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 COLOMBIA 87 whites, mostly of Spanish origin, negroes, and Indians, and their mixtures. The whites con- stitute rather less than 1,000,000 of the total population, and the mestizos about the same number. Of mulattoes and civilized Indians, there are about 300,000 each, and the remain- der is made up of negroes, zambos, and savage Indians numbering 120,000. The better classes of the people are distinguished for intelligence, festive humor, hospitality, and generous im- pulses. The educated classes rank among the first in South America for their scientific and literary culture. The people of Socorro and Antioquia are laborious and enterprising. The women of Antioquia, Bogota, Ocafia, and other cities are celebrated by travellers for their grace and beauty. In Bogota the French fashions predominate, and the inhabitants incline to European manners. Gaming is universal, and cock fighting is a favorite sport. On the coast the people, from the climate, are wanting in energy and color. The llaneros on the plains wear nothing but a shirt and light drawers, a straw hat, and bark sandals. They ride with- out a saddle^ and live almost entirely on beef. The language is generally Spanish, excepting among the uncivilized Indians, who speak their own aboriginal tongues. Industry is generally backward. Agriculture is mostly in the hands of the converted Indians, who cultivate the soil in the rudest manner, and the reclaimed land bears but a small proportion to the whole. The cereals are raised to some extent on the elevated plains, and rice, cotton, sugar, coffee, tobacco, cacao, and tropical fruits along the coast. On the eastern plains, toward the Ori- noco, the inhabitants, who are chiefly Creoles, are devoted almost exclusively to the raising of horses, mules, and cattle. For want of both capital and labor, the mining industry is vastly inferior to the mineral resources of the country. The chief silver works are those of Santa Ana, near Bogota. Gold abounds in the entire Atlantic region, and, in spite of the rude machinery used, the quantity obtained is far from insignificant ; the washings on all the tributaries of the Atrato are extremely pro- ductive, but less so E. of the Cordilleras. The emerald mines of Muzo, in the valley of Tunja, near Bogota, are worked carelessly, but pro- duce enough to meet the constant demand from Europe. The pearl fisheries are mostly neglect- ed. Coal, copper, and iron are mined to some extent near Bogota; and the salt mines at Cipaquira, about 30 m. N". E. of Bogota, pro- duce enough to supply the neighboring states. Manufactures can scarcely be said to exist, na- tive industry not sufficing to supply the wants of the country. Almost all manufactured ar- ticles in use are imported. In Bogota and some other towns cotton and woollen cloths, carpets, straw hats, soap, and leather are pro- duced, but not to any great extent. The com- merce of Colombia, though fast increasing, is still far below the capabilities of the country. The exports consist mainly of cotton, cinchona, COUNTRIES. Export.. Import*. England $1 849000 jo vi i ^^9 Germany " T-'OOHO !G-> r j'r' France 1 49l'oOO 1 47'' 4 0-< Venezuela and Peru 888,000 240261 United States 6G3GOO 407284 West Indies 238,000 211 326 Other countries i ooo'ooo d>{ r>-> Total $8,284,000 $6,063,772 coffee, cacao, India rubber, raw hides, tobacco, silver ore, cochineal, indigo, other dyestuffs, and emeralds ; and the imports, of cotton, linen, woollen, and silk fabrics, clocks and watches, hardware, machinery, firearms, gunpowder, fermented liquors, &c. The total value of the exports and imports for 1870 was as follows: One half the trade is carried on through the isthmus, the exports and imports of which in transitu average each about $50,000,000. The direct exports and the imports for 1873 show an increase of 75 per cent, as compared with those of 1870, chiefly due to a larger number of steamship lines to Colon (Aspinwall). About 75 per cent, of the goods exported through that port go to the United States. Most of the Colombian commodities are known in England only as Venezuelan (Maracaibo) productions. Steamers run weekly from Panama to the prin- cipal Pacific ports S., and to San Francisco and intermediate ports N". ; to Aspinwall there are American steamers bi-monthly, and several British and French lines ; and in 1873 an Amer- ican line was established between New York, Santa Marta, Sabanilla, and Cartagena. The annual shipping movements in all the principal ports comprise about 1,200 vessels, steam and sail, with an aggregate of 300,000 tons. Steam- ers ply on the Magdalena, but the navigation of this river is growing more and more difficult each year. The internal carrying trade is done by bongos (large canoes) on the rivers, and by mules. Many new roads are in process of con- struction ; but much has yet to be done in this respect. Besides the railways from Panama to Aspinwall (48 m.), and from Sabanilla to Bar- ranquilla (18 m.), both in prosperous operation, proposals were made in 1873 to build other lines to the extent of 800 in., to be completed in 12 years, at a nominal cost of $85,000,000. Some surveying and grading have already been performed (January, 1874). With the telegraphs on the two railways now running, and that from Bogota to La Mesa, it is expected that at the end of 1874 1,500 m. of wires will be established. A submarine cable from Aspinwall to King- ston, Jamaica, has not been in use for over a year. Bogota, Medellin, and some of the other state capitals have each a university or col- legiate school, besides seminaries, and scien- tific, normal, and primary schools. Large ap- propriations were made by congress in 1873 for the establishment of neAV schools, so that Colombia will soon be in the matter of primary instruction among the most advanced of the