Thus the expedition passed in eight days through temperature changes
ecjuivalent to a minimum of 45° of latitude, from a tropical to a sub-
arctic cHmate. This was occasioned largely by the change of alti-
tude. The Paramo of Pisva has a maximum height of about thirteen
thousand feet above the sea, or approximately ten thousand five
hundred feet above the Llanos.
The rains, which at the lower elevation of the Llanos had been
warm and accompanied by sultry conditions, now became bitterly
cold as the moisture-bearing air was forced to ascend in crossing
the mountains.
284 APPENDIX C

Beyond the Paramo, conditions changed for the better, though
the temperatures, as far as Duitama, seldom went above 60°. This,
doubtless, was partly the result of the nine thousand feet altitude
at which this part of the journey lay. No record of temperature or
weather was kept beyond Duitama.
