s whole length, small steamers ascending it to a
point within 100 m. of Bogota. Its principal tributaries, so far as
known, are the Tuca, Chire and Casanare. The principal rivers of the
Amazon system are the Napo, the upper part of which forms the
provisional boundary line with Ecuador, the Putumayo or Ica, and the
Caqueta or Japura (Yapura), which flow from the Andes entirely across
the eastern plains, and the Guainia, which rises on the northern
slopes of the Serra Tunaji near the provisional Brazilian frontier,
and flows with a great northward curve to the Venezuelan and Brazilian
frontiers, and is thereafter known as the Rio Negro, one of the
largest tributaries of the Amazon. There are many large tributaries of
these rivers in the unexplored regions of south-eastern Colombia, but
their names as well as their courses are still unsettled.

Coasts.

The coast of Colombia faces on the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean
Sea, and is divided by the Isthmus of Panama into two completely
separated parts. The Pacific coast-line, omitting minor convolutions,
has a length of about 500 m., while that of the Caribbean is about 700
m. The former has been of slight service in the development of the
country because of the unsettled and unhealthy character of the coast
region, and the high mountain barriers between its natural ports and
the settled parts of the republic. There are only two commercial ports
on the coast, Tumaco and Buenaventura, though there are several
natural harbours which would be of great service were there any demand
for them. The rivers Mira, Patia and San Juan permit the entrance of
small steamers, as also some of the smaller rivers. The larger bays on
this coast are Tumaco, Choco, Magdalena, Cabita, Coqui, Puerto Utria,
Solano, Cupica and Octavia--some of them affording exceptionally safe
and well-sheltered harbours. The Caribbean coast of Colombia has only
four ports engaged in international trade--Barranquilla, Cartagena,
Santa Marta and Rio Hacha. There are some smaller ports on the coast,
but they are open only to vessels of light draft and have no trade
worth mention. Barranquilla, the principal port of the republic, is
situated on the Magdalena, and its seaport, or landing-place, is
Puerto Colombia at the inner end of Savanilla Bay, where a steel pier
4000 ft. long has been built out to deep water, alongside which
ocean-going ves