Note 6 — Chapter X · THE ATHENS OF SOUTH AMERICA

Aside from the Eucalyptus and Humboldt oak—Quercus Humboldtii—there are no large trees in the Savanna of Bogotá. The Eucalyptus, however, is everywhere visible, in the streets and in the gardens of the capital, along the thoroughfares of the country and around every house, however humble, and quinta, as far as the eye can reach. These trees were introduced from Australia only a few decades ago, and now one finds them in all parts of the republic. We saw them all along our route from the llanos to Bogatá. The people, especially those living on the eastern slopes of the Oriental Andes, are firmly convinced that their presence wards off paludismo—malaria—and, as a consequence, they are considered as indispensable around the house as the plantain or calabash tree.6