Rio Claro, Colombia. Coloured etching by C. Empson, 1836.

"Numerous rivers are engulfed in the Magdalena, (many of them having a course almost as long as, and running nearly parallel with, this majestic river) increasing its grandeur until the accumulated volume of water, rushing into the Atlantic, can be traced for some leagues beyond the shore, refusing to mingle with the briny wave for an almost incredible distance. The Claro is not the most important, but it is one of the most admired of the tributary streams. Its waters are beautifully transparent, and, as if unwilling to blend with the less pure current of the Magdalena, they expand at the point of junction into a broad placid lake. It is remarkable that although the caiman, or alligator, does not ascend the Claro, the lake swarms with them. They may be seen in countless numbers, and might be mistaken for trees recently felled, with their bark still fresh and green, united in rafts for floating down the stream, so closely are they wedged together ..." (Empson. loc. cit.)