In the forest region of the Amazon there is much precipitation. The open plains of the Orinoco section have less rain, with a dry season when the rivers, which overflow in the wet season, return to their channels and the vegetation withers. Farther north, the Sierra de Perija of the East Cordillera condenses the moisture of the northeast trade winds, causing heavy rainfall on the eastern slope, but having a dry section on the west. The Caribbean coast near Panamá has plenty of rain, which diminishes towards the north, Goajira being quite arid. Excessive precipitation occurs on the West Cordillera, on the Baudó Range, and on the southern part of the Pacific Coast, where the plains are heavily forested and unhealthful like the valleys of the San Juan and Atrato farther north. The lower valleys of the Magdalena and Cauca, shut off from the prevailing winds, are decidedly hot. These and other lowland plains have the tropical climate, in general great humidity, and many dense forests, except for the open drier llanos. Above this region are enjoyable climates, the sub-tropical ranging from 1500 to 7500 feet; still higher to 10,000 feet the seasons are agreeably temperate in character. Beyond this altitude it becomes quite cold, with bleak plains and passes, here called _paramos_, mostly from 12,000 to 15,000 feet above the sea. Higher yet are regions of perpetual snow. The Santa Marta Plateau, the upper section of the Cauca Valley, the greater part of the country traversed by the East Cordillera, and the northern end of the Central enjoy the subtropical or the temperate climate. Here is a large proportion of the white population, and here the chief industries are located. In the tropical forests and in the lower plains and valleys the annual mean temperature is from 82° to over 90°; at Medellín with an altitude of 5000 feet it is 70°, and at Bogotá, altitude 8600 feet, it is 57°. In the north there are two seasons a year, a wet and a dry, though not everywhere well defined; nearer the equator there are four, two wet and two drier, as the sun passes overhead twice a year. On the damp _paramos_ the moist wintry seasons are long and cold, so these parts are unfrequented save by shepherds in the warmer periods. It is estimated that a section of 150,000 square miles, twice the size of England, has an elevation of 7000 feet or more, and there are few points on the coast from which an agreeable climate could not be reached in a few hours by automobile or train if roads were provided. CHAPTER IV COLOMBIA: THE CAPITAL, THE STATES AND TERRITORIES, CHIEF CITIES THE CAPITAL