The weather at Andalucia was most severe; fog, strong wind, almost continuous rain, and a freezing temperature reminded us of conditions on a paramo at the worst season of the year. Also, the forest was dense, and the vast number of fallen trunks and branches rendered the greater part of it impenetrable. Birds were scarce and hard to find, but small mammals were plentiful. The foreman of the work gang had cleared a few acres of land and sowed wheat, but the chances of harvesting a crop were very small, because it seemed as if all the rats and mice for miles around had located the spot and promptly migrated there to unearth the seed and cut down the tender shoots. Water for drinking and cooking was secured from a deep pit dug in the slope. One of our first cares always is to investigate the water-supply of the region in which we are working; an inspection of the excavation near the _tambo_ revealed a most astounding state of affairs; three earthworms, as large as good-sized snakes, make the reservoir their home. They resembled the well-known “shiners” that appear on our lawns after a shower; but the size! The largest, by actual measurement, was thirty-seven inches long and four inches in circumference. When I asked the cook for an explanation as to why he did not remove them and keep the water clean, he promptly informed me that they were _cojures_ (cohoories) that he had dug up in the woods and placed there for safe-keeping until he had time to use them on a fishing trip in the low country. Needless to say, perhaps, his pets promptly disappeared; he always insinuated that they had met with foul play at my hands! One day a person of distinguished appearance rode up the road and introduced himself as General Rafael Santos, of Bogotá. He had heard that we were in the locality and wanted to get into the Caquetá. Could he be of any service to us? As he was in control of the work being done on the new trail, he certainly was in a position to be of great help. He told us of conditions on the eastern slope and also of the country we were so eager to see; before leaving, one of his _peons_ was despatched down the trail to inform his scouting-parties that we would follow within a short time, and for them to have camping-places prepared for us. We lost no time in starting on the trip. I had with me several natives who had been with the expedition some months, and their number was augmented by men from Guadaloupe who were eager to have a hand in the undertaking. Every one walked, the _peons_ carrying the packs; but mules were driven ahead to test the trail, and also for use after we reached the level low country. The heavy subtropical forest that begins at La Danta continues on to the top of the range, and down the other side in an unbroken mass of solid, living green. There were practically no signs of life, but the wind blew less violently and the cold was less intense and not so penetrating as at Andalucia.