xtended toward the Magdalena as
fast as new plantations are opened. The growth of the industry is
shown in the export returns, which were 171,891 bunches for 1892, and
1,397,388 bunches for 1906, the area under cultivation being about
7000 acres in the last-mentioned year. Yams, sweet potatoes, cassava
and arracacha are chiefly cultivated for domestic needs, but in common
with other fruits and vegetables they give occupation to the small
agriculturalists near the larger towns.

The pastoral industry dates from colonial times and engages the
services of a considerable number of people, but its comparative
importance is not great. The open plains, "mesas," and plateaus of the
north support large herds of cattle, and several cattle ranches have
been established on the Meta and its tributaries. Live cattle, to a
limited extent, are exported to Cuba and other West Indian markets,
but the chief produce from this industry is hides. The department of
Santander devotes considerable attention to horse-breeding. Goats are
largely produced for their skins, and in some localities, as in Cauca,
sheep are raised for their wool. Swine are common to the whole
country, and some attention has been given to the breeding of mules.

_Minerals._--The mineral resources of Colombia are commonly believed
to be the principal source of her wealth, and this because of the
precious metals extracted from her mines since the Spanish invasion.
The estimate aggregate for three and a half centuries is certainly
large, but the exact amount will probably never be known, because the
returns in colonial times were as defective as those of disorderly
independence have been. Humboldt and Chevalier estimated the total
output down to 1845 at L1,200,000, which Professor Soetbeer
subsequently increased to L169,422,750. A later Colombian authority,
Vicente Restrepo, whose studies of gold and silver mining in Colombia
have been generally accepted as conclusive and trustworthy, after a
careful sifting of the evidence on which these two widely diverse
conclusions were based and an examination of records not seen by
Humboldt and Soetbeer, reaches the conclusion that the region
comprised within the limits of the republic, including Panama, had
produced down to 1886 an aggregate of L127,800,000 in gold and
L6,600,000 in silver. This aggregate he distributes as follows:--

16th century L10,60