The South American Tour

by Annie S. Peck

Cuzco

At last the railroad leaves the main valley to follow up a tributary on the left, the Huatanay. At the head of this side valley, it reaches the ancient city of Cuzco, once the metropolis of a vast realm surpassed in extent or in wealth by few in the world’s history, probably equaled by none in the number of people living, contented and peaceful, under a single sway.

From the station half a mile from the center of the city, an attractive boulevard is being laid out, on which a tram car runs to the central plaza, or by this time electrics. Carriages too may serve and boys are eager to carry hand baggage. The hotels, alas! leave much to be desired. Slow, indeed, are the people to realize the necessities which must be supplied if the town is to advance, to attract tourists and business men. The residents have not seemed to care whether there was progress or not, but the Central Government is interested, the Prefect who comes from Lima is endeavoring to work a revolution, and the cultivated inhabitants have begun to realize their condition and to remedy the evils which have long been a reproach.

The Hotel Comercio may be endured for a night or two, since it is in a very worthy cause. The other hotel, the Royal, is no better. Another, the Central, is spoken of, opposite the church, La Merced. One does not go to Cuzco for the luxuries of New York or Paris, but if unhappy without these he must postpone this part of the journey a while longer. One writer says that the Comercio affords reasonably good meals and decent bedrooms. Other opinions are less favorable, but conditions may have improved by now. On the spur of a hill which closes the head of the valley, at an altitude of 11,500 feet, is situated the ancient imperial city. Some knowledge of the history of its rulers, the greatness of its domain, the development of its civilization, the magnificence of its temples, the power and riches of its princes, and the terrible tragedy of their downfall gives a keener interest to the massive ruins, the delightful prospect, and to everything in this remote valley which is connected with the unique and wonderful empire of world-wide and immortal fame. At the time of its capture, four centuries ago, few if any cities in the world could rival Cuzco in the magnificence of its temples, and their treasures of gold and silver, and none in the massive fortifications and other constructions of which the remains are still a marvel.

In the history of this ancient city there are at least four periods: the prac-Inca age; the glorious epoch of the Inca dynasty; the merciless, mournful days of bloodshed and destruction, followed by the brilliant reconstruction and the relentless rule of the Spanish invaders; and the slow progress of the modern republic. From the earliest period date the megalithic ruins of Sacsahuaman and elsewhere, regarded as belonging to the same age as those of Tiahuanaco and a few other places, their origin alike involved in mystery. Sir Clements Markham, the most careful student of this early civilization, believes it to be an indigenous growth of great antiquity, though there is a tradition of an early outside influence from the south.

The great empire of the Incas was of comparatively short duration; according to commonly accepted tradition, it existed for about four centuries. The most current and approved legend of the Incas’ origin is that they were the children of the Sun, who pitying the sad condition of his creatures sent to their aid two of his offspring, Manco Ccapac and Mama Oclla, brother and sister, also husband and wife. These first appearing on the Island of the Sun in Lake Titicaca thence came to Cuzco and established their dominion. Manco seems to have been a great and wise ruler, probably of Quichua origin, and to have lived in the twelfth century. His successor Sinchi Rocca was a peaceful ruler, but the third Inca, Lloque Yupanqui, subjugated some of the neighboring peoples. The fourth, Maita Ccapac, was a greater warrior, extending his kingdom over most of Bolivia, and to Arequipa and Moquegua. The fifth Inca, Ccapac Yupanqui, who was called avaricious, employed his reign in subduing insurrections in regions already conquered. His successor, Inca Rocca, was an eminent warrior and statesman, who built great palaces, founded schools for the education of the nobility, and made strict laws for the welfare and protection of the people, with severe punishment, even death, to murderers, incendiaries, and thieves.

The seventh Inca, Titu Cusi Hualpa, was less successful. An invasion by the tribes of Chinchasuyo caused him to flee in alarm, but his son, collecting an army, defeated the invaders and was then crowned, with the name of Viracocha. During his reign eleven provinces were added to the empire, and a magnificent temple was erected twenty miles south of Cuzco with an altar to Viracocha, a deity who had appeared to the prince to warn him of the coming invasion, informing him that he was the creator of man, the world, the sun, and all else. A remarkable engineering feat of this reign was the construction of an irrigating canal nearly four hundred miles long and twelve feet deep to convert some plains below into green pasture lands. The eldest son of Viracocha, who was of small account, was presently succeeded by his brother Pachacutec who brought still greater glory to the empire. With the excellent armies organized by Pachacutec, his son Tupac Yupanqui made conquests along the coast from Pisco north including Pachacámac, the realm of the Grand Chimu near Trujillo, and the valley of Cajamarca. These cities were not destroyed, but were left under the dominion of their former rulers as vassals to the Inca, the worship of the Sun being associated with their former religion; but the learning and use of the Quichua language was made compulsory. Every government official and soldier was obliged to speak this language.

After the death of Pachacutec at the age of eighty, his son Tupac Yupanqui, the tenth Inca, conquered Chile as far as the Maule River and spent three years in a tour to the various parts of his empire. Some uncertainty exists about an Inca Yupanqui, but a younger son of Tupac called Huayna Ccapac, near the close of his father’s reign, carried still farther the conquests even to Quito, which he won from its king. His reign was one of wisdom until its close. The rightful heir Huascar, son of the Coya or Queen, had a rival in his father’s affections, a younger son, Atahuallpa, of another, Pacha. Having himself retired to Quito before his death, Huayna Ccapac left that province to his son Atahuallpa, and the throne of Cuzco to Huascar. Thus happened the division, so disastrous to the Inca dynasty, possibly altering in some measure the whole of Peruvian history.

The location of Cuzco is said to be more beautiful than that of Quito or Bogotá, both of world-wide fame. Rome, Athens, and Sparta, in the opinion of many, present less charming scenes than that which is outspread before the observer on Sacsahuaman. Yet how altered from the days of its glory! Then the hills around, fertilized with guano and small fish and irrigated throughout their entire extent, were terraced and cultivated to their summits. Then the city and its suburbs are said to have contained 400,000 souls. The gates of the walled enclosure were of colored marble. Within were great palaces, their walls painted in bright colors.

The Temple of the Sun was covered with a roof of gold. In the gardens around were artificial flowers of gold and silver, figures of animals large and small, wild and domestic, of herbs, plants, and trees; a field of maize, fruit trees, images of men, women, and children. The doors were covered with gold plate. A gold cornice more than a yard deep, around the building, did not remain long in place after the occupation by the Spaniards. The golden roof had been removed previous to their arrival. This sumptuous temple called Coricancha, Place of Gold, begun by the first Inca, Manco Ccapac, was not concluded for many generations until the time of Inca Yupanqui, each Inca in the meantime contributing a share towards the completion of the great work. The form of the temple was elliptical, and opposite the entrance where the rays of the rising sun would fall upon it was a gold effigy representing the Sun. Golden rays projected from his head so that the entire creation occupied one side of the temple. When the sun’s rays fell upon the figure the effect was indeed dazzling, lighting up the place with such radiance that the Indian Nobles, who alone were permitted to enter, prostrated themselves, striking their foreheads on the pavement. The only women allowed within the temple were the wife and daughters of the ruling Inca. On each side of the deity were arranged the dead mummified bodies of the Incas, clad in royal robes, seated upon golden thrones, with eyes downcast and hands folded across their breasts. One only, Huayna Ccapac, faced the god, one story says because he was the best loved, another, because he dared to gaze at the sun and show that this luminary was not the creative lord.

Beyond this, the chief holy place of the temple, was a rectangular cloister with five square chapels around. One dedicated to the Moon contained a silver image of a woman’s face. In this chapel were arranged the bodies of the Queens called Coyas, as were the Incas in the chamber of the Sun. The next hall, its ceiling covered with silver stars, was dedicated to the Stars; the third, adorned with gold, was to Thunder and Lightning. Next came the hall of the Rainbow with colored delineations on gold plate, and finally a hall covered with gold where the priests gave audience. Many jewels, emeralds and turquoise, were set in the mouldings of gold. The bodies of the Incas were removed before the coming of the invaders, but in 1559 five were discovered and subsequently carried to Lima, where they were buried in the patio of the San Andres hospital. Four streets which led to the temple of the Sun are now called Carcel, Loreto, Santa Catalina, and San Augustín.

Near by, where now is the convent of Santa Catalina, was the House of the Virgins, who, like the Vestals at Rome, fed the sacred fire. Of these there were 1500 or more, some from Cuzco of royal lineage, others from the provinces, selected for their beauty from those of high birth. They spun and wove the clothing of the Inca and his Queen and had various other duties. Their dishes and utensils were of gold. They entered the convent before they were eight years of age and here, vowed to chastity, they spent their lives. This building was 200 by 800 feet.

Each Inca built for himself a great palace, and above were the wonderful fortifications of Sacsahuaman. West of the town is a place called Huaca-puncu, Holy Gate, which is approached by a steep street. At a certain spot every Indian paused to look back or forward, this being the first or last point from which could be seen the Temple of the Sun. And still today, as four centuries ago, the Indians continue this ancient custom.

CATHEDRAL PLAZA, MATRÍZ

ANCIENT WALL

The visitor may first stroll about the modern city, which should occupy him for a day or more, and then turn to the ruins above. A short distance east of the Hotel Comercio is a larger plaza called the Matríz, which with the other two, the Regocijo and the San Francisco, in ancient days formed a huge single plaza, the scene of many great festivals, its periphery the measure of Huascar’s gold chain. First to attract observation is the imposing Cathedral, regarded as third in splendor in the New World, following those of Mexico and Lima. Begun in 1560, later than that in Lima, it was earlier finished, in 1654. One writer calls it the most perfect example of colonial architecture existing. It has the usual three doors and naves, with two rows of Corinthian columns carved, in front only, to their base. Built of stone in the Renaissance style, the cost of the cathedral was so great that one of the Viceroys remarked that it would have been less expensive in silver. The choir in the central nave is of superb carving, the high altar in front is covered with silver. Two fine organs provide music. There are many paintings, one attributed to Van Dyck, El Señor de la Agonia. Portraits of the Popes and of all the bishops of Cuzco are contained in the sacristy. A monstrance ornamented with diamonds, pearls, rubies, etc., is one of the most valuable possessions. On the right of the Cathedral is the Chapel of the Sacred Heart, on the left, the Chapel of Triumph. In front of the Cathedral which, with the Chapel of Triumph, occupies the site of the palace of Viracocha stood a round tower.

Especial heed should be given to the tone of the Cathedral bell, called one of the richest in the world. It is styled the Maria Angola from the name of a pious lady who presented 300 lbs. weight of gold to be used in its casting. The great bell, which is large enough to cover eight men, was made in Cuzco in 1659, so heavy that an inclined plane was built to hoist it to the tower and many men were required for the task. It is said that the bell may be heard for a distance of 25 miles, and that its rich tones, due to the large amount of gold in its composition, are especially inclined to awaken a spirit of reverence.

On the south side of the Plaza will be noticed the Church of the Compañia, the Jesuits’, standing on the site of one of the later Inca palaces, that of Huayna Ccapac, father of Atahuallpa and Huascar. This church, one of the finest in Cuzco, is cruciform in shape with a single broad nave and a large dome at the intersection of the transverse aisles. Pillars both round and square support the fine arches of the church.

On the corner of Loreto calle, nearer to the Cathedral, was once the palace of the Inca Yupanqui, some distance back of which was that of Inca Tupac Yupanqui. At the farther corner, also of the south side, was the palace of Huascar beyond the calle de la Carcel which led down to the Temple of the Sun, now built over by the church and convent of Santo Domingo. The church is not so fine as some of the others, but deserves a visit on account of the historical associations, the altar now occupying the position formerly sacred to the Sun god. The exceptional oval wall behind the altar should be noted, indicating the elliptical form of the ancient structure. The cloister has a finely carved stone archway, and columns around a patio of the convent, which was one of the earliest Spanish edifices in Peru.

The convent of Santa Catalina close by is on the site of the ancient House of the Virgins.

On the north side of the Plaza were the palace of the Inca Rocca, next the Cassama or House of Freezing, the magnificence of which was supposed to stiffen the beholder with admiration, and then the palace of Inca Pachacutec. The walls of the ancient structures were used for the lower floors of Spanish dwellings and a second story with balconies was added above. Here are now houses and shops with arched arcades in front, much as in the time of Garcilasso de la Vega, a boy at the time of the Conquest. The palace of Pachacutec, the Inca legislator, is the residence, according to Fuentes, of C. Gonzales Martinez, calle del Triunfo No. 78. On this street is the famous great stone with twelve angles. At No. 116 on this street, the house of Señora Juana Arinibar, was, says Fuentes, the palace of Yupanqui. Francisco Pizarro once occupied the mansion now the residence of the Prefect; his brother Gonzalo, a house in the portal Harinas.

While the great Plaza of Cuzco in the days of the Incas must have been the scene of many joyous, marvellously brilliant and sumptuous festivities, in violent contrast after the Conquest it witnessed the most terrible tragedies. Here in 1571 the youthful Inca, Tupac Amaru, was beheaded in the presence of a vast crowd of Indians. For a moment the hand of the executioner was stayed by the wail of horror that arose, but the ruthless Viceroy Toledo would grant no mercy. The head of Tupac was set up on a pike. In the middle of the night, a Spaniard looking from his window was amazed to see the entire Plaza filled with kneeling Indians, in silent veneration before the last of their rulers. Next day the head was removed and buried. Two hundred years later, in 1781, a greater atrocity was committed. Another of the same name who had led in revolt his kinsmen, suffering from the inhuman exactions of their rulers, was here compelled to witness the torture and execution of his wife and other relatives. Then after having his tongue cut out, he was torn limb from limb by four horses. It is small wonder that the Quichuas appear of a stolid, melancholy disposition.

The church of La Merced should be visited, especially to observe the fine cloister with its admirable arches, columns, and staircase, as also because here are the remains of the old warrior Almagro and the brothers, Juan and Gonzalo Pizarro.

Above the city, slopes toward the north a steep hill between two gorges, the Huatanay on the east and the Tulumayu on the west, crowned with the world renowned fortress of Sacsahuaman. A long half day at the least is needed to investigate this and other ruins above. Many, with a whole day to spare, will find it delightful, setting out early with a luncheon, to linger above until the shadows begin to fall.

One may go on foot or horseback (it may be a mule) according to his taste and ability. An extremely athletic gentleman says the climb is best done on a mule. Certainly it is better for one not fond of walking, but to a good pedestrian the walk is no hardship. Turning to the right on the calle Triunfo one will pass a great wall containing the famous stone with twelve angles into which other stones are beautifully fitted. This method of construction is characteristic. They did not trouble to make rectangular blocks of a fixed size, but utilized stones both large and small of various shapes, and fitted them perfectly to each other. In some cases the joining is so fine that the thinnest knife cannot be inserted. Nor was mortar used in the construction. How their wonderful work was accomplished without tools of steel or other metal remains a mystery. There is a legend that they knew of a plant the juices of which in some magical manner softened the stone so that it could easily be rubbed into the required shape. This great wall perhaps enclosed the palace of Manco Ccapac, the first Inca, of which some remains are above. Still higher, on a terrace back of this palace, was the Garden of the Sun which was yearly the first to be cultivated. Markham calls this the most lovely and the saddest spot in Peru. Beyond the calle Triunfo, to one climbing the hill along the edge of the gorge, scenes of beauty are continually revealed as one pauses to rest and look about him. The great fortress on the hilltop was so difficult of access that in the greater part of its circumference a single wall sufficed; but to the northeast or rear, as regarded from the city, the approach was gradual. On that side for a distance of 330 yards, were constructed three great parallel walls which had 21 advancing and re-entrant angles, so that every point could be enfiladed. These walls, which may be called Cyclopean, are said to contain stones surpassing in size any found in ancient Mykenae or other Greek strongholds. One of the largest stones weighs about 36 tons. They are of limestone brought from quarries three-quarters of a mile away, though other writers state that they came from a distance of 5 and 15 leagues. One 30 feet long is said by one writer to weigh 160 tons. The most perfectly planned fortress ever built is the extraordinary tribute which this work has received. Against what people such a stronghold was required is a mystery. The lowest of the three walls was 27 feet high, the second was 18, and the uppermost 14; on the inside, the parapet was breast high. Between each two walls there was a space of 25 to 30 feet. In each wall near the center was a gate which could be raised. There is a story of a tired stone which was left on the road and wept blood at being unable to reach the fortress. It is related that this stone, being dragged by 20,000 Indians, half in front with stout cables and half behind, slipped back down the hill killing several thousand, and thus it wept blood.

At the top of the hill in a triangular space within the enclosure were three strong towers. The central tower, circular in shape, contained a fountain with water brought from some distance. The walls of the tower were decorated with birds and animals of gold and silver. Here kings were lodged who came to pay a visit. From the parapet the Inca prince, Cahuide, overcome in a final struggle, plunged to his death. The other two towers which were square provided lodgings for soldiers. They had equal space underground with subterranean passages forming a labyrinth for which a skein of wool was needed as a guide. There were no arches, but corbels with long stones laid across. One of these towers was the last to be defended by the Inca subjects against the Spanish. The invaders soon dismantled the colossal Sacsahuaman fortress for material to construct their dwellings, perhaps also to impair its strength as a refuge in case of insurrection. Impressive are these great walls, and the ruins beyond in a vast solitude where no habitation is in sight, perhaps no human being. A little plain lies between Sacsahuaman and a hill called Rodadero, once partly walled. Here are curious masses of rock which look as if children or older persons had slidden over them for ages. Some believe that the white rock solidified in this form, others that the ridges were artificially cut, and still others that they have been worn as above indicated. Certain it is that youths on feast days or as they have opportunity still take pleasure in the pastime of sliding. A little farther on, carved in the solid rock, is a seat called the Inca’s throne, where he may have sat to watch his people at their sports and dances, or to review his troops, or alone in state to contemplate his dominions and the setting sun. Very near is a stone in which there is a channel ten inches wide and over which is a little bridge, thought to be a place of libation. It is said that chicha is thus offered here today. Two caves may be seen close by, a small one of labyrinthine character, with entrance three feet high.

Somewhat east of the Rodadero is another rock formation with large double perfectly level stairs with a small landing at the top. By some this is regarded as the true Inca seat. All about, carved in the living rock are niches, benches, and seats of every kind and shape.

From Cuzco a delightful excursion may be made to visit other ruins in the Urubamba Valley, delightful that is to those who do not object to riding on a mule over difficult if not dangerous trails, or sleeping on floor or table, with a rather poor food supply. Temporary discomfort will, however, be most highly rewarded to the lover of romantic scenery as well as to the tourist of archæological tastes. One may go up over the hills back of Cuzco direct to Yucay or to Urubamba, and the next day arrive at Ollantaytambo.

These ruins of Ollantaytambo in the valley of the Urubamba River, at the entrance of a side ravine, have long been known as those of a great fortress or fortified palace arranged on several terraces; the first plateau 300 feet from the floor of the valley. Here are immense stone slabs, polygonal walls with recesses for household gods, a circle or pillar called a Intihuatana for observing the equinox, and other remains in a valley of wonderful beauty. The story of the Tired Stone is also connected with this place. Farther down, about 60 miles northwest of Cuzco, are the still more wonderful remains of Machu Picchu, recently brought to the knowledge of the world by Professor Hiram Bingham and described in the April, 1913, number of the National Geographic Magazine. This is thought to have been a city of refuge of earlier date than Cuzco, a large walled settlement 2000 feet above the bottom of the valley and 7000 feet above the sea. The Spaniards appear never to have reached this point, hence the ruins are in a remarkable state of preservation. Here are terraces, many houses, fountains, towers, 100 staircases, and beautiful walls of rectangular stones. The valley itself with its steep rugged walls, its luxuriant vegetation, and its views of snowclad mountains is one of incomparable loveliness.

