=Cauca= follows, five times the size of El Valle but with no larger population, of which 25 per cent is white. It extends back from the ocean south of El Valle and of the Department Huila as well. The region has many undeveloped coal mines, and other minerals, with vegetation tropical and temperate in abundance. In some parts there are dense forests. Over 4000 mining claims have been filed, and gold and platinum are exported, but agriculture is the chief industry. Popayán, the capital, was founded in 1536 at an altitude of nearly 6000 feet. At the foot of an extinct volcano and 17 miles from an active one, with a good climate it has violent electric storms and earthquakes. It has some fine old buildings, a university, and some say that here the best Spanish in the New World is spoken. =Nariño=, the last Department at the south, has a large settled Indian population, with some Indians uncivilized. It contains a number of volcanoes a few of which are active; several rivers flow into the Pacific, the Patía the most important. Gold mines have been worked from colonial times and gold is one of the chief exports. Other mines exist and 2500 claims have been denounced. Rich copper has been noted; corundum and sapphires have been found. Besides gold the chief exports are Panamá hats, hides, rubber, coffee, tobacco, and anise. Pasto, the capital, at an elevation of 8650 feet, at the base of the volcano Galera, has a beautiful location, a fine climate, and a hardy industrious people. There are 21 Indian settlements near. Barbacoas, 100 miles from the coast, is a considerable city of over 12,000 population where the making of Panamá hats is a leading industry. Tumaco, population 15,000, is a picturesque island port with a better climate than Buenaventura. =Putumayo=, a Comisaría east and extending far to the southeast of Nariño, is on the northeast boundary of Ecuador, from which it is separated by the watershed between the river Napo and the Putumayo, which latter separates it from Caquetá, both rivers affluents of the Amazon. The northern part with an elevation of 3000 feet or more has a comfortable climate. Mocoa, the capital, is in this section, and a few small towns, several entirely Indian. =Caquetá=, the adjoining Comisaría, is similar in character, the higher portion a good cattle country. The animals with other products could easily be shipped down stream to Manaos, where they would command high prices. The lower section is a good rubber district; cinnamon, cacao, tagua, hides, oils, balsams, sarsaparilla, varnishes, and feathers are other products of the region.