of only one
steamer of 457 tons and five sailing vessels of 1385 tons. Aside from
these, small steamers are employed on some of the small rivers with
barges, called "bongoes," to bring down produce and carry back
merchandise to the inland trading centres. The coasting trade is
insignificant, and does not support a regular service of even the
smallest boats. The foreign carrying trade is entirely in the hands of
foreigners, in which the Germans take the lead, with the British a close
second. The Caribbean ports are in frequent communication with those of
Europe and the United States.

_Agriculture._--The larger part of the Colombian population is engaged
in agricultural and pastoral pursuits. Maize, wheat and other cereals
are cultivated on the elevated plateaus, with the fruits and
vegetables of the temperate zone, and the European in Bogota is able
to supply his table very much as he would do at home. The plains and
valleys of lower elevation are used for the cultivation of coffee and
other sub-tropical products, the former being produced in nearly all
the departments at elevations ranging from 3500 to 6500 ft. This
industry has been greatly prejudiced by civil wars, which not only
destroyed the plantations and interrupted transportation, but deprived
them of the labouring force essential to their maintenance and
development. It is estimated that the revolutionary struggle of
1899-1903 destroyed 10% of the able-bodied agricultural population of
the Santa Marta district, and this estimate, if true, will hold good
for all the inhabited districts of the Eastern Cordillera. The best
coffee is produced in the department of Cundinamarca in the almost
inaccessible districts of Fusagasaga and La Palma. Tolima coffee is
also considered to be exceptionally good. The department of Santander,
however, is the largest producer, and much of its output in the past
has been placed upon the market as "Maracaibo," the outlet for this
region being through the Venezuelan port of that name. Coffee
cultivation in the Santa Marta region is receiving much attention on
account of its proximity to the coast.

The tropical productions of the lower plains include, among others,
many of the leading products of the world, such as cacao, cotton,
sugar, rice, tobacco, and bananas, with others destined wholly for
home consumption, as yams, cassava and arracacha. Potatoes are widely
cultivated in