Nearer to Cuzco are ruins previously known and easily accessible, at Yucay palaces and baths, and still higher up the valley the fortress, palace, and rock tombs of Pisac; all of these in the same valley, that of the River Vilcamayu or Vilcanota, as it is called in the upper part, below becoming the Urubamba, then, on uniting with the Apurimac, the Ucayali, which with the Marañon forms the Amazon.

Other ruins, Choquequirao on the Apurimac River, Ñusta España and Vitcos on the Vilcabamba River, are more difficult of access, though by no means impossible; but to investigate all would require weeks. Before undertaking such journeys, one should read the accounts of other travelers and come suitably prepared; they are not for the ordinary tourist. When the railroad has been extended from Huancayo to Cuzco, a very expensive work, the completion of which may be delayed for some years, this wonderfully romantic region will attract many visitors.

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CHAPTER XIII
BOLIVIA—CUZCO TO LA PAZ

From Cuzco the tourist will return to Juliaca, the junction on the main line, where he should arrive in time to take the train at 6.15 p.m. for Puno on Lake Titicaca, a ride of an hour and a quarter. The time table should be carefully studied in Arequipa and the journey planned to avoid a stop-over at Puno. Should this occur, notwithstanding, one may look about the town, which, founded in the seventeenth century, is an important center of trade in alpaca and vicuña skins and wool. One may therefore inquire for rugs, as these either of white alpaca or vicuña are valuable souvenirs, also purchasable in La Paz. The shorter vicuña fur from the necks and legs is considered more desirable; though the longer is preferred by some. The rugs vary in price according to buyer and seller, as well as the quality of the fur, from 25 or 30 soles to 100 or more for a special order. In La Paz they are sold at from 40 to 80 bolivians each. Alpaca rugs are more rare and cost about the same as the better vicuñas. They are quite double the weight. Llamas, sometimes called the camels of the Andes, are prized chiefly as burden bearers, though their long coarse wool is serviceable. The vicuña and alpaca are never used as pack animals, being smaller and of lighter build. The fine quality of the vicuña wool and its scarcity makes it expensive and desirable. A poncho or any other article of this wool is something to be valued. The Indians alone manage all of these animals successfully; though the vicuña is hardly domesticated. A profitable industry in which to engage would be the culture if possible of these animals for the wool. The llamas are of various colors, black, brown, white, and mixed; the alpacas are oftener black or white, the vicuñas a tawny or fawn shade, fading almost to white on the belly. None of these animals have horns, and spitting is their only weapon of defense. They range mostly from 12,000 to 15,000 feet in Peru and Bolivia.

Puno is quite a town with a large plaza, several churches, many nice homes, a college, a hospital, and, in the vicinity, many ancient monuments; one famous round tower, called a chulpa, at Sallustani, of unknown origin, is by some believed to be a burial structure. Puno on the frontier of Peru is a meeting place between the two tribes, the Quichuas and Aymarás, the latter, residents of northern Bolivia, while the Quichuas occupy the plateau region of the greater part of Peru and of the central and southern portions of Bolivia.

Lake Titicaca, halfway between Panama and Cape Horn, is on a great plateau more than two miles vertically above the level of the sea. About 135 miles long and 66 wide it has, with a very irregular outline, an area of more than 5000 square miles. Although at so great an altitude the waters never freeze, being slightly warmer than the atmosphere, the temperature of which in winter is often as low as 30° Fah. Snowstorms are no rarity. The glacier-covered mountains on the southeast have some effect upon the climate. A number of small streams flow into the lake which has a single outlet at the southwest corner, the Desaguadero River, 180 miles long, emptying into Lake Poopo. For a distance of 30 miles from Lake Titicaca the river is navigable for boats of 500 tons. So high that one Mt. Washington piled upon another would not rise above the surface of the water, and the loftiest mountain in the United States proper would appear but as one of the grassy hills around, this sheet of water, 12,500 feet above the sea, nearly as large as Lake Erie, is the most elevated in the world where steamboats regularly ply.

In the winter months, June, July, and August, it is quite dark before Puno is reached, but in the gloomy dusk one will have on the left glimpses of the Lake. At the Puno Station an animated throng will be waiting for the many who descend from the train; but the majority of first-class passengers, if it is the right day, will remain in the car for the half-mile ride to the docks, where they embark on a 1000 ton steamer for the sail to Guaqui in Bolivia. Formerly the steamer lay at the wharf until morning, the passengers sleeping on board. Then a delightful all day’s sail was enjoyed with continually charming views of deep bays, irregular hilly shores, rugged picturesque promontories and islands, and after a few hours, the splendid Cordillera Real at the east. Towards sunset, the line of snowclad giants, stretching from imposing Illampu to Illimani, presented a spectacle of extraordinary magnificence.

To those who delight in ancient myths and archæological research, perchance to all who know the legend of Manco Ccapac and Mama Oclla, children of the Sun, it would be a privilege to call at the sacred islet Inti-Karka or Titicaca, now commonly referred to as the Island of the Sun, whence these two set forth on their wonderful mission and career. It was reserved for the fourth Inca, Maita Ccapac, to return with an army to this region, then entitled Collasuyo, and to reduce the people to submission; and for his successor, Ccapac Yupanqui, to complete the conquest. The Incas were greatly impressed with the more ancient monuments at Tiahuanaco, evidences of superior civilization; and on the island from which his ancestors were supposed to have issued on their beneficent, civilizing mission, Tupac Yupanqui erected a splendid palace and a temple to the Sun, the richest in his entire empire. A temple also was built to Thunder and Lightning, a monastery for the sons of nobles, a sanctuary for vestal virgins, and dwellings for his courtiers. The island is said to have been paved with gold and silver. A smaller island near by is called Coati from Coya, the Moon, wife of the Sun, where temples to the Moon were erected. On both islands many remains still exist, but to visit them is difficult, as the regular steamers sail direct from Puno to Guaqui, at the south end of the lake. These boats which were built in Scotland, brought up in pieces and here put together, have comfortable staterooms with electric lights and afford good enough meals. The curious native boats, the balsas, one must try to get a glimpse of near the dock at Puno, or in the early morning. These are made of reeds, which grow in the water near the lake shore and are bound together in rolls. The broad sails also are of reeds. After a while they become water-soaked, lasting only about six months. The boats are propelled from shore with a long pole. Before the coming of the steamships these boats transported much freight among the various lake ports, but are now little used except by the Indians who are adept in their management and seldom wrecked, though often severe storms suddenly arise. August is the month of best weather, though the coldest. Warm clothing and wraps are indispensable. Thunderstorms may occur at any time, especially in summer when waterspouts are not infrequent; but in my seven crossings the weather has always been good and everything comfortable; berth and meals are provided without extra cost.

Copacabana. In 1903 the steamer called at the town of Copacabana, on the west shore of the lake, where there is a far-famed shrine to the Virgin, once the richest and most renowned in all South America. The story goes that the image of the Virgin is the work of a converted Indian, who, ignorant and unskilled, from pious zeal devoted many years to the task. Aside from the face and hands, the entire image is covered with gilt upon which are colored designs so applied as to give the effect of an elaborate robe. The gold crown and the many priceless jewels with which the image is decorated possess a value indeed amazing to find in a town largely Indian in this remote corner of the globe. Candles are ever burning before the sacred shrine. Besides the church, a cupola on columns of Moorish style is notable. At the time of the great festival to the Virgin in July, this usually quiet town is thronged with Indians who come from all directions, a distance of 100 leagues. Mingled with Catholic ritual and ceremonies are primitive Indian rites and beliefs, and the religious exercises are followed by grotesque dances and songs, drunkenness and bestial excesses, as happens generally on the great feast days elsewhere among Quichuas and Aymarás. In an earlier period there was here a city with accommodations for the pilgrims who annually came to visit the Temple of the Sun on Inti-Karka and to pay homage to the Inca. Pilgrims still come from Mexico and Europe to be healed. The tourist has now no opportunity to visit the place except by chance, or with an outlay of considerable time, trouble, and expense, by chartering a special balsa or by making use of the small coasting steamer.

One should rise early the morning after leaving Puno, in order to enjoy the imposing sight of the great mountain range from Illampu to Illimani, a distance of 100 miles. No more splendid vision, some maintain, may be witnessed on the whole round earth. As one beholds the glistening glaciers which, pierced by bristling ramparts of rock, in immense masses clothe the vast and towering peaks, with the brown plain and the blue waters of the lake as a contrasting foreground, it is difficult to realize that one is two miles above the sea and still within the Torrid Zone. After passing through a very narrow strait, the ship sails west into a considerable bay, at last along a narrow, artificial channel to the port of Guaqui near the southwest corner of the lake. It is a bustling place with plenty of Indian men and boys to assist in transporting hand baggage to the train 30 or 40 rods distant. A trifle bleak, maybe, in winter, exercise and sunshine promptly dispel discomfort. There is not much of Guaqui save the dwellings connected with the port and railway terminal. It has been growing with the increase in traffic ever since the opening of the railway in 1903; but its progress may now be retarded by the new railway from the Pacific recently opened between Arica and La Paz. Life on this desolate plain which might seem a dreary lot to many is yet enjoyed by civilized Englishmen and their families, who find the climate agreeable and are content in the possession of all essential comforts.

The cars for the journey to La Paz, 60 miles distant, are of ordinary American style. A seat on the left will afford the finer prospects, though at the start the hills on the right are higher. These are often covered with a thin coating of snow which at times spreads over the plain. Near the lake the land is well covered with brown bunch grass, good food for cattle, many of which with long rough hair may be seen from the car window. Trains of donkeys, mules, and llamas are often in evidence, and many Indian men and women, not very prepossessing in appearance, the Aymarás, who are of more churlish manner than the Quichuas of Peru. Along the line are Indian villages and solitary dwellings of sun-dried bricks, the latter surrounded by thick walls of the same material, though walls of stone are used to separate the cultivated fields. Fifteen miles from Guaqui is Tiahuanaco, the seat of a wonderful prehistoric civilization. Beyond the railway station may be seen at the left great stones of a sacred enclosure, a mound showing evidences of excavations, perhaps a colossal statue. No time is given to examine these marvellous ruins, for which purpose one must make an especial excursion from La Paz.

BALSAS, LAKE TITICACA

LA PAZ, FROM THE HILLS

After an hour or so the Cordillera comes again into view, when the great Illampu will excite profound admiration, until the Alto Station is approached. Two hours from Guaqui the train reaches the station Viacha, a junction from which a road leads south to Oruro, and the newer road west over the mountains, to the sea at Arica. Often there is here a long wait, which begins with much bustle and animation, women offering for sale fruits, rolls, and a variety of curious concoctions. The village is at some distance on the right; a church is conspicuous on a hilltop. A half hour beyond at the Alto Station another pause is made. The train is divided into sections and with a special engine attached the car proceeds in reverse direction. For a moment it continues on the practically level plain, but keep a sharp look out! Presto! You begin to descend and suddenly perceive that you have passed the brink of an enormous cañon, its vicinity hitherto unsuspected, and you gaze in astonishment at the steep enclosing walls and far below in the distance on the red roofs of the city of La Paz more than 1000 feet beneath. A remarkable, astonishing, and delightful ride is before you. One wishes to look all ways at once, to admire the long curves of the winding track, the strangely carved walls of the cañon, the troops of llamas or burros with their Indian drivers, the steep pathways up which they toil, the patches of bright green in the midst of the brown slopes, and the gradually approaching city. The descent is on the sloping head wall of the curiously carved oval basin, the sides of which appear in places perpendicular and converge at the farther end in such a way as to leave no opening visible, though an outlet is really there. The upper edge of this great basin is called the alto or height by the people dwelling below. Thus concealed in the very heart of the Andes is the unique city of La Paz, with its 80,000 inhabitants, over 12,000 feet above the sea, the highest capital on the globe, a curious, fascinating place, surrounded by these strange walls; while brilliant, snow-crowned Illimani, towering in majesty 9000 feet above, adds a charm comparable to that which the Jungfrau gives to Interlaken. But La Paz itself is as high as the shoulders of that glacier-robed Alpine summit; an altitude which in other regions signifies perpetual snow here bringing only a temperate clime, where flowers blossom in the open throughout the year, and the rare inch or two of winter’s snow quickly vanishes in the morning’s sunlight.

The railway down to the city, by many pronounced impossible of accomplishment, was opened in October, 1905, through the initiative and agency of Mr. T. Clive Sheppard, then Superintendent of Public Works. The road, 5½ miles long, has an average grade of six per cent with curves on a radius of 100 meters. The power is electricity obtained from mond gas, an explosive mixture compounded of coal gas, steam, and air, cheaper than either gas or steam; a consideration of importance where coal from Australia in 1908 was selling at retail for $50 a ton.

At the station are porters who for modest fees will transport to your hotel your baggage, both large and small. Big trunks they carry on their backs with apparent ease. Carriages may be at hand, costing one bolivian, 40 cents; or on the other side of the station an electric car, fare 20 centavos, first class, will soon be passing. This will bring you to the Hotel Guibert, half a mile distant, the oldest and best of the hostelries of the city, unless a new one, long promised, should be already completed. 20 centavos is an ample fee for the boy who takes a bag to the car or even to the hotel, and 50 centavos to the man who brings the trunk.

Of the early history of Bolivia, little is known. At the time of the Spanish invasion the country was under the sway of the Incas. These being overthrown, no resistance was here offered to the advance of Diego de Almagro, who chose this route for his southward march for the conquest of Chile. After this unhappy adventure Gonzalo Pizarro invaded the country; the city of Chuquisaca was founded (at times called Charcas, and La Plata), now known as Sucre. Quarrels among the invaders culminated in a victory near Cuzco by the Viceroy Pedro de la Gasca over Gonzalo Pizarro, who was put to death. As a memorial of the peace thus secured, La Gasca ordered Captain Alonso de Mendoza to found a city in the valley of Chuquiapu, where an Indian village already existed, and October 25, 1545, the first anniversary of the battle, the foundations were laid of a city named Nuestra Señora de La Paz. The city of Potosí had been founded a few months earlier, after the discovery of the wonderful silver mines which soon made the city and cerro famous throughout the world.

The country now known as Bolivia, formerly Alto Peru, was a part of the province of New Toledo granted to Almagro, who was beheaded after his party was defeated in a conflict with Pizarro’s forces near Cuzco, subsequent to his return from his unfortunate expedition to Chile. In 1542 the Viceroyalty of Peru was created with authority over all the Spanish American possessions. Under the Viceroy were later two Audiencias Reales, Royal Audiences, of Lima and of Charcas, the latter covering the former New Toledo and having jurisdiction over the provinces of Tucumán, Paraguay, and Buenos Aires. The Audiencias were supreme courts possessing also executive functions, and were responsible to the Crown. The Audiencia of Charcas, created in 1559, had its chief seat at Chuquisaca, the site also of the bishopric of Charcas, and of the University of San Francisco Xavier, renowned in Spanish America for its learning, and ranking with Salamanca in Spain. La Paz became a Cathedral city in 1605, and Chuquisaca in 1609 was made the seat of the archbishopric of La Plata. Other cities were founded; explorations were made east and north of the Andes Mountains; the work of christianizing the Indians was prosecuted by the Jesuit, Franciscan, and other padres. At the same time great abuses were practiced upon the natives, who both in Peru and Bolivia were compelled to work in the mines, and suffered such hardships and cruelties as rapidly to diminish their numbers. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries there were many struggles and conflicts, chiefly between the native born Americans of Spanish ancestry and the rulers who were for the most part Spanish born; several insurrections occurring with intent to throw off the Spanish yoke. In 1776 the Viceroyalty of Buenos Aires was established, to which the Audiencia of Bolivia was transferred. In 1780 occurred an Indian rising instigated and directed by three brothers named Catari, for whose heads 2000 pesos each were offered by the Audiencia. Thus they were betrayed. The Indian revolt in Cuzco led by Tupac Amaru occurring about this time incited the Bolivian Indians to further efforts. The Indian Ayoayo with 80,000 men for three months besieged the city of La Paz until dispersed by an army from Chuquisaca. The town of Sorata was destroyed, but in the end, after 50,000 lives had been lost among the Spanish Americans and many more of the Indians, they were finally crushed.

Injustice and oppression had been the lot, not of the Indians only, but of the native born Spanish Americans, in spite of the fact that especially from Peru and Bolivia fabulous wealth had flowed into the treasury of Spain. The Revolution in North America was a warning, but the concessions granted were too late. July 16, 1809, conspirators at La Paz deposed and imprisoned the Governor and proclaimed the independence of the country, organizing a Junta of which one of the leaders in the movement, Pedro Domingo Murillo, was elected President. This insurrection deserves especial notice as the first effort in South America towards democratic government. A trained army sent by the Viceroy of Peru overcame the feeble opposition of a few patriots, and Murillo, January 29, 1810, perished on the scaffold; yet full of confidence he exclaimed in the words of another, “The torch which I have lighted shall never be extinguished.” Within a few months the Viceroy at Buenos Aires was deposed and an army from Argentina under General Belgrano met and defeated the royalists on the field of Suipacha. From this time on, there were various conflicts in which the royalists were usually successful; but the patriots, in spite of serious defeats, for years continued a persistent guerrilla warfare in which a large number of their leaders perished. The arrival of General San Martin with his victorious army at Pisco in Peru, and soon after the proclamation of independence at Lima, July 28, 1821, gave new hope to the Bolivians. The battle of Ayacucho December 9, 1824, having ended Spanish dominion in South America, January 29, 1825, just fifteen years after the first patriots suffered martyrdom in the plaza, the last Spanish authorities evacuated La Paz, which was occupied by the Independent Army of Alto Peru under General Lanza the same day. The victorious army under General Sucre, marching from Cuzco, made a triumphal entry, February 7, 1825, in the midst of wild rejoicing. With General Sucre acting as the prime organizer of the Republic, the first National Assembly met in June at Chuquisaca. The Act of Independence bears the date of August 6, 1825; the Republic was named for Bolivar, who was elected its first President, while Chuquisaca was made the capital under the name of Sucre. Nuestra Señora de La Paz became La Paz de Ayacucho. General Bolívar, on his arrival in La Paz August 18, was greeted with unbounded enthusiasm. In November at Sucre he was inaugurated President, but resigned in January, 1826, to return to Lima. The troublous times which followed, continuing many years, must be passed over, up to the Chilian war. A quarrel arising over the collection of an export tax on nitrate, Chile sent troops to occupy Antofagasta, then Bolivian territory. Peru having previously made a secret treaty with Bolivia joined her in the declaration of war, April 5, 1879. As the allies were altogether unprepared, Chile was completely victorious and Bolivia lost what little coast she had previously possessed. During the last thirty years, however, internal dissensions have for the most part ceased, and with more stable government there has been successful development of the rich resources of the country. In 1898 trouble arose over the question of the seat of government, sessions of Congress having been held in several cities. Congress passed a law that Sucre should be the permanent residence of the President and Cabinet. The people of La Paz protesting, a Federation was formed and, after several engagements, General Pando, commander of the revolutionary forces, gained a complete victory, with the result that La Paz was made the real seat of government although Sucre retains the name of capital. General Pando was elected President. During his administration occurred the Acre boundary difficulty settled by the cession of considerable rubber territory to Brazil, in return for which Brazil paid Bolivia £2,000,000 to be used in building railways, while Brazil further agreed to construct the so-called Madera-Mamoré railway around the rapids in those rivers, thus giving to Bolivia an outlet by the Amazon and Pará for her own rubber districts and for a large section of her territory. Under President Montes (1904-1908) a treaty was made with Chile according to which, in addition to bestowing a subsidy and other considerations, Chile agreed to build a railway from Arica to the Altos of La Paz, recently opened to traffic, and affording a shorter route to the Pacific than those by Mollendo or Antofagasta. During the administration of President Eliodoro Villazón progress has continued in other directions and especially in the development of railways. The road from Rio Mulato to Potosí has been opened and that from Oruro to Cochabamba will probably be in operation before the close of 1913; thus these two important cities are brought into better communication with the outside world. The Madera-Mamoré Railway is already in service. President Villazón is now succeeded by former President Montes.

