases without the least pretensions to elegance, and galleries equally devoid of taste, present themselves; no hall leads into the presence-chamber: it is entered either from the president's bed-room, or from a small anti-chamber. A few sofas covered with red damask, a worn-out Segovia carpet, some lamps suspended from the cross beams, which, for want of a ceiling, give this part of the saloon the appearance of a barn, would make it difficult to conceive of its being a palace, were not the apartment decorated with a throne covered with red damask, a few looking-glasses, glazed windows, and some wretched paintings. The idea of regality is still further increased by a troop of twenty hussars guarding the avenues: these, notwithstanding their want of boots and horses, and the wretched plight of their uniforms give the stranger a hint that he is within the precincts of royalty.

"The place dignified with the name of the palace of the deputies, is nothing but a large house, situated at the corner of the street, the ground-flour of which is