Indians of Southeastern Colombia

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Abstract
The Rio Vaupe''s region of s.-e. Colombia was made accessible by air transport service during the war. The Vaupe, a tributary of the Rio Negro, meanders through almost unbroken rain-forest. Rain-forest covers nearly all the area south of the Rio Guaviare. There are usually scattered large trees, with numerous palms and smaller trees. Sandy uplands and mesa tops have extensive patches of low, scrubby trees and bushes and open savanna. Small streams are often flanked by low natural levees, behind which the poorly drained marginal lands are flooded to a depth of 3-5 ft. during the entire rainy season. Here are found many peculiar spp. of trees, including some kinds of rubber (Hevea) and massaranduba (Mimusops sp., a source of chicle), the roots of which can withstand long periods of submergence. Scattered throughout the rain forest are areas of sandy soil, supporting the curious low, open woodland called coatinga by the local Brazilians. In this, the trees are often < 20 ft. tall; primitive ferns and mosses are found about the bases of the trees; epiphytic orchids and bromeliads are abundant. Other areas have small ponds, and dense groves of small palms, resembling the palmettos of the southern U. S. Agriculture is primitive. Patches of forest are cleared and burned, and the spaces between the charred logs are planted by the women to bitter yucca (Manihot), lulus (Solatium globiferum), plantains, pineapples, peppers (Capsicum), yams (Dioscorea) of a curious deep-purple variety, coca and, rarely, corn. New clearings are made every few years. Groves of fruit trees surround many of the malocas.

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