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CHAPTER XIV
THE CITY OF LA PAZ

The Grand Hotel Guibert is well situated at a corner of the principal Plaza. Though not on the square, several windows overlook it and from many the music of the band concerts may be heard on Sunday and Thursday evenings. The hotel entrance is on the calle Comercio, one of the principal streets of the city, running longitudinally in the valley. The side windows, on a street running down the steep hill, look across upon the side walls of the Cathedral which fronts upon the Plaza. The hotel, with two stories in front and three in the rear, is an ancient structure several centuries old, with handsome carvings on the inner walls. These once surrounded a large patio, originally open to the sky and with a sloping pavement, which might be entered from the side street. In 1903, the patio was occasionally occupied by a drove of llamas, or by men discharging freight, or with other matters; but now, roofed and floored, it has been converted into a large dining-room. The cookery is a combination of French, Spanish, and Indian styles. The hotel has a rather narrow entrance and stairway, and no salon or parlor in which guests may be received. The chambers, provided with electric bells and lights, are quite palatial with expensive French furniture, thick carpets, canopied bedsteads with embroidered sheets and splendid blankets. The luxurious bed, placed by the door, leaves a large space near the window as a drawing-room where callers may be entertained. When a foreign minister arrived, tall and stately screens were brought in to partition off the bed from the rest of the apartment. After Cuzco and Arequipa, the hotel will seem quite cosmopolitan and satisfactory, though the arrangement of bathrooms and toilet on an inner patio leaves something to be desired. So crowded is the hotel that sufficient accommodations are hardly afforded by the main building and two dependencies, one on the Plaza facing the palace, the other, three stories high, on the same calle Comercio three blocks nearer the station. To secure a good room or even to be sure of any, it is wise to telegraph from Arequipa or Cuzco. Prices vary from 7 to 15 bol. a day for room and board, 8 or 10 being the average fee except for the largest rooms. Morning coffee is served in one’s room, almuerzo is from 11 to 2, the crowd coming between 12.30 and 1.

Another hotel nearer the station, kept by a German, is said to be very neat, and good for the money, the price being lower. It was rumored in 1911 that the millionaire mine owner, Señor Patiño, had purchased a corner on this street on which to erect a large up-to-date establishment. This would be a boon in view of the rapidly increasing travel. On the street floor of the Guibert is a large café, a good part of the day and evening filled to overflowing with gentlemen, both natives and foreigners, at small tables, regaling themselves with a cocktail or some other beverage, discussing business or politics, or shaking dice, to the serious neglect, I was told, of the important affairs of life, as is frequently the case elsewhere.

CATHEDRAL AND GOVERNMENT PALACE

HALL OF CONGRESS, MONUMENT TO MURILLO

The city of La Paz (population 80,000) on both sides of the Chuquiapu River, which flows at the bottom of the cañon in a southeasterly direction, has the greater part on the left bank. From above it appears as if on the broad floor of a valley, but later it is seen that both banks rise steeply from the stream. Thus while the main streets running parallel to the river have but slight incline, those at right angles are so steep as to make carriage driving almost impossible. Both streets and sidewalks are narrow, and paved with small cobblestones, though the walks have also blocks of stone, alternating checkerboard fashion with the squares of cobbles. So narrow are the walks that only two may go abreast, the gentlemen often stepping into the gutter to allow a lady to pass. In fact on the steep ways many prefer the middle of the street as being less slippery, a safe enough place, as on these one meets chiefly other pedestrians or llamas. The latter are one of the main attractions and charms of La Paz, troops of graceful animals occasionally blocking the streets, bringing ice perhaps from the glaciers of Illimani or some nearer and invisible mountain; or taquia, the dung of the llama, here the chief fuel; or carrying away imported merchandise to Indians or others, dwelling off the few lines of railway.

The multitude of Indians (Aymarás, less prepossessing than the Quichuas) and of cholos, who together form nine-tenths of the population of Bolivia and two-thirds that of La Paz, also gives a picturesque novelty to the place, attracting eager attention if not admiration by the strangeness of their personality and garb. The Indian men bearing loads or driving herds of llamas, both apparently belonging to some remote patriarchal age, the women sitting in the streets or squares, knitting as they preside over the sale of edibles, knit goods, or other wares, or handing out a bowl of chupe (soup) to a patron, the cholas (women of the half-breeds) in gay attire, are a constant source of interest.

One’s sight-seeing naturally begins with the open square close to the hotel, called the Plaza Murillo from the patriot, Pedro Domingo Murillo, executed here in 1810. This, too, is the spot where independence was first declared in 1809. The square has seen many turbulent episodes. In 1894 the existing park was laid out. The fountain in the center was the work of a talented Indian, Feliciano Cantula, in 1855.

On the same side of the Plaza as the Cathedral is the Government Palace, erected in 1885; an earlier structure having been destroyed by fire. This contains the offices of many state officials and in the upper story the office and residence of the President and his family. In October, 1908, a grand ball was here given by President Montes in honor of the Princess Argendoña of Sucre, on which occasion the large patio was entirely floored over at the second story to form a ball room, which with the corridors was handsomely decorated with hangings of heavy broadcloth in various colors. The affair was altogether elegant, the costumes of the ladies in the latest Parisian modes, the refreshments most elaborate; ices, cakes, and wine were served at small tables throughout the evening, and at two, a fine supper with soup, hot meats, roast beef, turkey, etc., delicious salads, and other viands. The dancing, which began about eleven, continued until seven a.m.

Across the corner is the Hall of Congress, a fine new edifice completed in 1905, though sufficiently advanced for the inauguration of President Montes in 1904. In addition to the Chambers of the Senate and the House of Deputies, the building contains among other offices those of the Minister of Foreign Relations. The Cathedral, close to the Hotel Guibert, in process of construction, is likely to continue thus for many years. In 1835 a design was adopted of a Bolivian architect, Padre Manuel Sanauja. The foundations were laid in 1843, when stone cutters were imported from Europe to instruct the Indians in cutting and polishing the stone. They proved apt pupils and were soon qualified to continue the work, which has, however, been much delayed through troublous times and the fact that railroads and other projects for material advancement seemed of greater importance. Now, however, with an appropriation of 100,000 bol. annually, the construction is slowly but steadily proceeding according to plans of Señor Camponoro adopted in 1900. The structure when finished will be the largest and most expensive cathedral erected in South America since the Independence, and may be the finest of any. Covering 4000 square meters it will be capable of seating 12,000 persons. Of the Græco-Roman style, it will have five naves with columns of polished stone, towers nearly 200 feet high, and a dome, the top of which will be 150 feet above the floor. Berenguela, a native marble, will be used for the great altar.

Two blocks north of the Plaza is the pro-Cathedral, the church of Santo Domingo, where such services are held as are regarded as functions of State. Thus on the day of the funeral of Pope Leo XIII in 1903, a procession including the President, the Ministers of State, and other Bolivian officials, with members of the Diplomatic Corps, all in evening dress, the customary garb on formal occasions in South America and Europe, marched from the Palace to the Church with a large escort of soldiery, a regiment also lining the streets en route.

The city contains twelve other churches, five public chapels, five convents, and three monasteries. The handsomest church is that of San Francisco on a plaza of the same name, down on a fairly level space in the hollow. A church and convent were erected here in 1547, but the present edifice dates from 1778. Its façade of carved stone attracts attention, from its excellent design and workmanship. The interior has three naves and eight altars, besides a high altar of carved cedar. The convent with accommodations for two hundred at last accounts had but fourteen inmates, though recently reconstructed from a legacy left by a rich lady of La Paz. The convent contains one of the largest libraries of Bolivia.

Besides several other plazas, either entirely paved or having a little green, there is the usual Alameda nearly half a mile long, which, like the Plaza Murillo, has been the scene of conflicts. On the right bank of the stream towards the lower end of the city, this quiet promenade, ornamented with several rows of trees, has broad driveways, a wide central walk with pools which swans adorn, and fountains with basins containing gold fish. At each end of the Alameda are portals, of which the lower, leading to the Plaza de la Concordia and the Avenida Arce, was taken from a convent cloister and set up here in 1828. Along the Alameda are many new and pretty residences in rather modern style, without a central patio, as also above and beyond, this being a very fashionable and growing section of the city. The tints of pale blue, green, yellow, crushed strawberry, etc., in which the houses are painted, in the clear sunlight and contrasting shadows present a gay and pleasing appearance.

More interesting to many than plaza or alameda is the Market Place found on the calle Mercado, parallel to the Comercio, and two blocks down the hill. Going down the street at the corner by the Guibert and turning to the left, the entrance to the market, an arched portal, will be found in the middle of the third block on the right hand. Though not very noticeable the market place occupies the greater part of the square, the site of the former convent of San Augustín. The best time for a visit is as early as possible on Sunday morning, when hundreds or thousands of Indians come in from outlying districts. The adjacent streets, as well as the market, are thronged with these strange looking people. Both men and women have bare legs and feet, though some wear sandals. Their heads are more carefully protected with woolen hood and hat. The men’s trousers are noticeable, wide at the pockets according to Spanish style at the time of the Conquest, and with a slit up the back, showing white drawers underneath. Made of dark cloth they are often worn lining side out to preserve them from damage while wearers are at work, when they appear gray. The women wear several short heavy skirts, and over woolen waists a shawl or two, in one of which a baby is apt to be carried on the back. The chola women are much gayer in attire, with many bright colored woolen skirts, red, green, blue, yellow, one showing below another, or with a richly embroidered, white under-petticoat, these standing out like a balloon. They generally wear a jaunty white or gray hat resembling a derby, several shawls, often open-worked stockings, and shoes with high French heels. A great contrast to these are the Spanish American ladies, in the morning on the way to church or market robed in black, the black manta over their heads, but when calling or visiting attired in the latest Paris fashions. The gentlemen, too, are extremely punctilious as to correct dress, appropriate to the hour and the function.

STREET NEAR THE MARKET

IN THE CEMETERY OF LA PAZ

Within the market place and on the streets around are women sitting by their stalls, in the doorways and on the sidewalks, selling their wares, dried and fresh fruits, vegetables, hot soup, chuños (dried potatoes), chalona (dried sheep), and articles of almost every kind; shoes, stockings, salt, sugar, meat, coca leaves, rather coarse native lace, or cheap, imported, machine-made, funny little rag dolls in Indian garb, five or ten centavos each, red beans which would make a pretty necklace (they are not real beans), soft woolen mitts, mittens, and caps, and coarse caps or hoods, with face masks. The women are always knitting (except at meal time) when not employed with a customer. People will be found here at any hour of the day and one may go again and again with interest; the numerous babies and toddlers, though dirty, add to the picturesqueness of the scene. The women seem pleasant and more prepossessing than the men. The knitted articles are astonishingly cheap and the dolls are of a quaint ugliness. Everything may be found here but flowers, which are sold in a square above by the La Merced church on a prolongation of the calle Comercio. Sweet peas, pansies, roses, and other flowers brought from the valley below are sold at a ridiculously low figure. A bolivian will purchase as many as you can carry.

There are many good shops in La Paz, the dry goods, mostly on the calle Comercio or the Mercado; the largest called El Condor, with several branches, doing an immense business. There are book stores, banks, and all ordinary institutions. The house of W. R. Grace is on the calle Mercado towards the market. The Post Office is on the calle Comercio just beyond the Palace, the office of the Prefect is on the floor above. A short distance down the steep street between is the Police Station.

On the side of Plaza Murillo opposite the Capitol, at the upper corner is the building, entrance on Ingavi, which contains the Library of the Geographical Society and the office of Don Manuel V. Ballivián, geographer and statistician, formerly Minister of Agriculture, who speaks English fluently and is most courteous in giving information to students, explorers, or investigators of the resources of the country. The Geographical Society, of which Mr. Ballivián is President, has by its publications and research contributed much to the knowledge of the country, which Mr. Ballivián has himself extensively explored. He is author and editor of many valuable works.

On the first floor of the same building, with entrance on the Plaza, is the Museum of Natural History and Industrial Propaganda, containing specimens of the flora, fauna, and great mineral wealth of the country, ancient sculpture, aboriginal mummies found on the plateau, pottery of the Inca period and earlier, and other paraphernalia, as well as curious examples of modern textiles, and other work and implements of the civilized and savage Indians.

Passing one block along Ingavi and turning to the right one will find on the left the Theater, of modern construction, recently remodeled and equal to the average theater anywhere. Entertainments here given are frequently subsidized by the Government; as, however well patronized, the receipts would hardly be sufficient to pay a company for the long expensive journey from the sea coast. At the corner, before turning up the street, is the Municipal Library and free reading room, open day and evening, where, as in all quarters, the inquiring stranger will receive the greatest courtesy. On the block beyond the theater is the University.

As in other cities of the West Coast there is a Bull Ring in the outskirts where occasional fights are held with skillful Spanish toreadors. Several pleasant walks may be taken by one who is fond of hill climbing. A little Chapel at the top of the left wall of the cañon to some may seem inviting. It is an hour’s walk, with suitable pauses affording attractive views of the city and cañon; but the arrival is disappointing, for a further though moderate slope cuts off the expected view of plateau and distant mountains. How much farther one would have to go to obtain this, I am unable to state. Some writers warn the stranger not to walk at this altitude except for short distances. It is well to be cautious the first day, especially if there is the slightest symptom of discomfort, and at any time persons should avoid too rapid walking, especially uphill, and be careful not to overdo. This is a great country for climbing, its opportunities yet unimproved, Illimani (21,000 feet) being the only one of its high mountains whose summit (by Sir Martin Conway) has yet been reached. There is no better exercise, providing the recreation is wisely pursued; but of course not every one can endure the altitude even of La Paz, to say nothing of 8000 or 10,000 feet more.

A walk down the valley may afford pleasure, though the majority may prefer to employ a carriage, or a horse. On foot he will hardly get far unless taking a whole day. The road winds around, and the wall blocking the lower end of the cañon is more distant than it looks. It is a delightful little drive to Obrajes, three miles distant. Every one should go at least so far, and will then wish to continue. The curious shapes of the cañon walls, the bright variegated colors of the cliffs, the road winding in great curves down the rapidly descending cañon, the beautiful green of alfalfa meadows, the pretty villas and gardens, and glorious Illimani above, excite ever increasing admiration. One with plenty of time at his disposal may ride down the valley to a hacienda, Cebollullo, at the foot of Illimani, enjoying the most magnificent scenery; but two days would be needed to go and return. Down this cañon one may proceed to the Yungas Valley, whence come the vegetables and fruits for the La Paz market. A railway will some day open up this country, extending to Puerto Pando on the navigable waters of the Beni, whence one may cross the continent to Pará by boat and by the newly constructed Madera-Mamoré Railway, but our tour does not lie in that direction.

An excursion on foot or horseback may be made to the noted gold mine Chuquiaguillo, a league from the city, which in the eighteenth century produced one hundred and twenty-five million dollars gold. Here Indians were washing for gold when the Spaniards arrived and here they work still under a German superintendent, the gravel yielding about thirty-five cents gold a cubic foot, with an occasional nugget. One found in 1905 contained 45 oz. of gold. It was recently reported that this property has been purchased by Americans, the Bolivian Goldfields Company.

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CHAPTER XV
OTHER REGIONS OF BOLIVIA—ROUTES TO THE SEA

Tiahuanaco. All who have an interest in legendary lore and in ancient monuments of a mysterious past should surely make the excursion to Tiahuanaco. Even those who have no especial leanings in that direction cannot fail to be impressed and may possibly be fascinated by these strange relics of a bygone age. Taking the morning train to Guaqui, one descends at Tiahuanaco and after a stay of three or four hours may return to La Paz in the evening. The real student could profitably devote as many days as the ordinary tourist would hours to the examination of the ruins. These are believed by Sir Clements Markham to indicate the existence of a large city, while others think that this was rather an immense sanctuary and never a place of general residence. The existing remains on the broad plateau, 135 feet above Lake Titicaca, from which it is 12 miles distant, are supposed when erected to have been on the shore of the lake. A great terraced mound of earth, supported by stone walls, having an area of 620 by 450 feet and a height of 50 feet, is called a fortress, and also a palace. Long used as a stone quarry for the erection of buildings in neighboring towns, even in La Paz, 60 miles distant, it is now in an extremely dilapidated condition. The excavations of treasure seekers as well as of scientists have also contributed to its ruin.

MONOLITHIC GATEWAY TIAHUANACO

INDIANS AT FESTIVAL—TIAHUANACO

About a quarter of a mile from the station is a construction, generally regarded as a sacred enclosure, which has the form of a rectangle, 388 by 445 feet, marked by granite blocks 15 feet apart and 8 or 10 feet high, conspicuous objects on the brown plain, reminding of Stonehenge. These monoliths are supposed to have been part of a wall, the spaces between filled in with rough stones. A temple may have stood within, but of this there are no remains. A massive monolithic gateway, broken and apparently not in its original position, may once have afforded entrance to the enclosure. This great piece of stone, 13 feet wide, 7 feet above ground and 3 feet thick was probably fractured by an earthquake. The curious and elaborate carvings on the upper part of one side have been variously explained, but the interpretation endorsed by Sir Clements Markham, long a profound student of Peruvian antiquities, is most highly regarded. In the center is a human head supposed to represent the creator of the universe Pachacámac or Viracocha, to which the other figures, partly human and some with heads of condors, seem to offer adoration. Three other constructions, one called the hall of justice, are remarkable for their extent and for the cyclopean masses of stone. There is abundant evidence of extraordinarily skillful masonry and of excellence in sculpture. Many of the enormous stones are unequaled in size in any other part of the world save by the monoliths of Egypt and some near Cuzco. One stone 36 feet long and 7 wide weighs 170 tons. These have often ornamental carving. A number of statues elaborately decorated have been found here, one of which still stands upright within the enclosure. The great age of these remains is unquestioned. One theory is that they date from a period before the plateau was elevated to its present position when it enjoyed a milder climate.

It is worth while to go over to the modern Indian village, Tiahuanaco. On the plaza is a church, largely constructed of stones taken from the ancient ruins. In front of the church are two ancient and dilapidated statues, long since transported from their original site. The interior of this small church is of extraordinary magnificence, with elaborate gilt carvings, an altar of pure silver, and some religious paintings of moderate excellence.

On the 16th of September elaborate festivities occur, when many Indians appear in velvet or plush garments, blue, pink, or green, embroidered with gold or silver, wearing masks, black, white, or yellow, and elaborate feather head dresses. Pipes and drums, other wind instruments, and wooden rattles make plenty of noise if not music. Some men are dressed to represent devils, with horns and tail; others, animals, as a sheep or a green turtle. The finest suits cost each as much as $200 gold. At Sorata town a still more elaborate festival occurs at the same period, lasting for four or five days. Gorgeous feather head dresses may be seen, and fans which could not be purchased for $75. The execution of the Inca Atahuallpa is here represented with mourning by the Indians. These festivals are all accompanied or concluded by drunken orgies. In La Paz, August 15, 1903, occurred somewhat similar but milder festivities, Indians in costume and dances.

