n6  SELLING  LATIN  AMERICA

healthful  and  sparsely  populated,  in  fact,  has
hardly  been  explored.  There  are  three  different ­
  mountain  systems  running  northeast  and
southwest,  between  which  are  rich,  luxuriant
valleys,  capable  of  great  agricultural  possibilities. ­
  These  mountains  contain  many  extinct
volcanoes,  of  varying  altitude,  one  being
18,000  feet  high.
The  climate  ranges  from  tropical  to  temperate, ­
  Bogota,  the  capital,  having  a  uniformly
cool  and  spring-like  temperature  throughout
the  year,  due  to  its  elevation  of  8600  feet.  In
the  lowlands,  and  especially  along  both  coasts,
the  heat  is  oppressive  and  far  from  salubrious.
This  is  also  true  of  much  of  the  low-lying  interior ­
  country.  The  cities  on  both  coasts  are
notably  unsanitary.
Colombia  claims  a  population  slightly  in
excess  of  5,000,000,  but  I  doubt  if  it  really  has
4,000,000.  About  one-tenth  of  the  inhabitants ­
  are  pure  white  and  there  are  200,000  wild
Indians,  living  primitively  under  tribal  chiefs,
nominally  under  the  control  of  the  local  government. ­
  The  remainder  are  mixtures  of