ght rains except where mountain
ranges break the sweep of the north-east trades. The alternating wet
and dry seasons are likewise to be found on the Pacific coastal plain,
though this region is not entirely dry and vegetation never dries up
as on the _llanos_. Above the lowland plains the seasons vary in
character according to geographical position and elevation. The
two-season division rules in the departments of Santander and
Antioquia, but without the extremes of humidity and aridity
characteristic of the eastern plains. Farther south, at elevations
between 800 and 9500 ft., the year is divided into four distinct
seasons--two wet and two dry--the former called _inviernos_ (winters)
and the latter _veranos_ (summers). These seasons are governed by the
apparent movements of the sun, the winters occurring at the equinoxes
and the summers at the solstices. The _sabana_ of Bogota and
neighbouring districts are subject to these changes of season. At
higher altitudes long, cold, wet winters are experienced, with so
short and cold a summer between them that the bleak _paramos_ are
left uninhabited except by a few shepherds in the short dry season.

_Fauna._--The geographical position of Colombia gives to it a fauna
and flora largely characteristic of the great tropical region of the
Amazon on the south-east, and of the mountainous regions of Central
America on the north-west. At the same time it is rich in animal and
plant types of its own, especially the latter, and is considered one
of the best fields in South America for the student and collector. The
fauna is essentially tropical, though a few species characteristic of
colder regions are to be found in the higher Andes. Of the Quadrumana
there are at least seventeen distinct species, and this number may be
increased after a thorough exploration of the forested eastern plains.
They are all arboreal in habit, and are to be found throughout the
forested lowlands and lower mountain slopes. The carnivora are
represented by seven or eight species of the Felidae, the largest of
which are the puma (_Felis concolor_) and the jaguar (_F. onca_).
These animals, together with the smaller ocelot, have a wide
geographical range, and are very numerous in the valley of the
Magdalena. Two species of bear and the "coati" (_Nasua_) represent the
plantigrades and inhabit the mountain slopes, and, of Pachydermata,
the pe