Sorata. One who is fond of horseback riding and not afraid of a little discomfort might, with from five to seven days to spare, enjoy an expedition to the town of Sorata. This city of 8000 or 10,000 inhabitants is situated about a hundred miles north of La Paz in a beautiful valley at the foot of the mountain of the same name, better called by the euphonius Indian appellation, Illampu. In 1911 a diligence or covered wagon with four horses twice a week made the trip by a fair road over the plain to Achacachi, perhaps 70 miles distant. The diligence sets out at a very early hour, six or half past, making a rather long day. From Achacachi to Sorata town it is a ride of from six to nine hours according to the animals provided. These must be engaged in advance in La Paz and probably sent ahead to meet one there, in which case it is obviously cheaper, though more tiresome, to go on horseback all the way. If this method of travel is decided upon, or indeed the other, an arriero must be engaged to provide saddle animals and to take care of them, being paid somewhat in advance. Unless he receives a sum to bind the bargain and to pay his preliminary expenses, whatever he may promise, he is likely never to be seen again. But having accepted money, he generally carries out the bargain, though a written contract is desirable. An arriero once agreed with me to furnish four animals, two saddle, one of these for himself, and two baggage animals for eight bol. a day for all, he paying the expenses for his own food and the animals; but it might cost double that now. Much depends on chance and ability at bargaining. If making the journey on horseback one should at least take the early train to the alto arranging in advance for the animals to meet him above. Setting out from there promptly, a good horseman with first-rate animals might reach Guarina or even Achacachi the same evening and from either place go on to Sorata the next day. Soon after leaving the Alto Station all traces of life disappear save what is met upon the road, Indians with llamas, burros, etc. The brown plain shows no signs of cultivation, being thickly covered with stones. No village or hut is passed for hours. But the great peaks seen from slowly varying angles are a continual source of enjoyment. A splendid imposing mountain, Huaina Potosí or Cacaaca, about 21,000 feet, with tin mines on its lower slopes, affords an opportunity for a difficult first ascent. The tambo, Cocuta, should be reached in time for almuerzo; at the very least, Machacamarca for the night: better Guarina, if possible. If one lodges at Machacamarca one must spend the next night at Achacachi and go the third day to Sorata. It is desirable, even necessary, to take blankets for the night, and to provide in the alforjas (saddle-bags), a supply of chocolate, raisins, etc., perhaps canned meat and crackers. At Cocuta, and the other places, meals are provided, soup, eggs, beefsteak, coarse bread, and tea, but between Achacachi and Sorata there is no place for luncheon; and some chocolate, etc., will come in very well the first day. Except at Achacachi no bed will be found better than a couch of adobe, but with blankets a hard bed is no harm. I have heard dire tales of the insect life which infests some such places, but in my own considerable experience, I never found anything worse than fleas and not many of them. The immense snow fields of Illampu come into view soon after leaving Cocuta. Before reaching Guarina there are glimpses of Lake Titicaca. Between Achacachi and Sorata the Huallata pass is crossed at a height of 14,000 feet. This is a big buttress of Illampu, from the top of which one has a splendid view of the enormous mountain massif close at hand, with its several summits all from this side seeming absolutely unclimbable. Descending towards Sorata attention is divided between the tremendous cliffs of Illampu on the right and the romantic Mapiri Valley below. The town, Sorata, at an altitude of 8000 feet, has a charmingly picturesque location on a terrace near the head of the valley, among trees, shrubs, and fragrant flowers, in striking contrast to the bare, bleak, brown plain above. On one side the grim walls and glittering summits of Illampu rise nearly 14,000 feet (the height of the mountain being over 21,000), contrasting sharply with the bluish purple tints down the steeply enclosed gorge opposite. At no distant day electric cars will cross the mountain ridge, and this charming town will be regularly included in the fashionable tours of South America. Sorata now has a fair hotel, as it is the headquarters for several rubber companies which conduct the industry on the lower eastern slope of the Andes, and for many miners who seek placer deposits, or the veins above them, also on the eastern side. Any one with the spirit of the explorer would find it a most interesting trip to make the circuit of the mountain: not a difficult task, but probably never yet accomplished by a white person. To the mountaineer, Illampu still affords opportunity for a splendid first ascent, Miss Peck in 1904 being obliged to turn back in good weather and a fine condition of the mountain at about 20,500 feet simply because her companions refused to advance; while Conway in 1898 retreated from a higher point on account of dangerous conditions of the snow. With Swiss guides the ascent should be easily made, or without them by experts like the conquerors of Mt. McKinley, Parker and Browne.

Train from La Paz Wednesday at 4.15 p.m. arrives at Arica Thursday, 1.40 p.m. Sleeping cars.

MT. ILLAMPU, 21,750 FT. FROM THE PLATEAU, 13,000 FT.

SORATA TOWN

La Paz to Arica. At La Paz, if not earlier, decision must be made as to the route in leaving this remarkable city. At present two are offered besides that by which we have come; one by Arica, the other by Antofagasta. If one is averse to a long railroad journey and is not eager to see other Bolivian cities, Oruro, Potosí, Cochabamba, he will prefer the Arica road, 250 miles, by which trains were expected to descend from La Paz in twelve hours to the sea, and the upward journey was to occupy sixteen. On account of the steep grade, the rack-rail system is employed on one stretch for a distance of 25 miles. To render harmless the rapid change in atmospheric pressure, in ascending 14,000 feet in eight or ten hours, a special car-chamber was planned to contain compressed air of the density at sea level. The difference in temperatures is greater than by the other routes. In winter it may be below O Far. at the summit, and a few hours later at Arica it may be 86°, though probably less if arriving at evening. Parlor and sleeping cars are provided and as these are to be heated there should be no trouble on that score. Having come up comfortably one is not likely to be troubled going down. If inclined to see a mining town one may branch off to Corocoro, six miles from the main line, a place of about 15,000 people, long famous for its mines of copper and tin. The copper mines have been called the richest in South America. The lodes are in a sandstone formation in fine grains through the matrix. After grinding and concentration a product results, 85 per cent pure. The Arica road has its own prolongation from Viacha to the Altos and city of La Paz, by the route followed a distance of 22 miles.

The Jamiraya Cañon. To the traveler in search of novelty outside the beaten track, and to the scientist, the route by way of Arica affords a chance to visit one of nature’s wonders, the existence of which is unknown to most Bolivians, as well as to the rest of the world. This is a remarkable gorge called the Jamiraya Cañon, of which I received definite information from two English scientists who had just visited it. In the Lluta Valley some distance back of Arica, it is a few miles south of the railway between km. 92 and 132 of the line. It is best visited from Arica on account of the necessity for arranging in advance to be met by animals at the station Moleno, the terminus of a branch line 54 kms. from Arica. The first bivouac may be made in Cata 27 kms. distant, from which point a day’s ride with a steep climb will lead to Socoroma, where night’s lodging may be obtained at the village store. From here one may ride down into the cañon at Jamiraya or to Ancolacalla, returning after a night or two at the bottom. Both places are desirable to visit, but it is a day’s journey from one to the other, as it is necessary to go to the top and come down again. The finer scenery is at Ancolacalla near which is a beautiful waterfall. It is said that the walls of the cañon rival if they do not surpass those of the Yosemite, being six or seven thousand feet in height, often very steep, the angle varying from 45 to 90°. At the bottom the cañon in places is but two or three meters wide, and at the top from a few hundred feet to possibly a mile. At Jamiraya the ruins of huts add a peculiar interest. The walls, which are of varied and beautiful colors, are chiefly volcanic rock, with some granite on the floor. Water should be carried, as that at the bottom of the gorge is bad. Few covers are needed as in the depths the weather is warm.

Other Bolivian Cities. If more time can be allotted to Bolivia, a week or two may be agreeably spent in visiting the cities of Cochabamba, Potosí, and even Sucre, though that is more remote. The newly constructed railway 125 miles in length, if now open from Oruro to Cochabamba, will make the latter easily accessible. This, called the Garden City of Bolivia, was founded in 1574 in a beautiful valley on the east side of the mountains, here called the Royal Range. Much wealth, culture, and refinement is here manifest, as well as in Sucre, though both cities have been so remote from the rest of the world.

Cochabamba with its suburbs has a population of 40,000 or more; it boasts of six pretty plazas, adorned with trees and flowers, and an Alameda with five divisions, a fashionable driveway. There are handsome public buildings and churches; but the scenery and climate are the chief attractions, and a complete recompense for the railway journey from Oruro.

Potosí, a name much more familiar on account of the almost fabulous wealth of which it has been the source, deserves a visit on very different grounds. Not for its delightful climate, smiling skies, and surroundings of placid beauty, but for its historic associations, the remains of colonial grandeur, and for its impressive if more gloomy scenery. From Rio Mulato, 130 miles beyond Oruro, a railway has been recently built to this ancient city 105 miles distant. In 1545 it was founded, after the discovery of the wonderful silver mines, which according to a moderate estimate have yielded about four billion dollars, another writer says one billion, up to the present time. It is related that one man paid no less than fifteen million dollars as tax on the production of his mine, one-fifth being supposed to go to the crown. It is said that 7000 mines have been opened in the Cerro, the hill back of the town, 700 of which are being worked for silver and tin today. Great extravagance naturally accompanied the production of great wealth, and many stories are told of the expenditure and display of riches in the early period. At one time the city had a population of 150,000, now dwindled to about 25,000. It contains many interesting ruins of colonial palaces and churches, including a finely carved tower of the old Jesuit church, notable carved doorways of San Lorenzo, the palace of Don José de Quiroz, and others. The Plaza Pichincha contains a handsome monument to the Independence, and is bordered by several public buildings, the City Hall, and the Pichincha College. A Public Library and Museum are of interest, still more the great Casa de Moneda or Mint covering two blocks.

A visit to the top of the famous Cerro may be made on horseback. A splendid view is enjoyed from the summit. Of extreme interest are the great artificial lakes on the slopes, built by the Spaniards to furnish a constant water supply for the working of the mines. The construction of the thirty-two lakes consumed nearly fifty years, the largest being 3 miles in circumference and about 30 feet deep. Two of them are at an altitude of 16,000 feet. Each is surrounded by five sets of walls, all together about 30 or 40 feet thick. The mines are by no means exhausted and with the opening of the railway, mining operations will doubtless be largely increased.

Sucre. A coach road 100 miles long leads from Potosí to Sucre, the nominal capital of the Republic, which will soon be connected by rail with the region of the west. The city, pleasantly located among the hills at an altitude of 10,000 feet, is noted for its fine climate which must certainly seem agreeable to a resident of the plateau above. In fact many of the wealthy mine owners of Potosí in former days, if not at the present time, made their homes here, where life is much more enjoyable. Made the capital of Bolivia in 1826 it still has the name, though now it is the seat only of the Supreme Court and of the Archiepiscopal See; the Legislative and Executive Departments of Government being at La Paz. The Legislative Palace of Sucre with handsomely decorated halls still remains, there is a stately new Government Palace, a Palace of Justice, the University of San Francisco Xavier, and other important buildings. Among the churches, the Metropolitan Cathedral is the richest in Bolivia. The Virgin of Guadalupe, an image of solid gold, with its rich adornment of jewels, is said to be worth a million. Among the nine plazas, that of the 25 de Mayo has a special mark of distinction in the fact that it has two streams, one on each side, one of which flowing northward joins the Mamoré so reaching the Amazon, while the other turning southeast goes on to the Pilcomayo and at last to the estuary of La Plata.

One who sees only the plateau region of Bolivia knows but a small part of the country; the section east of the Andes, now becoming accessible, is far more attractive and within a half century may have the larger part of the population.

From La Paz to Antofagasta. The remaining route from La Paz to the sea will be followed by those who have visited any of the three cities last mentioned, the old road by way of Oruro to the southern port, Antofagasta, though not until 1908 was the railway opened between Oruro and Viacha. Many in the past have groaned over the journey which formerly involved two days by diligence to Oruro and three by rail to Antofagasta, but since the introduction of sleeping cars on the old section and the completion of the new the trip may be made in comfort and even with pleasure in 48 hours. Within the year the road has been prolonged from Viacha down to La Paz, another great improvement.

Except for the fine view of Illimani on the left in the early part of the journey, the ride to Oruro is of no great interest. Some tall mud built piers may excite curiosity: a few remaining from those erected three centuries ago which formerly, it is said, marked the entire route from Lima to Potosí. Before reaching Oruro, a ride of about seven hours, a snow-crowned volcanic peak may be seen at the southeast, Sajama, with an alleged altitude of 22,700 feet. A possibility, is therefore presented of its overtopping Aconcagua, or like Coropuna turning out 1000 feet lower.

INDIANS TRANSPORTING FREIGHT

PLAZA AND GOVERNMENT PALACE, ORURO

At a station called Patacamaya a halt is made for almuerzo. Strange to say, the restaurant, where a fair meal is served, is kept by an American and his wife who have been living there about twenty years. The gentleman remarked that he was contented, doing well, and had no desire to return to the States. Fortunate it is that all have not the same tastes, some enjoying the warm tropics, some the desert, some the cool plateau, some happy only in large cities, and others whom the solitary places please. Many who go down to engage in railroad construction, to work in mines or smelter, or even to fill office positions in cities, soon become tired and return; others are fascinated with the life, being successful, and persons of more importance than they would be at home, and they are glad to settle permanently in those countries.

Oruro is an important mining town of about 20,000 people, with a very good hotel, the Unión, facing the pretty Plaza. Arriving on Wednesday or Saturday at Oruro, one may the same evening at 7.30 take the express train for Antofagasta, a ride of 36 hours. The plateau seems rather dreary and only those who have an interest in mining matters will care to stay over. The various mines on the outskirts of the city produce both silver and tin. There are many foreign residents with several clubs and life is not so dismal as may at first glance appear, although the climate at this altitude of 12,500 feet in the exposed position on the plain is a trifle raw. The Government Palace and the University building face the Plaza, and the city boasts of a theater, a public library and a mineralogical museum, as well as the usual churches, hospitals, and schools. Oruro was noted during the colonial period as next to Potosí in the richness and production of its mines and in 1678 is said to have had 76,000 inhabitants. In the immediate vicinity are half a dozen mines, formerly great silver producers, but now worked chiefly though not entirely for tin. The San José mine, two miles from the town, several years ago was yielding $55,000 a month in tin and silver. It is an interesting place to visit, employing 1000 or more people and equipped with the best of modern machinery. There are workings 1000 feet deep. The Socavón de la Virgen, nearer the city, is one of the oldest of Bolivia. In all four provinces of this Department are rich tin mines. The ore is treated by grinding and concentration, the product exported averaging about 64 per cent tin. Copper also is found, and farther south borax, and metals of almost every kind.

For the through journey to Antofagasta, staterooms should be engaged in advance at La Paz and in the best possible car; as I was informed that there was considerable difference. Some persons complain about everything and I had heard much of the discomfort of the journey. But the accommodations which I enjoyed were decidedly superior to those of an ordinary Pullman and I never experienced a more comfortable railway ride. The road is of very narrow gauge, 2½ feet, so that an aisle passes along one side of the car with staterooms in a row on the other. In these the berths are not crosswise of the car as in Argentina but lengthwise. My room had two very comfortable leather-covered armchairs, facing each other, on which the berth was later arranged with none above it. A wash-basin with running water was at the side, a small mirror, and several nails on which to hang clothing. In a dining car good meals, dinner and almuerzo were served at a fair price, morning coffee in one’s own stateroom. Traveling from Oruro at night one misses the sight of Lake Poopo. Poopo is a curious shallow, salt, and turbid lake with no visible outlet, fed by the Desaguadero River from Lake Titicaca. Although 24 by 53 miles in extent it is at most but 9 feet deep, often less than 5, and seems to be shrinking. In this dry air and strong sunshine the water may in time disappear, leaving only a bed of salt. Uyuni, from which the railway is now being continued to Tupiza, 125 miles beyond on the Pan American route to Argentina, is also passed in the night. From Tupiza it is hardly 60 miles to La Quiaca which was reached by the Argentine Railway several years ago. A few miles from Uyuni are the Pulacayo and Huanchaca mines which have produced within the last quarter century about 5000 tons of silver, thus taking rank as the second silver district in the world (the first is Broken Bow, Australia). Electricity is here the motor power; Corliss engines render service; several thousand men and women are employed, the latter sorting ore with wonderful accuracy. The day following is spent among the desert mountains. The hills are red, yellow, white, and gray, dotted with black cinders. Volcanoes are numerous, mostly extinct but showing perfect cones against the blue of the sky. Large level sheets of saline material are frequent. Some jagged hills have streaks, blood-red or chrome-yellow. The volcano San Pedro, 17,170 feet may be smoking. From a smaller cone, Poruña, at its side, stretches a great stream of lava, like a glacier, half a mile wide and several long, through which in a cutting the railroad passes. Just before dark, close to the Conchi station, the train crosses a viaduct 336 feet above the Loa River, more than twice as high as the celebrated Forth Bridge. It is a graceful steel structure with six lattice girder spans of 80 feet each, on steel towers. Early the second morning one arrives at Antofagasta.

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CHAPTER XVI
THE CHILIAN COAST—ARICA TO VALPARAISO

Arica. Arriving at Arica by sea, or departing as well, one may observe in great white letters on the rocky Morro, Vive Battalion No. 4, commemorating the Chilian victory with its massacre of Peruvians, June 7, 1880. The 1700 Peruvians here stationed, whose cannon were directed towards the sea, suffered an assault in the rear from 4000 Chilians who had landed at night several miles below. Short of small arms and ammunition, after an heroic defense for one hour, the commander, Col. Bolognesi, perished having used his last cartridge, and many soldiers leaped to the rocks by the sea, who preferred this death to having their throats cut by the Chilians. Others were crowded off by Chilian bayonets, and for months the bodies were seen below. No prisoners were taken, the entire garrison of 1700 being slaughtered.

The harbor, one of the best south of Callao, is called by one writer the emerald gem of the West Coast, on account of its green trees and other verdure. The line of railway may be seen among the cliffs, and a great cross on the highest hilltop. The town is called by one writer very squalid, by another a neat, attractive place in comparison with most of the port cities, the houses of various colors, blue, green, orange, etc., many with arched entrances affording pleasing views of an inner patio. On account of earthquakes the buildings are chiefly of one story, many of corrugated iron. The most noted of the ’quakes was that of 1868 when two United States frigates were in the harbor. One of these, the Freedonia, was lost with all on board; the other, the Wateree, by a wave 60 feet high, was carried over houses a mile inland, suffering a loss of half the crew. The ship there became the home of several Indian families, until the next earthquake and wave carried it back to the beach without doing injury to the occupants. Rarely from the harbor may be had a beautiful sunset view of snow-crowned Mt. Tacora, 19,000 feet, though other mountains are frequently seen. In this port Hernando Pizarro built ships for the invasion of Chile. On the broad beach is a prehistoric cemetery with embalmed mummies, said to be equal to those of Egypt. Some of the eyes are translucent with a rich amber tint, which scientists say are of squid or cuttle-fish here numerous, substituted for the eyes of the dead. It is said that when some of these were sent to Tiffany’s in New York to be polished, the workmen suffered a violent irritation of the eyes, lips, nostrils, and throat. Though all recovered, the work was not resumed. An analysis showed animal matter with saltpeter and unknown minerals.

It is believed that along here is a subterranean outlet of Lake Poopo, as the fresh water fish of Lake Titicaca, peccajay, are caught in the ocean, and driftwood of the mountain vegetation appears. Formerly Arica was a great market for vicuña skins, which were brought down from the interior, but their number has now greatly diminished. A highway constructed by the Incas 1000 years ago, called the camino real, has been in use ever since, the Bolivians, even after the construction of the railroad to Mollendo, still using it to bring down ore by means of llamas and burros and to carry up supplies. The new railroad may not cause a complete disuse of the old route, as the carriage of freight by a road of so heavy grade is likely to be expensive.

Tacna, 38 miles distant, capital of the province, connected by rail with Arica, is a pretty and a larger city, worthy a visit. The prosperity of this section has been delayed by the friction and hostile feeling between the Peruvian and Chilian Governments and peoples, resulting from the unfortunate war 1879-1883, and the unsettled conditions following. The Tacna-Arica question has been one of greater bitterness than that of Alsace-Lorraine; the present arrangement, to postpone the plebiscite twenty-one years, will be greatly to the advantage of both countries. On the desert between the two cities is often an unusual effect of mirage, and from Tacna there is a mountain view of much grandeur.

Iquique. The next important port south of Arica is Iquique, but between the two is Pisagua where many boats call, affording opportunity for any who desire, to disembark and go 124 miles by rail to Iquique, thus to see without loss of time something of the rich nitrate lands of Tarapacá. This part of the coast may not look very different from some of the Peruvian, yet it is still more of a desert; for the Peruvian will blossom like a rose, with a sufficient water supply, while this is less easily transformed. In Iquique, gardens and plazas have been made by bringing from a distance artificial soil for the trees, shrubs, and plants, which must be carefully nurtured. The nitrate ports are said to look like western mining towns, with wide streets, and one-story houses made from Oregon lumber, with iron roofs. There are many shops selling much liquor and canned stuffs. The streets were formerly dusty, the air full of sand. Unnatural tastes were developed by the conditions. Two miners in earlier days, wishing to enjoy a feast, sat down with two cans of pâté de foie gras, a loaf of bread, a bottle of brandy, and two cans of condensed milk, the last being eaten with spoons as dessert.

Hotels, Phoenix 8 to 15 pesos, Europa 7 to 15, Grand, 6 to 10, all A. P. Iquique, the principal Chilian port except Valparaiso, is the most important center of the nitrate industry. With a population of 50,000, called a fine city, it has an enormous commerce for its size, not merely from the export of nitrates but because it is unique in having all its supplies brought in by sea, food, fuel, and formerly water. The port receives more than 1000 vessels a year. The population is rather rough and hard to govern, though with a circle of aristocratic society, with the usual accessories. The Arturo Prat Plaza with a statue of the hero in the center is an attractive place. One may here first observe women conductors on the street cars, many of whom will be seen in other Chilian cities.

Water, formerly, when brought by sea, 10 cents a gallon and at times $2.00 when the supply boat was overdue, now comes from the mountains, a distance of 148 miles, by a 10 or 12-inch pipe, partly on the surface of the desert, or buried two or three feet. To Antofagasta water is brought 173 miles from a point 10,700 feet above the sea; to Taltal, 102 miles. Though expensive, costing millions, it has proved profitable. The streets of Iquique are now piped, hydrants protect against fire, the dust is laid by sprinklers, some people have bathrooms, a few, fountains in patios, a costly luxury. It was once said that people drank champagne because water was too expensive. It is an enterprising community with a good portion of Anglo-Saxons; there are broad streets, fine churches, schools, hospitals, a large theater, pleasant homes, and good Clubs. Some of the people entertain sumptuously, with dinner parties as in London. A broad driveway along the beach leads to Cavancha, an attractive resort with a dancing pavilion, and a choice flower garden tended with utmost care. Halfway is the Jockey Club-house, with race track, tennis, and bowling.

A railway climbs the variously colored mountain back of Iquique to the Pampa of Tamarugal, where it branches to various officinas, interesting to visit if time allows. People who are born and have lived in this section can hardly believe stories about grass that has to be cut, and of trees and flowers. A girl of sixteen who had visited Santiago on her return said, “Trees, trees, everywhere, grass growing in a thick mat, and hundreds of flowers! A perfect paradise!”

The valuable nitrate lands which, previous to the war, belonged to Peru and Bolivia are now the chief source of Chile’s wealth. Yet it is a curious fact that though Chile receives from her export tax on nitrates the large sum of $13,700,000 annually, the finances of the country, if they may be judged by the currency, are in a poorer condition than those of Peru, where with a firm gold basis gold and silver coins are used, while in Chile there is paper money of low and fluctuating value.

The nitrate deposits are found in the three provinces of Tarapacá, Antofagasta, and Atacama, along from Pisagua to Coquimbo, about 300 miles. The deposits with an average width of 2½ miles are between the coast hills and the Andes, 10 to 80 miles from the sea, and from 2000 to 5000 or more feet above its level, covering a tract of about 250,000 acres. The deposits, sometimes on the surface, are oftener overlaid with strata of earth varying in thickness and character, occasionally with guano. They are not continuous, but separated by other deposits, in some places salt. The raw material called caliche carries usually from 20 to 65 per cent of nitrate of soda. It is pickled in tanks from eight to twelve hours, the sand and refuse dropping to the bottom. The liquid called calso runs off into vats. The salt by-product is used or discarded. When treated and ready for export the article carries 15 to 16 per cent of nitrogen and 36 per cent of sodium. The amount of production is regulated by a syndicate, according to the needs of the world. About 35,000 men are employed, the laborers earning from $1.00 to $2.00 a day. These establishments, called officinas, are interesting to visit, but it is a gloomy, depressing region for most persons. The superintendents, doctors, and other officials receive good salaries and are supplied with comfortable quarters. $100,000,000 or more of British capital and some German, is invested here and large fortunes have been made. New nitrate fields recently discovered are held at $2000 an acre.

The nitrate of commerce is a white cheese-like substance from which the highest grade gunpowder is made; it is also used in chemical works to produce nitric and sulphuric acid, etc., but the bulk of it is employed as a fertilizer, doubling or tripling the harvest. A mineral substance, it is distinguished from guano, the excrement of birds. As to its origin there are various theories, but none is generally accepted. A byproduct, a yellow liquor, which in its preparation is drawn off from the nitrate into a crucible, is then chemically treated, poured into smaller pans, and on cooling leaves on the dish a blue crystal, the iodine of commerce, which costs as much per ounce as saltpetre per 100 lbs. The casks in which it is placed are covered with green hides which shrink and keep out the moisture. Worth $700 to $800 a cask, the iodine is shipped in the treasure vaults with bullion. About 40 per cent of the nitrate goes to Germany, 30 to the United States, 20 to France, the rest to Great Britain and Belgium.

Antofagasta. The next port, 200 miles below Iquique, at which express boats call, is Antofagasta, the terminus of the other railway from Bolivia, via Oruro. Here are sea-lions, diving birds, and a considerable town, but no sheltered harbor, in spite of which much commerce is carried on. This, with Iquique, as a poor port, almost rivals Mollendo. One writer says it is an ugly dun-colored place, another that it is the prettiest town since leaving Panama. It has an air of prosperity with good shops and business houses, a comfortable hotel, the Grand, A. P., 7 to 20 pesos, well furnished rooms, and real milk; another says the hotel is very bad. Much depends upon one’s disposition, point of view, what he expects, and where he has come from; and you may read exactly opposite opinions of many places and people, as happens even of cities in the United States.

Some steamers call at Caldera, 207 miles south of Antofagasta, with a sheltered harbor, and the oldest railway in South America connecting it with the town of Copiapó; the express boats call only at Coquimbo nearly 200 miles farther and 200 north of Valparaiso.

Coquimbo, at the end of the desert country, a busy port, shipping more copper than any other in South America, is situated at the foot and up the side of cliffs. The country around is very rich in fossils. At Herradura on Horseshoe Bay was found a petrified icthyosaurus 20 feet long, which visitors are taken to see; they are informed that it is 12,000 years old. Above in the mountains, at an altitude of 4000 feet, is a very sacred shrine, a Virgin of the Rosary, at a small village called Andacollo. During Christmas week pilgrims come by thousands from all parts of the country, even from Peru and Argentina, some walking hundreds of miles. Precious gifts and jewels valued at hundreds of thousands of dollars have been presented at various times.

One day’s sail from Coquimbo is Valparaiso.

Chile. The country of Chile is very peculiar; let me hasten to add, in nothing more serious than its shape. It is indeed excessively long and narrow, its great extent from north to south, 18° to 56° S. Lat., a distance of nearly 3000 miles, giving it a remarkable variety of productions and making it larger than any European country except Russia, although it is only from 100 to 300 miles wide. It is peculiar also that in spite of its scanty width, it is divided into three narrower strips, a low Coast Range, a longitudinal valley or plateau, and the high range of the Andes. With practically no rain in the north, it has a gradually increasing rainfall towards the south, till near the extremity there is rather too much. The northern part is the nitrate and mining section: the central and larger part is an agricultural zone of great possibilities, with good pasturage area; while farther south is an excellent forest region. There must obviously be a great variety of scenery as well as of climate, so that in one section or another all tastes may be gratified.

Chile was first invaded by Europeans soon after the founding of Lima in 1535. To Pizarro, Charles V, on hearing of the conquest, had given the country seventy leagues south of that previously bestowed; to Diego de Almagro the two hundred leagues beyond. In which section lay Cuzco was a matter of dispute. Pending its settlement Almagro decided to conquer the remainder of his province. That this region was richer in gold and silver than Peru was doubtless a tale of the Incas to distract the conquerors for their own advantage. However, with an army of Spaniards and some Indian captives, Almagro set out over the Bolivian plateau to investigate and take possession of the unknown country. On the barren heights they suffered hunger, cold, and mountain sickness, the difficulties of this terrible journey in many ways surpassing those of Hannibal and Napoleon in crossing the Alps. Failure and disappointment were the only results of the expedition, which was followed by the execution of the gallant leader after his return to Cuzco.

In spite of Almagro’s disastrous experience, a second expedition was inaugurated by Pedro de Valdivia, who proceeded along the desert shore, instead of over the plateau, and after arriving at Arica, there constructed vessels to pursue the journey. With no great loss, in December, 1540, he reached the valley of the Mapocho, and selecting a favorable site, on February 12, 1541, he proclaimed a new city: Santiago, for Spain’s patron saint, de la Nueva Estremadura, from his native province. On the Plaza de Armas was built a small chapel and a Cabildo or Municipal Council Chamber, as well.

Still unsatisfied Valdivia pursued his explorations southward, beyond the Bio-Bio River. In his absence the small garrison he had left behind barely escaped destruction, being saved only by the valor and boldness of the solitary woman in the party, Doña Ines de Suarez. The Araucanians, the most powerful tribe in this section, were of different caliber from the Quichuas, and long and fiercely they continued the struggle against the invaders, who treated them with barbarous severity. After the founding of Concepción, Imperial, Villa Rica, and Valdivia, and the settling of the conqueror himself at the town of Concepción, the Indians under the command of Lautaro, who as a servant of Valdivia had learned something of Spanish methods, attacked and defeated the Spaniards, capturing Valdivia and putting him to death with tortures. After long-continued warfare a truce was established, with the Bio-Bio River as the boundary line, but for two hundred and fifty years the contest went on for the subjugation of the natives. At last, when the Chilians rose against Spain, the Araucanians lent assistance, and friendliness was established. As in other lands, however, civilization of a sort proved too much for the Indians and few of pure blood remain.

On the 16th of June, 1810, the movement for independence began with the abdication of the Governor, Carrasco, on account of difficulty between himself and the Real Audiencia. September 18, 1810, the Cabildo or City Council in open session elected a Junta to govern until a National Congress should be convoked, ostensibly for the purpose of holding the dominion for King Ferdinand, deposed by Napoleon. The people regarding this as the birth of their independence were filled with joy. An army subsequently sent from Spain landed at Concepción, marched northward recruiting royalists, and after several engagements finally put to rout the patriots, who were commanded by Bernardo O’Higgins assisted by Colonel Juan Mackenna. October 16, 1814, General Osorio with the Spanish army entered Santiago and there maintained Spanish rule for three years longer. General O’Higgins meanwhile fled to Mendoza in Argentina to join the army which was being organized in that city by General San Martin for the expulsion of the Spanish power from the entire continent. Three years were required for this work. In January, 1817, the invasion of Chile from Argentina was begun by a well-drilled army of 5000 men, 1600 horses, and many pack mules. One division came by the Uspallata Pass, along the coach route across the Cordilleras, and the one followed by Almagro almost three centuries earlier. A second division under San Martin came by the lower Los Patos Pass. The two divisions, having united on February 12, gained a complete victory over the royalists in the famous battle of Chacabuco, and February 14 entered Santiago. The enthusiastic and grateful Chilians now offered to San Martin the governorship of the country. This unselfish patriot declining the honor, an assembly, February 17, appointed General O’Higgins Dictator, thus concluding the so-called Reconquista or Reconquest of Chile. However, troubles were not over. The Viceroy of Peru sent General Osorio again to Chile. Landing at Talcahuano in the south he was able to advance with his army, after defeating O’Higgins, until he approached Santiago; but on the plain of Maipo, April 5, 1818, San Martin again gained a decisive victory. Meanwhile on the anniversary of the battle of Chacabuco the Act of Independence was read in the Plaza of Santiago, and the oath was taken by the leaders. The United States was the first nation to recognize the Republic. A navy was soon formed and with the aid of Admiral Lord Cochrane, a squadron of eight warships and sixteen transports in 1820 carried north the army of San Martin for the conquest of Peru.

In 1823 General O’Higgins was obliged to resign his Dictatorship and a period of confusion followed. In 1833 a constitution was adopted. In the administration of Manuel Montt in the fifties railway construction was inaugurated. In that of President Pinto occurred the War of the Pacific with Peru and Bolivia, 1879-81, though the treaty of peace was not signed till 1883, when the province of Tarapacá was ceded to Chile, and occupation for ten years was arranged for Tacna and Arica. About the same time a boundary treaty was concluded with Argentina, with which nation Chile had been on the verge of war. Balmaceda, elected President in 1886, instituted many reforms but by his arbitrary methods brought on civil war. A victory by the constitutional party was followed by Balmaceda’s suicide.

The unfortunate death of the able President Montt in 1910 was succeeded by the election of the present incumbent, Ramon Bárros Luco. Among the prominent Chilian families (it has been said that one hundred of these govern the country), are many British names, the forbears of these having married into the best Spanish American families and become patriotic citizens of their adopted country.

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CHAPTER XVII
VALPARAISO

Hotels. Royal, A. P., 12 to 25 pesos; Grand, A. P., 10-15 pesos; Palace, about the same or a trifle less; Colon, 6 to 12 pesos. All higher in summer.

Money. The Chilian peso, paper, varies in value from 20 to 30 cents or more; recently it was 22 cents.

Chief Points of Interest. The Monument and the Government Palace near the landing; the business streets; Plaza Victoria and the church facing it; the Av. Brazil with the British Monument; the Naval School; the English and the Spanish American Cemeteries on the heights, these with the Naval School reached by ascensors; and the suburb Viña del Mar.

Valparaiso, Vale of Paradise, the largest and busiest port on the Pacific south of San Francisco, like many others along this coast, has no real harbor. The spacious semi-circular roadstead lies open to the wintry northers which occasionally bring terrific storms. On such occasions, ships at anchor in the bay to escape the fury of the waves often steam for the open sea, lest they be driven ashore or be overwhelmed in the deep, as has several times happened to ocean steamers. In the summer there is no danger, and after the completion of the breakwater designed to protect the bay from the savage force of the tempestuous sea, it will be safe at any time. The great depth of the water a short distance from shore renders the construction difficult, but satisfactory plans at length were devised and in October, 1912, work was begun on the port improvements which besides the breakwater 945 feet long will include additional docks. Those in existence are sadly inadequate for the vast commercial movement at this port.

While from a business point of view the harbor at present is poor, from the deck of a steamer or from the hills above the town, there is a busy and beautiful scene. Scattered over the waters are hundreds of vessels of various shapes and of every size, some from the farthest corners of the globe, showing flags of many nations (probably none of the United States), others mere lighters or rowboats to transport freight or passengers from ship to shore. Around the bay, a few rods back from the water, rise in a semi-circle steep hills or cliffs to a height of 1000 feet or more. Farther back, more lofty ridges are seen, and it is said that on a clear day in the far distance may be descried, in the sharp toothed ridge which forms the backbone of the continent, the snow-flecked peak of Aconcagua.

On the narrow strip of shore between the sea and the hills, varying in width from two blocks to half a mile, is the substantial business section of the city; while climbing up the slopes and crowning the hilltops is most of the residence portion, both the fine dwellings of the prosperous and the humble homes of the poor.

The arriving steamers are as usual beset by a throng of boatmen, and wary must be the tourist who is not exorbitantly fleeced, unless he has a friend on board to guide, or one from the city to greet him. As the Chilian peso, of somewhat variable value, is generally worth less than a quarter of a dollar, the tariff price is not so high as it sounds; one peso for each person or considerable piece of baggage is a suitable fee, though much more is likely to be demanded.

VALPARAISO HARBOR

MONUMENT TO ARTURO PRAT, PLAZA INDEPENDENCIA

At the landing, arrangements may be made for the transport of the heavy baggage by cart, while you go with hand baggage to the hotel in a carriage; or a tram car may serve you. The hotels, the Royal, Palace, and Grand, are all within half a mile of the landing. The Royal Hotel, 65 Esmeralda street, which is sometimes full to overflowing, will be found amply satisfactory. The American proprietors, Mr. and Miss Kehle, have made it more like a hotel in the United States than are any others that I have seen on the West Coast. Located on one of the principal business streets, it affords excellent meals in several large dining-rooms; and handsomely furnished chambers, with modern equipment including red satin puffs for the beds in addition to fine blankets. The price is from 12 to 15 pesos and up according to the room. The Grand Hotel is said to afford similar accommodations at about the same prices. The Palace, a little cheaper, is well situated on the Plaza de los Bomberos, and others less pretentious, as the Colon, 87 Esmeralda, are called clean and good.

In Valparaiso, a city of nearly 200,000, it seems to be the fashion for the residents to reply, when asked what there is to see, “O, nothing at all.” This is by no means true, though at least twice as much time should be devoted to Santiago. First there is the large square near the landing on which is the handsome Casa del Gobierno. In the center of the plaza is a fine monument, The Country to the Heroes of the 21st of May, and at one corner near the docks is the railway station to Santiago. The air seems crisp and the city more European than any previously seen.

The business streets have many handsome buildings two or three stories high, a few even more, looking fresh and clean, since the greater part of this district was laid low by the terrible earthquake of 1906. A twelve-month of unusual shrinkage, of adjustment of the earth’s surface, and of consequent calamity was practically coincident with this year. In April 1906 occurred the catastrophe at San Francisco, August 16, the practical destruction of Valparaiso, and in January, 1907, the disaster at Kingston. Some buildings in Valparaiso withstood the shocks, but with the ’quakes and the resulting fires little of the lower part of the city remained undamaged. The upper town was to a great extent uninjured and the shipping in the bay received no harm. Few traces of the calamity are now left, as like San Francisco the town was soon rebuilt in a superior manner. While slight earthquakes are frequent they are not fearsome, as heavy shocks are usually half a century apart. Besides earthquakes, Valparaiso has experienced other calamities. Founded in 1536, in its earlier days it was three times captured and sacked by pirates; in 1858, it was destroyed by fire; in 1866, bombarded by a Spanish fleet; and in 1890 it suffered considerable injury from the Balmaceda revolution. It is to be hoped that after all these vicissitudes it may enjoy a peaceful existence. A stroll along the principal streets to the office of the American consul, Mr. Alfred Winslow, to the banking house of W. R. Grace, and to gaze at the handsome shop windows is the pastime of an hour or two. Between the hills and the water it is impossible to lose one’s way. The double-decked tram cars are an imposing sight, and rather curious objects are the women conductors. Having heard of these before arriving, I was expecting to see some trim young women, with possibly a coquettish eye turning at times upon some of the gentlemen patrons, as occasionally happens in some of our cheap restaurants; but no! Staid indeed are the women conductors in Valparaiso and Santiago, and far from handsome. Plainly dressed in a sort of blue uniform with white aprons, they are obviously of the so-called laboring class, of rather stolid appearance, perhaps the mothers of families, and closely intent upon their duties. It appears that during the war of ’79–’81, so many young men joined the army that women were drafted into this service. Performing it in a satisfactory manner they continued to be so employed though not to the total exclusion of men. They mount to the upper story to collect fares and in Santiago swing along the sides of the open cars quite in man fashion, though necessarily hampered by their voluminous skirts. Manifestly competent for the labor, less difficult than other duties like scrubbing floors, supposed to lie more within their sphere, it would seem that bifurcated garments, even knickerbockers, would enable them to perform either service more easily. If men and women were to exchange garments for a hundred years it is conceivable that the idea as to which is the weaker sex might be changed also.

A few car rides may be taken to advantage, the greater if sitting above; but among the natives of the upper class this is taboo, as the price is only half of that below; the fares being five and ten centavos respectively. A gentleman in Santiago remarked to me that although he preferred riding outside it would never do except in the evening, when he could not be recognized from the street or from the upper windows of houses in passing.

Not far from the Royal Hotel is the Plaza Victoria on one side of which is the Espiritu Santo Church, the most fashionable in the city, though with an ordinary exterior. A flower market is passed on the way, where beautiful roses and other flowers may be purchased in quantities for a single peso. The general market as a matter of course is worth seeing, especially in the season of fruits, as Chile rivals California in the excellence and variety of these, and surpasses it in cheapness. The fruits of the Temperate Zone, cherries, peaches, apples, pears, and grapes, luscious in quality and, they say, unrivaled in any part of the world, in their summer and fall, tempt the tourist on every hand.

It is important to ascend the hills in two or three different places, both for the view going up and for what is to be seen at the top. The ascensors are similar to those of Cincinnati, one being carried up by cable as another is coming down; but the inclines seemed steeper and one appeared rather rickety. There have been fatal accidents. However,—I went as do others. Near the top of one of the inclines which is but a short distance from the Hotel Royal is a cemetery where chapel-like tombs and pretty head stones and monuments are closely packed together among shaded walks on the very edge of the precipitous bluff. One has here a magnificent view of the city below fringing the semi-circular shore, of the blue waters, alive with ships, and of the surrounding hills. Through cañons here and there separating the various hills and bluffs, a few carriage roads wind steeply upward and more footpaths, by which some pedestrians climb; but most persons will prefer to save time and strength by taking their chances in an ascensor. Perched on these steep inclines are houses of the poor, while at the top are many fine villas occupied by native and foreign residents. Close to the Chilian cemetery on the bluff is the English burial ground surrounded by a high wall. In a far corner of this enclosure is a small marble tomb on a concrete foundation with a marble cross above, the whole about five feet high, in which Americans will have a special interest. The inscription reads:

“In memory of the officers and seamen slain on board the United States frigate Essex in this harbor in an engagement with H. R. Majesty’s frigate Phoebe and brig Cherub, February 28, 1814.” A list of 52 names follows and the statement that it was erected by officers of four ships of the United States Navy.

This ship, the Essex, commanded by Capt. David Porter, after inflicting much damage on British property, capturing 360 seamen and 100 cannon, was surprised in this harbor by two British ships. Though disabled by a squall she made a splendid fight until more than three-fifths of the crew were killed or wounded, and the ship was on fire in several places, when she struck her colors. A more conspicuous monument for the gallant dead might seem appropriate.

By another ascensor, a trip should be made to the Naval School, which crowns a splendid height nearer the outer edge of the harbor. A fine large building, well equipped in the best modern English fashion, stands back of a pretty garden. There are good class rooms, laboratories, machine shops with guns mounted as on board ship, and all essentials for a thorough and practical course of study. In the rear patios are athletic fields with bathing facilities. The cadets are generally from the best families, and the program of study is based on that of English schools; the fleet is organized on the British model, and the ships are constructed in British shipyards. There is, further, a training ship for sailors, where if unable to read and write they receive instruction, as do soldiers in a corresponding institution in Santiago.

On the fine broad Avenue Brazil is a handsome arch with the British Lion above, presented to the city by the British colony here, at the Centennial in 1910.

AVENIDA BRAZIL, WITH BRITISH MONUMENT

RESIDENCE VIÑA DEL MAR

Viña del Mar. An excursion should by all means be made to this suburb; to Miramar if time allows. The former may be reached by tram or train in half an hour or so. It is pleasant to go by one and return by the other. The tracks, nearly parallel, pass several pretty suburbs and give several glimpses of the sea beyond the harbor before reaching the destination. Viña del Mar is not only a suburb of Valparaiso whither many Englishmen and others go in the afternoon for sports, and where many business men of Valparaiso have homes, but it is also a fashionable summer resort for the wealthy residents of Santiago and other parts of Chile. It is a charming place with a pretty railway station near a large and attractive plaza. Many carriages stand near, in one of which for a few pesos a pleasant drive may be taken around the town and out to the hippodrome or race track, a mile or more outside the city. Within the track enclosure, a pretty spot surrounded by green hills, the foreigners have laid out a golf course, grounds for cricket, and for football. The place is thus visited, especially on Sundays, by many, not only for the races, to which the Chilians are as devoted as the Argentines, but for athletics of various kinds. The Chilian horses seem very large after those of Peru, and trotting is their specialty. Some of them do this so well that their gentle trot is as easy as the lope or canter of most other animals.

A pretty and commodious clubhouse faces the Plaza, and near by are many charming villas of attractive architecture surrounded by luxuriant vegetation of tropical and temperate climes, beautiful flower beds, trees, and shrubbery. Half a mile from the center of the town is a fine beach bordered by jutting rock promontories. Large bathing establishments, cafés for ices and tea, and splendid villas with well laid out grounds recall our own shore resorts. A good pedestrian may be tempted to climb over the steep enclosing hill and descend on the other side to the electric car track for his return to the city. The Grand Hotel with beautiful grounds is the leading hostelry of the place.

Miramar is a small but popular bathing resort in the opposite direction from Valparaiso, reached by electric cars; but the bathing is here more dangerous, as not far from shore the bottom drops suddenly to a great depth.

From Valparaiso to Santiago by rail is a ride of 3½ or 4 hours by express trains and about two more by accommodation. The price of tickets for the express is 12.80 pesos, 4 extra for seat in Pullman; 8.50 pesos by slower train. It is a pleasant ride, for a few miles near the shore, passing Viña del Mar, then east through the Coast Range to the Central Plain, at Llai-Llai leaving the Andine Railway to turn southward to Santiago.

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CHAPTER XVIII
SANTIAGO

Hotels. Oddó, A. P., 12 to 40 pesos; Grand, A. P., 12 to 18 pesos; Francia, and Royal, about the same; others at lower prices.

Chief Points of Interest. Plaza de Armas; Cathedral and other buildings around; the Capitol; the Moneda; the Alameda; Parque Cousiño; most important, Santa Lucia Park and the Cemetery; the Art Gallery.

Santiago, the capital and largest city of Chile, the third or fourth in size in South America, considered by some travelers to have the most beautiful location of any capital in the world except Rio de Janeiro, is situated on the river Mapocho in the long central valley of Chile, at an elevation of 2000 feet. Founded by the doughty warrior and Spanish invader, friend and almost counterpart of Francisco Pizarro, Pedro de Valdivia, it was by him planned and laid out in 1541 after he had first built a fort on Santa Lucia hill, an excellent site for the purpose, recalling the ancient Greek Acropolis or some of the mediæval strongholds. On account of the too great dispersion of the invaders, the settlement for some years had a hard struggle for existence, but during its century of independence it has grown rapidly. Its population, now approaching 400,000, is ten times as great as when independence was declared in 1810.

The site is indisputably one of remarkable beauty and picturesque charm, without any interference with the convenience of a large city. The hills in and on the edge of the city, rising like small islands abruptly from the plain, do not preclude long level streets, yet form a peculiar and admirable embellishment, while east and west, the mountains of the Great Cordillera and of the Coast Range, which a few miles away rise as lofty ramparts to the ethereal blue, are an ever sublime and noble contrast to the verdant smiling plain.

The climate of Santiago, which at 33° S. has about the same latitude as Charleston and San Diego N., is considered excellent; though the three winter months, in dwellings destitute of heating apparatus, seem rather cool indoors to residents of the United States. In the summer, though not extremely hot, it is very dusty, so that wealthy residents at this season escape to Viña del Mar or other seashore resorts, to the beautiful lake region, to the springs and baths among the mountains, or even to the fjords in the distant south. An amusing mot of a German is related by one who did not seem to appreciate it. “The climate of Santiago is good but it is very unhealthy.” And both statements have been quite true, the latter inexcusably so, resulting from the fact that ordinary sanitary measures have been neglected. The medical congress in 1911 was held in the midst of an epidemic of smallpox. There has been a woeful lack of sewerage. But happily the officials have at last come to realize the importance of sanitation, an adequate system of sewerage is now installed, and doubtless other deficiencies will soon be remedied.

From the fine large railway station on the outskirts of the city, a carriage or tram car may be taken to one of the hotels near the center, a mile or more distant. To secure rooms at the Oddó, for many years regarded as the leading hotel of Santiago, it is often necessary to engage rooms in advance, as both main building and annexes are generally crowded. The Oddó, near the Plaza de Armas, is on one of the principal streets, the Ahumada, 327, the annexes on another at right angles with this, the Huérfanos, 976 and 1012, all three in the heart of the city. The Grand Hotel, preferred by some, is close by, Huérfanos 1164. Other hotels approximating these are the Hotel Francia, finely located on the south side of the Plaza, and the Royal. Prices at the first two are likely to be 15 or 18 pesos a day, with morning coffee, one peso, as an extra. Other hotels of more modest price and accommodations are the Fornos, Brinck, Frances, and Imperial on the Alameda, the Milán, Estado 130, the Biarritz, and near the station the Meloossi.

At the Oddó Hotel, a surprising and pleasant custom in 1911 was that morning and evening the newspapers, El Mercurio and Las Ultimas Noticias, were thrust under the door of my room, the first in time to enjoy with my morning coffee. Whether this was by the courtesy of the hotel proprietor or the newspaper management (both papers having the same publishers) I am unable to state. Rather expecting to find them charged on my bill, I was agreeably disappointed that they were not. To the tourist coming down the West Coast the newspapers of Chile are a surprise. Those of Peru and Bolivia though often with able editorials are small, and contain but a modicum of foreign news, especially of the United States; and the little there is from our own country is largely gossip. But in Chile, as on the East Coast, it is different. The Mercurio is a newspaper of world-wide reputation and of advanced age, exceeded by few in the United States. Originally founded in Valparaiso in 1827, a Santiago edition was started in 1900, the two papers now being published with the same editorials, cables, and general news, though differing in local matters. The proprietor is Mr. Augustín Edwards, a member of a wealthy banking house and a large owner and president of the Compañia Sud-Americana de Vapores. The buildings in which they are housed, and the contents of these papers are superior to most of those in larger cities of the United States. Besides good quarters for editors, reporters, and other employees, there are dining, reception, and assembly rooms, bed and bath rooms, and other features not found in our establishments. The editors are cultivated, well informed gentlemen, whose well written editorials on the chief topics of the day are read and become subjects of daily conversation among men of the upper class. More news in regard to foreign countries is printed than is usual in our metropolitan dailies. Distinguished strangers are interviewed, social life receives attention, commercial matters, sport, science, and literature all have their place. Las Ultimas Noticias, an evening paper with the same publishers, is of lighter character. Besides other good though less known dailies, Santiago has illustrated weeklies, the Zigzag, and Succesos, containing a record in pictures of the week’s happenings, cartoons and photographs of local and of world-wide interest. These are in compact magazine form of slightly less size and thickness than our monthlies.

Sight-seeing in Santiago naturally begins with the Plaza, the center of which is beautified by palm, orange, and fir trees, grass, fountains, and flower beds, among which are broad walks and benches. From the usual band stand Sunday, Thursday, and Saturday evenings concerts of good classical and operatic music are given, in summer from eight to ten p.m., in winter from six to seven. In the center of the Plaza is a statue by a famous Italian sculptor, Fagazarro, which represents Liberty breaking the chains of (Spanish) Slavery. The four crocodiles beneath with their mouths open indicate that this was originally intended for a fountain.

Around the Plaza are buildings of importance; on the west side, the Cathedral, originally constructed of stone on the site which Valdivia appointed for the first church to be erected in Chile. If the outside is not remarkable the interior is vast and imposing. On each side of the nave are large square pillars with images of Saints and Apostles. In the usual side chapels are various paintings by old masters and other objects of interest; a reclining life-size figure of San Francisco de Xavier, carved from the trunk of a pear tree, is considered of high artistic merit. This work was found in the monastery of the Jesuits when that Order was expelled from Chile in 1776. Another chapel on the same side, that of Santo Sacramento, contains a monstrance and altar of beautifully wrought silver more than two hundred years old, and also an antique, large swinging silver lamp. The choir stalls in the chancel are as usual of carved wood, also the throne of the Archbishop. In the sacristy is a large oil painting of The Last Supper, of the old Spanish school, and a crystal chandelier which hung in a room where the first Congress assembled, now the National Library. In the Cathedral are buried the three archbishops, the first, Señor Vicuña Larrain, consecrated in 1841. The tomb of the second is noteworthy, elaborately carved of Carrara marble, with fluted columns and trailing vines, and the reclining figure of the archbishop in his stately robes. In front crouches a bronze lion. The stained glass windows deserve attention. The particularly fine organ is said to be equal in tone to that in St. Paul’s, London. It came here by accident, being on its way to Australia in a ship which was wrecked in the Straits of Magellan. Among the salvage was the organ which, purchased at a bargain, was brought to Santiago. The Cathedral should be visited at the earliest opportunity, as much of the time it is closed. Also it is to be observed that there is a strict rule here, rigidly enforced, against wearing hats into the churches. Unless a lady does not mind removing hers, it is well to devote a morning to the churches, wearing a lace scarf or veil over the head and thus having no bother. Next to the Cathedral is the Palace of the Archbishop.

On the north side of the Plaza at the corner next to the Cathedral is the Post Office, a modern well equipped structure, the telegraph office, and the Palace of the Provincial Governor. On the east side is the Portal McClure, back of which are many shops, and the Valparaiso Restaurant, said to be good. The German Club is above the restaurant. Under the portal are many venders, as also on the south side of the Plaza under the Portal Fernandez Concha, where especially are fruit and flower stalls: beautiful roses, jasmine, heliotrope, etc., grapes, figs, paltas, chirimoias and other fruits, according to the season.

Santiago is a city generally pleasing to tourists, even delightful, as one traveler asserts, who calls it the best place in South America for residence the whole year around and the only one attractive from a scenic, climatic and social point of view. This very critical writer who seems to have a special “grouch” against Rio de Janeiro, after seeing Lima revises his opinion to a degree, then declaring that only Buenos Aires, Santiago, and Lima appear desirable places to live in and of the three he rather prefers Lima. Per contra, another great traveler who stayed in Lima not long enough really to see it, from his superficial view thought it much over-rated, this showing, with a possible difference in taste, the error of a too hasty judgment.

But not to make undue comparisons, Santiago is a charming city, much larger, obviously, and more modern and European than cosy and courtly Lima, or strange and remote La Paz. Its attractions will surprise many and all will be loath to leave.

NEW HALL OF CONGRESS, LIBRARY AT THE LEFT

It has a fine system of electric cars with a device which in our cities might be adopted to very great advantage. The cars of the various routes, in addition to the names of streets or destinations which they bear, are all numbered, with figures at the top large enough to be visible for a block or two. On the calle Ahumada you will see cars numbered 15, 17, 20, 24, etc. Should you wish to go to the Park, you may take No. 19 on Huérfanos. The hotel people or any resident will tell you what cars you may take and where, for any given point, or you will find a complete list in Scott’s Guide Book.

After seeing the Plaza, one may take No. 19 there for Parque Cousiño, or a cab or automobile for a drive about the city. In 1911 the paving on many streets was so rough that the cars were preferred by many; yet one conversant with the city could for the most part keep to smooth roadways and visit nearly all sections.

The business quarter of the city is chiefly between the Plaza and the Alameda, extending also to the west. All of these streets are rather narrow with a single car track on one side, the cars as in Lima going by one route and returning by another to the starting point. In this section are many excellent shops of all kinds, the hotels, banks, and the government buildings. Of the last the Capitol is naturally the finest, occupying a whole square a little west of the Cathedral. On two sides of this large handsome structure are beautifully kept gardens, with magnolias, heliotrope, and other flowers. In the garden on the east front is a beautiful marble madonna in an attitude of mourning or prayer, with four kneeling angels at her feet. An inscription records that this is a memorial to the victims of the fire, December 8, 1863, witness of the undying love and grief of the people ten years later. The church of the Jesuits, then consumed with 2000 victims, formerly stood on this spot.

Of the four entrances, this on the east is to the Cámara de Diputados above, that on the west to the Cámara de Senadores. Both Chambers are like small theaters with four rows of seats raised one above another, each with a small table and writing material in front. There is a high carved dais for the President. A dome of colored glass forms the roof. In the Senatorial Chamber is a painting by Valenzuela Llanos representing the first Congress, July 4, 1811, held in the National Library near by. The building has wide marble staircases, rooms for the President, for secretaries, some designed for discussion and conversation; also a large handsome Congress Hall where the President reads his message at the same time to both Houses, and to the Diplomats. To the two galleries of the hall, friends are admitted by ticket for the opening of Congress, an impressive and ceremonious occasion. This building is heated by steam pipes, a wonderful innovation, making it comfortable even to Americans.

The official residence of the President is in the Palacio de la Moneda which contains also his offices and those of the Ministers of the Interior, Finance, and Foreign Relations, as well as the quarters of the Mint. This building, between the streets Morande and Teatinos, faces the Plaza de la Moneda, which is ornamented with fountains and flower beds, and a statue of an able Minister, Don Diego Portales, noted for his uprightness. The Palacio with its two large patios occupies an entire square. By a curious mistake plans designed for a Government House in Mexico City were sent here, and so pleased the Chilians that they decided to use them. Opposite the Palace on the north side of the Plaza is the Ministry of War and Marine; on the west side is the British Legation. The United States Legation is well located on the Alameda. On the east side of the Palace on Morande street, facing the entrance to the Mint is the Ministry of Public Works. On the Plaza Moneda band concerts occur Tuesdays and Fridays at the same hours as those on the other Plaza.

The most notable street in the city is the Avenida de las Delicias, commonly called the Alameda, a beautiful park-like promenade 600 feet wide, extending four miles from beyond the hill park, Santa Lucia, to the Quinta Normal and Central Railway Station. Here formerly was the river bed of the Mapocho, now farther to the north. The transformation was due to General O’Higgins. The central parkway has four rows of trees, oaks, elms, acacias; little canals of running water and many monuments of soldiers, statesmen, and scientists of Chile. Next to the parkway on each side are electric car tracks, and beyond, broad boulevards for carriages, bordered by wide sidewalks and many handsome residences. Near the calle Ahumada stands a monument to the brothers, Miguel Luis and Gregorio Victor Amunátegui, the elder, a patriot of marked distinction in civil life who served as Minister under several administrations. A remarkable speaker among people distinguished for their oratory, he died in 1888, greatly mourned.

Proceeding down the Avenue one passes a bust of Abate Molina, a noted naturalist and author of the eighteenth century. A Natural History of the Country of Chile was his chief work. There follows a bust of José Miguel Infante, a great philanthropist who was one of the foremost in the struggle for independence.

Next is the most striking of the memorials in the Alameda, a bronze statue of General Bernardo O’Higgins on horseback, represented as on his famous retreat from Rancagua. Bernardo, born in Chillan, Chile, and educated in England, was the son of an Irishman Ambrose O’Higgins who after living some time in Spain settled in Chile, where he was made Governor in 1778. Bernardo entering the army in 1813 became commander, and as previously related took part in most of the revolutionary struggles, later becoming Supreme Dictator. In spite of an excellent administration, after a few years he was requested to resign, which he promptly and patriotically did, then withdrawing to Peru. Some years later, influenced by President Bulnes, the Chilians tardily recalled the disinterested patriot and were preparing to receive him with due honor when, as about to set out on his return, in 1845 he died. In 1868 his remains were brought back by a Commission of the Government and interred in the General Cemetery.

A little farther, on the left, stands a life-size figure of Carrera, José Miguel: the most noted of three brothers, ardent patriots in the struggle for independence, but of misdirected zeal; all three executed in Mendoza by the Argentines, José, the last, without a trial, Sept. 4, 1821. The bodies of the three were by order of Congress brought in 1828 to Santiago and buried in the Compañia Church.

Some distance beyond is the monument of another general and dictator, Don Ramon Freire, also distinguished in the War of Independence and called by O’Higgins, the bravest of the brave. Later engaging in civil war and being defeated in the battle of Lircai in 1830, he too went to Peru, but returned before his death in 1853.

The next monument, between calles San Martin and Manuel Rodríguez, is to the great hero who is honored in every city, General San Martin, sometimes called the Hannibal of the Andes. Though receiving scant honor in his later life, after his death in 1850 his memory was cherished. This bronze equestrian statue, erected by public subscription in 1863, represents the hero holding a flag which is surmounted by a small figure of Liberty.

Beyond this point, the Alameda is still wider, with flower beds and shrubs beautifying the central promenade. On the right is a statue to the grandson of an Irishman, Don Benjamin Vicuña Mackenna, a distinguished historian who initiated many important works for the improvement of the city: the enclosing with stone embankment the Mapocho River, the adornment of Santa Lucia, and the idea of encircling the city by a belt of trees to prevent straggling and undue extension. His death occurred in 1889.

Between the streets Ejercito and Almirante is a statue unusual if not unique in character, being erected by the citizens of Santiago in honor of the city of Buenos Aires. The last monument is an obelisk to the memory of four writers of the Revolutionary period.

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CHAPTER XIX
SANTIAGO—CONTINUED

In all Spanish American countries the parks are an important feature. In some respects the most beautiful, and one absolutely unique in character, is that of Santa Lucia, which, however highly praised, is almost certain to surpass expectation. The last of a row of detached hills, it made in the early days a splendid stronghold against the Indians. When no longer needed as a fort it became a quarry, then a burial ground for Jews, infidels, and Protestants, whose bones would have defiled the consecrated ground of the Catholic Cemetery. But in 1872 these were removed to the new Protestant Cemetery by the side of that occupied by the faithful, and the hill was converted into a wonderfully beautiful park. About three-quarters of a mile southeast of the Plaza de Armas, it is a pleasant walk, or it may be reached by several lines of cars. Covering a surface of six or seven acres it rises in irregular, jagged, sometimes perpendicular walls, gradually narrowing to a pavilion-covered summit 400 feet above, whence on a clear day, and especially at sunset, there is an enchanting view. The city is spread out below, distinct in every feature, surrounded by the broad expanse of fertile plain 40 miles long and 18 wide, fringed by ranges of steep hills and mountains, the latter on the east snow-crowned and forming a splendid rampart 15,000 feet tall. Aconcagua, visible from the sea and from Valparaiso, is unseen here on account of the nearer approach to the lower peaks in front, behind which it disappears from view. As often as time permits will those who delight in nature’s beauty climb this hill (splendid exercise, too) to see the sunset glow on the snow-capped mountains, especially when a slightly clouded sky gives assurance of lovely hues and the certainty of a truly enchanting scene.

Almost as beautiful to look at as to look from is this Cerro which natural and artificial charms render unique among all cities. Embellished by public and private munificence, especially by Benjamin Mackenna, the hill is a mass of green and blossoms, luxuriant graceful vines, shrubs, and trees, among which are glimpses of stairs and roadways, rock cliffs and walls, towers and battlements, chapels and monuments, the whole a combination of exceeding loveliness.

The most imposing entrance to this hill park is from the Plaza Vicuña Mackenna near the Alameda, where stands a recently erected statue of the gentleman, a fine bronze figure, at its foot a seated Fame holding in her hand a wreath of laurel. Entering the carriage drive (fee 5 centavos for a pedestrian, 40 centavos for a carriage) a large brass plate may be noticed, a memorial to Mackenna, here placed by the city. On a great boulder back of this is a bronze Flora or Melpomene with inscription giving the date of the inauguration of the Park, Sept. 17, 1874. On the other side of the boulder is inscribed Huelen, the ancient Indian name for the hill, signifying misfortune or sorrow, a curious name for so superb a feature of the landscape. A little farther are two bronze lions, copies of the famous ones at Florence. Beyond the next corner of the winding road is the foundation stone of an old Spanish bridge formerly stretching to the inscribed boulder. Built in 1787 it was destroyed in 1888. Halfway up the hill is a small door in a perpendicular rock wall, the entrance to the Seismological Observatory, where record is made of the numerous ’quakes, and of the observations conducted by M. le Conde de Montessus Ballores. A little higher the carriage road ends on a wide terrace in front of a spacious restaurant, well patronized for dining, especially during the summer, when an orchestra discourses sweet music. At the left of the road is a slab commemorating the removal of the bones of the heretics once buried here. The inscription reads: “In memory of those exiled from Heaven and Earth who in this place lay buried for half a century, 1820-1872.”

PALACE OF FINE ARTS

ENTRANCE TO PARQUE, SANTA LUCIA

Beyond one must proceed on foot. On attaining the summit, having viewed with admiration the lovely prospect, one may notice close at hand, a little below, a castellated gateway, above which is an ancient Spanish escutcheon here found buried. From the gateway a narrow flight of steps leads to a small chapel where Benj. Mackenna is interred and where services are held on the anniversary of his death. Looking over the parapet one may see below the remnants of an old gateway surmounted by two small Spanish guns. A little farther down is a monument to the first archbishop of Santiago. The statue of Pedro de Valdivia, on the spot where he built his fort, deserves especial heed. The inscription reads: “The valiant Captain of Estremadura, first Governor of Chile, who in this very spot encamped his band of 150 conquerors, Dec. 13, 1540. Giving to these rocks the name of Santa Lucia and forming of them a bastion he planned and founded the city of Santiago, Feb. 12, 1541.” To see all the points of beauty and interest one must ramble on foot by the pretty paths leading in every direction to charming nooks or delightful outlooks. At noon a cannon at the summit of the hill is daily discharged by electricity from the Observatory in the Quinta Normal on the other side of the city. A second and less picturesque entrance to the Park, affording a more gradual ascent is well enough to leave by, but is not a suitable introduction to this genuine fairy land.

Very different, and more like any other, is the Parque Cousiño several miles distant. To see this at its best, one should go in carriage or auto together with the fashionables, between the hours of 5 and 7.30 p.m., when, particularly in the months September to December inclusive, it is thronged with fine horses and carriages, bearing the beauty and fashion of Santiago. Woods, pleasant walks, well kept gardens, beautiful shrubs, weeping willows drooping over a pretty lake, adorn the park; a good restaurant provides almuerzo, afternoon tea, and dinner, the latter at four pesos, well patronized and usually accompanied by music. There are cheap cafés, merry-go-rounds, and stands for dancing, where on Sunday may be seen the peculiar national dance of the Indians, La Cueca, where the couples face each other, handkerchief in hand, and dance with swaying gestures. In summer a biograph is usually in operation and twice a week a military band plays from 9 to 11 p.m., when the park is often crowded. Near the entrance is a large open grass plot with a pavilion in the center, where a Military Review takes place Sept. 19. Bicycle races and football games are sports of the youthful Chilians, who take more kindly to athletics than the young men of some other countries. A lawn tennis club also is found here. The electric cars numbered 19 come to the restaurant in the park, number 18 to the gate only.

This Park was presented to the city by the famous Señora Isadora Cousiño, who was the richest woman in Chile before her marriage to the richest man in the country. He, dying, left all his property to her, as it was said that she had administered her estate better than he had his. The Señora, now deceased, being worth many millions in mines, railroads, steamships, cattle, and real estate, was a woman of so lavish expenditures as to cause much gossip even in Europe. Her residence in Santiago, of the Ionic order of architecture, is one of the finest in South America. It was decorated by the French artists who adorned the Paris Opera House. Her magnificent palace at Loti, unfortunately incomplete, would undoubtedly surpass anything at Newport. Outside Santiago she had an immense hacienda extending to the mountains.

Another large park of different character, at the west of the town, reached by Car No. 2 from the Plaza de Armas, is called the Quinta Normal: a particularly desirable place for a drive, as the buildings here are at a considerable distance apart. The fine trees in this section, the green fields of the Agricultural College, and the Botanical Garden are a pleasure to see. Some persons may be interested, after driving about, to visit the Agricultural College, the Astronomical Observatory, the Meteorological Station, and the Riding School. The College established in 1845 by President Bulnes has been of much benefit. A cattle show is held here annually. The Botanical Garden, though not large, deserves a visit. It has some fine specimens of the Victoria Regia and other aquatic plants, with a nice old German in charge. Apart from this garden is a nursery where flowers, shrubs, and plants of great variety are grown for the stocking of public gardens and parks. The Zoological Garden in this quarter does not amount to much beyond presenting many natives of Chile; condors, eagles, vultures, with others, in an aviary of Chilian birds; and domestic animals including some fine fowls. There are a few bears and monkeys.

The Natural History Museum, also in this Quinta (north side), contains a very complete collection of Chilian birds, fishes, insects, and plants, made chiefly by a celebrated German naturalist, Dr. Otto Philippi. Another section of greater interest to many, contains Indian mummies, specimens of pottery, weapons, and relics of colonial days. In 1911 the Museum was open Sundays and Thursdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., but was expected later to be open daily. A good restaurant pleasantly situated and well patronized is opposite the calle Catedral not far from the Museum. An entire day is not too much to devote to seeing the Quinta by persons with taste for these matters, in which case the restaurant would be serviceable. The School of Arts and Trades for the training of mechanics and tradesmen is located on the south side of the Quinta not far from the Central Station.

Beyond the Parque Cousiño is the Club Hípico or race course on the outskirts of the city, with fine views of the Coast Cordilleras and the Andes. Sunday afternoons and feast days races are held beginning at 1.30, but most persons do not arrive until four. From August to the end of December the whole city, meaning of course Society, is said weekly to assemble there. In the Diez y ocho week, from the 17th to the 20th of September, it is difficult to get near the Pavilion. There is a special enclosure for members, and behind the Pavilion are little gardens where people go to take tea and meet their friends. Tickets, three pesos to the pavilion, five more to enter the paddock, may be bought after 7 p.m. Saturdays at the Cigarria La France, Portal Fernández Concha, 18; in the Centro Hípico, Pasaje Balmaceda, an arcade running from Huérfanos to the Plaza; or at the entrance of the enclosure. Races on Saturday, frequented more by sporting men than by Society, are at the Hipódromo on the north side of the river.

Along the bank of the Mapocho is another park, long and narrow, called the Forestal, which with the embankment and bridges forms a very pretty section of the city. At one end, in the Plaza Italia or Colon, is a monument presented to the city by the Italian colonists as a centenary gift, and on the opposite side of the beautiful Palace of Arts, in the Plaza France, is one similarly presented by the French colony. The Palacio de Bellas Artes has a great Statuary Hall with some fine copies and the best original work of native Chilians. Nine spacious rooms contain a collection of paintings, including some originals of old masters and many by modern Chilian artists. The arrangement of the building is excellent and the whole is a great credit to the city. A smaller park is the Plaza de Montt-Varas in the calle Compañia between Bandera and Morande, on one side of which is the fine new Palace of Justice occupying a whole block. In the park is a statue of a scholar, a native of Venezuela, Don Andres Bello, a seated figure by Don Nicenor Plaza. Bello, 1789-1865, was so highly regarded by the Chilians that they declared him by works and public services to be a true Chilian, and by a special law of Congress declared him a citizen. Another statue is of two friends from college days, Don Manuel Montt, ten years President of Chile, and Don Antonio Varas, who worked together to promote the welfare of the country.

Housed in the old Congress Hall on Catedral street is the National Library which, with many books, contains a valuable collection of historical documents, some of these, spoils brought from Lima, and others, their own colonial archives: a place of much interest to the scholar and antiquarian.

The Market, seldom a show place in cities of the United States, everywhere in South America is an object of interest. Here it was one of the benefactions of Benj. Mackenna. Best seen early Sunday morning, it may be reached by following the 21st of May street from the northeast corner of the Plaza. Besides the usual and unusual profusion of fruits, vegetables, flowers, etc., may here be found tiny baskets made by nuns, and little jugs of earthenware and mates, some extremely minute. Another market on the north side of the river is especially for vegetables.

A visit to the Municipal Theater or Opera House should not be omitted. Erected as long ago as 1873, it probably surpasses anything of the kind in the United States, certainly presenting a finer exterior. An imposing entrance hall has wide staircases leading to the upper row of boxes. The Presidential box is large and elegantly furnished with reception rooms, etc., at the back, and a box for his lady guests below. There is a large foyer and refreshment rooms, and there are seats for an audience of 4000. The opera season, though short, is brilliant, with a company every year brought from Italy for a month or more. Society is present in full force in immaculate evening dress, gorgeous gowns, and sparkling jewels, a spectacle of beauty, it is said, equaling that in any opera house of the world.

Santiago has many beautiful homes and pleasing residences, though less in the pure Spanish style than in Peru: fewer wide doorways admitting horsemen, and apparently smaller patios, of which one has but a rare glimpse. Among noticeably fine residences are the Cousiño on Diez y ocho, the Edwards on Catedral, corner Morande, the Umeneta, Monjitas street; on the Alameda, the Concha y Toro between Brazil and San Miguel, the Ramon Valdez between 18 and Castro, and the Quinta Meiggs between Republica and España, this having fifty or more rooms with elaborate furnishings.

An excursion which may be made by carriage, or by a good walker on foot, is to the top of Cerro San Christóbal, 900 feet above the city. A more superb view than from Santa Lucia is here afforded. At this point of vantage is an Observatory, a branch of the noted Lick Observatory of California. It is in charge of an American, Dr. Moore, and was established by the late D. O. Mills. Lower down on a prominent bluff is a colossal Image of the Virgin with arms outstretched towards the city as if in blessing. The pedestal contains a small chapel in which services are held December 8, the anniversary of her festival. On this night the statue, which with its pedestal is 70 feet high, is illuminated so as to be visible to the whole city. It is said to have been erected by women as a token of gratitude for their preservation from the earthquake, and also to celebrate the jubilee of the declaration of the Immaculate Conception.

PALACIO DE LA MONEDA

CEMETERY IN ROSE TIME

The most important feature of the city to be visited, aside from Santa Lucia, is,—the Cemetery. Let no one be surprised and say that he does not care to visit such places. There are other cathedrals, plazas, public buildings, etc., but this again is unique and in many respects the most beautiful resting place for the dead that I have seen in any land; especially in November, the month of roses. A French lady resident, who did not find much else to please her, was most enthusiastic over this. It may be reached by Car No. 8 from the Plaza de Armas. In front of the cemetery is a semi-circular plaza with a colonnade. The gateway is surmounted by a lofty dome, which bears a fine colossal group of statuary, Adam and Eve mourning the death of Abel. The whole effect is imposing. In the corridors of the entrance may be noticed the painted ceilings, and passing within one will observe a stately chapel where masses are said for the repose of the dear departed. Here in truth is a city of the dead, with streets laid out at right angles, many of these lined with beautiful houses, rows and rows of chapel-like tombs. In other places are statues, columns, and memorials in various forms. Some of the avenues are shaded by orange trees, magnolias, and the Jacarandá or Brazilian rosewood; others have the tall, stately, and more gloomy cypress; but when the roses blossom there is such a wealth of these that there is no gloom anywhere. They are of various kinds and colors, but most numerous, genuine large white roses which grow in great vines sometimes on trees to a height of thirty feet, or over the tombs, forming the most lovely framework imaginable. At the festival of All Saints, November 1, the sight is unequaled in any part of the world, as here this is at the height of the rose season, when there is also a profusion of other flowers. The immense masses of bouquets and floral devices of all kinds then placed upon the tombs and graves, even the poorest on account of the small cost of flowers being able to contribute, make of the already delightful spot a veritable floral bower. Among noticeable monuments are a bronze bust, near the entrance, on a black marble column, to the litterateur, Andres Bello; in the calle Central in the rear of the chapel is the white marble tomb of General Bernardo O’Higgins. Fifty yards to the right and then turning to the left, one finds the memorial erected over the remains of more than 2000 victims of the holocaust in the Jesuit Church, the Compañia, Dec. 8, 1863, when a gorgeous fête to the Virgin was in progress. The decorations of paper flowers and festoons of gauze which were interspersed with lighted candles, taking fire, fell among the crowd, chiefly women of the higher classes who thronged the church. The doors opening inward, the crowds, packed against them, made egress impossible, and nearly 3000 are said to have perished. Few of the leading families escaped bereavement and since that time this festival has been solemnized with mourning.

The tombs of many of the Presidents are found on a street of that name, and on the Magnolia are many of real beauty belonging to some of the leading families. In the high wall of the enclosure which covers many acres are niches for the reception of the coffins of the poorer people. At the left of the General Cemetery as one faces the entrance from without is that where the Protestants are buried, naturally much smaller and far less attractive.

On the way to the Cemetery one may pass on the Avendia Recoleta the Church of the Recoleta Dominica which deserves a call. The façade presents a fine row of marble columns, the only edifice in the city furnished with such decoration. The doors are of carved wood. The interior is severely beautiful, avoiding the tawdriness exhibited in many Catholic churches. There are double rows of handsome marble columns with Corinthian capitals, a white marble chancel screen of trellis work, and above the high altar a marble Madonna del Rosario. The marble, imported from Italy, was brought in ox-carts from the coast. Pretty cloisters are adjoining.

In the same avenue a little nearer the city, at the foot of Cerro Blanco, is a small church rather dilapidated, La Viñita; of historical interest as erected by Ines Juárez, who came with Pedro de Valdivia, a woman of extraordinary courage both for enduring the hard life, and even going into battle; if necessary engaging in combat, when not attending to the wounded of both parties.

Santiago is an extremely religious place, so far at least as the women are concerned, the gentlemen often being inclined to agnosticism. Among the many churches the most important may be mentioned. La Merced at the corner of Merced and Claras is painted a pale pink and has two towers. At the main entrance on Claras, on each side of the carved wooden doors are two life-size paintings, on the right, of Ramón Monato, on the left, of San Pedro Nolasco who founded the Order Mercedarios. Within, the objects of interest are a wooden crucifix with notably expressive eyes, a gift from Philip II of Spain to the Order in Chile, an antique frame of solid silver near the High Altar enclosing a statue of the Virgin, and an old pulpit of native workmanship carved from a single tree trunk. The four Evangelists are represented and at the base the four Symbols. The church has an excellent organ and is famed for its fine music.

The Santo Domingo, one of the oldest churches in Santiago, at the corner of Santo Domingo and the 21 de Mayo, has a beautiful silver altar exhibited on especial occasions only. The little plaza in front is gay with a small flower market, and nearly opposite on Santo Domingo is an old Spanish gateway.

The San Pedro is a pretty little church in Claras near by.

The large church of San Augustín, fronting on the Estado has a ceiling covered with pictures of Saints, Prophets, Martyrs, and also the Ten Commandments. A valued relic is a crucifix, concerning which it is related that in the total destruction of the church by an earthquake in 1730 this suffered no injury except that the crown of thorns fell from the head to the neck, and that whenever an attempt was made to replace the crown shocks occurred in the vicinity; it therefore remains where it fell. On the anniversary, May 13, occurs a great procession of monks and acolytes of various Orders, chanting, swinging incense; and with lighted candles, bearing beautifully embroidered banners, a robed figure of the Virgin, and the Crucifix.

El Salvador, church of the Jesuits, erected after the destruction of the Compañia in 1863, is on the Huérfanos and Almirante Barroso, passed by Car 21. This church was damaged by the earthquake of 1906, though Santiago was far less affected than Valparaiso. The interior is gay with colors, each pillar being composed of small columns of various hues, which are covered with designs in red, blue, and gold. An angel at the foot of each column holds a plaque with emblems of the Passion. Handsome stained glass windows portray scenes from the life of Christ.

The San Francisco in the Alameda, almost opposite calle San Antonio, said to have been built by Valdivia, is plain with a flat ceiling and one simple arch. All around are memorial tablets: on the left of the chancel is a fine marble Crucifix in relief. Of great interest as a historical relic, over the High Altar is the wooden image of the Virgin in velvet robes embroidered with gold, which Valdivia used to carry in his saddle-bags. Presented to the church by the brave Captain, it is highly valued. On the right of the altar is a small chapel to St. Anthony, on the extreme left, one to Our Lady, with altar of colored marbles and two angels above.

The University of Chile may be visited by those interested in educational matters. It has several departments, the main building on the Alameda, occupying the block between San Diego and Arturo Prat. Here are the general offices, the University Library and the Department of Physical and Natural Sciences termed the Engineering School. A hall in the form of a theater is in the part of the building which separates the two patios. A new Engineering building in the suburbs was to receive this Department, then to be replaced by the Law School, the largest of the various branches. In the Quinta Normal is the building of the Medical School with handsome classical façade, containing large halls, and patios ornamented with shrubs and flowers. There is a modern building for the Dental School and an annex for Pharmacy. It is interesting to note that in most of the South American countries coeducation is rigorously avoided in the lower schools while permitted in most of the universities, conditions exactly opposite to those in some parts of the United States. A good number of women in Chile study medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, etc., with the men.

The Military School on the Avenue Blanco Encalada facing the Diez y ocho now occupies a fine large building after a checkered career. Founded March 16, 1817, by the Supreme Director Bernardo O’Higgins, it is the oldest in South America, though it has experienced several interruptions. The present edifice was decreed in 1887 by the progressive but unfortunate President Balmaceda, though not until 1903 did it become established as now existing. The school has as its head a German officer, Col. Alfred Schoenmeyer, and provides courses of instruction similar to those in the German institutions. The building contains all suitable conditions of convenience and hygiene, a covered riding school, shooting galleries, patio facilities for gymnastics, laboratories of science and of military models.

The Military Museum, in 1911 housed in the Arsenales de Guerra next to the Military School, by 1913 will probably be removed to a new building erected for it in the Quinta Normal. It contains many historical relics: the armor worn by Valdivia during the conquest, a chair which he occasionally used in the brief intervals from fighting, cannon brought over the Andes by Gen. San Martin to aid in freeing the country of Spanish dominion; a marble urn enclosing the hearts of four heroes who fell in the battle of Concepción in the effort to save the Chilian colors from the hands of their Peruvian opponents; the flag of the Esmeralda, commanded by Arturo Prat, and sunk in the battle of Iquique May 21, 1879; a marble bust of Manuel Rodriguez who, in the War of Independence, among other brave deeds as scout and spy, three times crossed the Andes on foot; other objects of interest, besides cannon, flags, arms, and trophies won in many a fierce battle.

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CHAPTER XX
SANTIAGO TO BUENOS AIRES BY SEA

Southern Chile and the Straits of Magellan. The great majority of tourists will proceed from Santiago by rail over mountains and plains to Buenos Aires, being influenced thereto by several considerations. Of these the strongest may be the fact that the journey thus made occupies only 48 hours (the return 38), while by sea it requires twelve days, an important consideration in a brief tour. Also in view of the several weeks already spent on the ocean and the several more to come, all but the real lover of steamboat travel will prefer the land for a change, especially with the prospect of the fine mountain scenery always visible on the Trans-Andine journey and the possibility of a glimpse of mighty Aconcagua, which still claims pre-eminence as the culminating point of the Western Hemisphere.

On the other hand the route across the Andes, formerly blocked to general traffic for half the year by reason of the winter snows, may yet be impassable for a week or two, even longer, by reason of the great avalanches which on the Chilian side of the tunnel are liable in winter or spring to obstruct the track. When such a condition prevails, the longer way around may (rarely) become the shorter in time. A few will at any period prefer the Magellan route from inability to endure the 10,000 feet altitude of the mountain journey, from affection for the sea, or from an especial desire to traverse the famous Straits, discovered by Magellan in 1520 on the first around-the-world voyage, and to pass the southern continental limit of the main land if not the dreaded Cape Horn.

The leisurely tourist who desires to see everything of importance may enjoy the chief pleasures of both routes: going by rail to Puente del Inca on the east side of the mountain, or better, on to Mendoza on the edge of the great Argentine plain, returning to Chile by the old route, the splendid horse back and former diligence trail from Las Cuevas over the once frequented pass. Thus he may delight in near and distant views of splendid cliffs and mountains, and pause to contemplate among the everlasting hills the impressive image of a colossal Christ standing on the frontier of two great countries, an emblem of the eternal peace and friendship to which these nations have sworn.

The tourist who always prefers to travel by sea may at Valparaiso take a P.S.N. steamer (they sail once in two weeks) for Montevideo, where he must change for the short run to Buenos Aires. All of these boats call on the way at Coronel (or Lota) and Punta Arenas, every other one also at Port Stanley, Falkland Islands, the voyage occupying 11 or 12 days to Montevideo. A boat of the Kosmos Line may be taken, although they no longer as formerly go through Smyth Channel, all now missing the fine scenery of the fjords. Persons desiring to see more of Chile may go by rail down the famed Central Valley, the wonderful fruit and agricultural section, and through the beautiful lake region, taking the steamer at Coronel. A peculiarity of this longitudinal valley extending several hundred miles between two ranges of mountains parallel to the sea is that instead of being watered by a single stream running lengthwise, it is crossed by a number of rivers flowing west into the ocean. The railroad is now opened to the south for a distance of 400 miles to Puerto Montt on the Gulf of Ancud. Although sleeping cars are provided, the journey should be made by day for the enjoyment of the scenery.

For a considerable distance south of Santiago towns and villages are numerous, some of them especially frequented in the summer. Almost all kinds of fruits, vegetables, and cereals are raised to perfection in various parts of the valley. In the earlier part of the journey there are views of lofty Andean peaks; farther south the range is lower, but with a multitude of lakes and dense virgin forests, the scenery is no less beautiful. From Talca, a prosperous town of 45,000 on the Maule River, 50 miles south of Santiago, a branch line runs to the small but pleasant town of Constitución. It was in Talca, which was founded in 1692 and partly destroyed by a terrible earthquake in 1835, that Director O’Higgins signed the Declaration of Independence. The city has a pretty plaza with a fine Government House, theater, church, and other handsome edifices.

Chillan, 100 miles farther, is a modern city famous for its fine horses and cattle. It affords an unusual opportunity to see the country people, who come in to the market place on the outskirts of the city, two or three times a week, especially Saturdays. Wares are well displayed in booths, gay with mantas, gorgeous ribbons and lace, equestrian outfits, pottery, baskets, and horn ornaments. Street cars run to the historic ruins of old Chillan, the birthplace of Don Bernardo O’Higgins. The famous baths and hot springs of Chillan are beautifully situated among the mountains about 60 miles distant at an altitude of nearly 8000 feet.

The railroad crosses many rivers on some fine bridges, one nearly ¼ of a mile long and 300 feet above the Malleco River at Collipulli. A bridge ¾ of a mile long crosses the Bio-Bio, along the boundary line between the Spanish American settlements and the country of the fierce Araucanians. From Rosendo a branch line leads to the cities near the sea, Concepción, and its seaport Talcahuano 240 miles from Valparaiso, a port both of commercial and military importance on a large bay in which a dry dock has been arranged for the repair and the cleaning of naval vessels. Concepción, which was founded by Valdivia, but has been several times destroyed both by Araucanians and by earthquakes, is now a substantial modern city of 50,000 inhabitants, the third in size in the Republic.

Coronel and Lota, five miles apart on the Bay of Arauco, 40 miles south of Talcahuano, are, one or the other, regular ports of call for all the steamships, and the only one below Valparaiso for the P.S.N. boats before Punta Arenas. Hence one going by rail to Puerto Montt would be obliged to return to this point for his steamer; unless possibly the Kosmos boats call farther down. The boats call at Coronel or Lota to procure a supply of coal. This is pre-eminently the coal region of Chile, of which Lota is the center. In 1852 a property was purchased here by Don Matias Cousiño who explored for coal with success. His son Luis, in 1862 inheriting the property, in 1869 formed a company, keeping most of the shares. His widow later becoming sole owner of the company was called the richest woman in the world, with a property of at least $70,000,000. She died in 1898 leaving six children. Hers was the greatest financial enterprise then carried on by a Chilian. The capital of the Company is now $20,000,000. Half a million tons of coal are annually produced, 1/10 of which is used by the Company for smelters and their own steamships, the rest being sold.

To visit the mines there is a drop in an electric car of nearly ¼ of a mile. There are streets, shops, offices, restaurants, stalls for horses, black-smiths’ shop, etc., down below; and the workings go far under the deep sea where ships are sailing above. There is good rock and no drip. The Company owns copper mines, smelting works, pottery and brick works, glass and bottle factories, etc., with a fleet of steamers and sailing vessels. Five thousand workmen are employed here, for whom houses are supplied, free schools, church, medical attendance, free coal, asylum for aged, etc.

The Señora spent money lavishly at home and in Paris, where she was well known. Lota Park was laid out by the most skillful landscape gardeners with artistic design and picturesque effects. Stately trees, flower beds, all plants of temperate climes here flourished in a state of the highest cultivation. On a bluff above the town, it has wonderful sylvan beauty; with grottoes, bridges, fountains, cascades, etc., marble and bronze monuments, deer and other animals in the woods, an aviary with birds; near the center of the park, a fine marble statue by the noted artist Caupolican. A palace fit for royalty, not quite completed, it is falling to decay. Superb wainscoting, gold and white frescoing, exquisite parquetry, carved mantels and sideboards, priceless curios and paintings, treasures of all kinds were brought from Europe, many never unpacked. The Park at times is open by courtesy to strangers, a spectacle of great beauty, though perhaps of melancholy. The Company owning 200,000 acres of farming land has many sheep and cattle and has planted more than 10,000,000 trees.

Valdivia. Still farther south in a picturesque site on the Calle-Calle River is the town of Valdivia (pop. 12,000), the fifth city founded by Pedro de Valdivia, in 1552. It was too far from his base for that period, and much slaughter followed in fierce battles with the natives. Near its port, Corral, at the mouth of the river 15 miles away, in 1820 occurred the victory of Lord Cochrane’s fleet over the Spanish. For several years the railroad halted at Osorno a little farther on. Its recent extension to Puerto Montt on the north shore of the Gulf of Reloncavi, about 100 miles beyond, will greatly enhance the prosperity of a rich and beautiful section already sprinkled with thriving German colonists. One of the lakes near by, Llanquihue, with an area of nearly 300 square miles is served with steam navigation.

The boats of the P.S.N. Company running from Callao to Liverpool reach Lota or Coronel the day after leaving Valparaiso. Five days later they arrive at Punta Arenas; in five or six more at Montevideo.

Sailing towards the South Pole, the coldest region on earth, the winds naturally become more chill, especially if it is their winter season. By a natural perversity of fate, it is said that the finest scenery is usually passed at night, also it is often foggy or it snows, so little may be seen. After several days with no land in view, the sight of Cape Pillar, rising 1395 feet above the sea, the western extremity of Desolation Island, and on the south side, the western outpost of the Straits, gives a thrill of pleasure. On the northwest side of this entrance from the Pacific are the three Evangelists and the Sugar Loaf, columnar rock, more impressive than many mountains. From Cape Pillar to Cape Virgenes at the eastern entrance of the Straits it is 240 miles as the crow flies but between 300 and 400 by the channel which must be followed. As the prevailing winds are west, sailing ships between October and March sometimes go through from the Pacific, a fair passage occupying 80 days, but they more generally prefer the passing around Cape Horn, 100 miles south, where jagged boulders rise to a height of 1391 feet in the midst of a turbulent sea; for despite the 500 additional miles of open water it is open with less danger from fogs, cross currents, etc., and time is usually saved. Storms are frequent in this region, but if the weather favors, the fine scenery including glacier-covered mountains, deep bays, grim cliffs, gray moss, and sparse vegetation, picturesque icebergs, the multitude of penguins, sea-gulls, an occasional albatross, seals and whales, the tints of sea and glaciers, of clouds and crags, forms a picture which some persons think is unequaled in Norway or Alaska.

Tourists sailing on a special cruise may have the pleasure of a detour to the south to obtain a finer view of the splendid mountain Sarmiento; not so high as many others, but with its 7330 feet of altitude in this latitude presenting an imposing spectacle, at the base dusky woods for one-eighth of the height, then 6000 feet of snow and glaciers, two of the latter indeed reaching down to the sea.

TIERRA DEL FUEGO

ENTRANCE TO ANDINE TUNNEL, CHILIAN SIDE

Punta Arenas. After sailing through Magdalena Channel southeast to Cape Froward, the most southern point of the continental mainland, the ship turns almost north, a trifle to the east, and in a few hours comes to anchor in Lat. 53° off Punta Arenas, the most southern city in the world, 900 miles nearer the South Pole than Christ Church, New Zealand, and 1600 nearer than Cape Town. From Cape Froward west, the British Pilot Book says the weather averages 11 hours daily of rain, hail, or snow. There is none worse in any inhabited part of the globe: but the region is not unhealthy. The city of about 12,000 people is a flourishing place with wide streets, good water works and electric lights, a handsome cathedral, appropriate public buildings, and many fine residences. A museum in charge of some Catholic priests has a collection of the fauna of the country, birds, snakes, fish, animals including a woolly horse, a unique specimen with wool a foot long. Also pottery, weapons, and utensils of the Fuegian tribes are exhibited. In the town, furs, fine guanaco skins, ostrich feathers, Indian baskets, etc., are for sale, and most persons buy souvenirs. A penal colony was first established by the Chilians in 1843 at Port Famine not far away, but after a revolt of the convicts the town was established here; when the place became a regular port as a coaling station for steamships the criminals were removed. It was soon discovered that sheep would thrive in this locality: many large ranches have been established in the back country, so that 16,000,000 pounds have been shipped in a year. The Indians, formerly numerous, are now almost exterminated, though some Yahgans and Onas still wander in the wilds of Tierra del Fuego. As usual most of the white invaders of whatever nationality have united in their destruction, to which the diseases of the white man have also contributed.

A settlement still farther south on Beagle Channel in the Argentine dominion is a village inhabited only by criminals and their guards, few of the latter being needed, as escape is impossible except by sea. On this side of Cape Froward the ground is flatter, the air dryer, the country treeless and of small interest. Nine hours from Punta Arenas the lighthouse on Cape Virgenes, 135 feet high, is passed and a three days’ sail on the Atlantic in a direct voyage brings one to Montevideo.

Port Stanley on the Falkland Islands, a genuine English town of 2000 people, has a fine harbor with supplies for ships and facilities for repairs; no trees, but a sedgy grass, called tussac, 7 feet high, excellent for horses and cattle, and with roots something like celery, edible for man. The weather is never very cold but the average temperature is low.

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CHAPTER XXI
ACROSS THE ANDES TO MENDOZA

The journey from Santiago to Buenos Aires by the passage of the Cordillera, in former days seldom undertaken between May and October save by the hardy mail-carriers, may, since the opening of the railroad in 1910, generally be accomplished in any month of the year. Sometimes, however, traffic is temporarily suspended on account of snow-slides blocking the track on the Chilian side of the tunnel. Such inconvenience, oftener arising in the southern winter or early spring, will doubtless in time be obviated by the building of snow-sheds along the dangerous sections, as has been done in the United States. At present, from July to December it may be well to inquire about conditions before purchasing a ticket, though prolonged suspension of traffic is exceptional.

The excursion across the Andes, less fatiguing than formerly, is also far less exciting. The comfortable safety of a car ride through the tunnel is tame indeed in comparison with the passage by coach or muleback over the cumbre 2000 feet above. Yet as prosaic comfort is ever more popular than unusual and adventurous experience, tourists today by thousands and tens of thousands make the journey where formerly passed tens and hundreds. Still, even to the gazer from a car window the excursion is memorable; to the lover of sublime grandeur the day affords a rare joy. Very different is this ride from those across the mountains farther north. Until the completion of the line from Chimbote up the Huailas Valley, the Oroya railroad alone will bear comparison with this. Nor need comparison be made. Each is truly an elevating experience and wholly unlike the other.

An afternoon departure from Santiago is customary, often as late as 6.15 p.m. The night must be spent at Los Andes whence the start is made in the early morning. With ample time at one’s disposal, it is well to take a forenoon train from Santiago to have a few hours at the pleasant Chilian summer resort which affords opportunities for many delightful strolls, while the scenery along the way makes a daylight journey desirable. The monument to the Clark Brothers unveiled at Los Andes, October 22, 1911, is a worthy honor to the initiators of this great railway. As early as 1870 they applied for a concession, though it was 1886 before the first was received; while they were unable to complete the work, they have the credit of its beginning. After the Casa Grace took charge on the Chilian side good progress was made. In 1906 it was arranged to pierce the tunnel under one control, and the task was accomplished in time for the Argentine Centennial in 1910. As far as Llai-Llai, where connection is made with the train from Valparaiso, the route lies north along the valley over the road which has previously been traversed. At the junction, venders of delicious fruit are ever on hand selling, according to the season, pears, peaches, oranges, grapes, cherries, or figs, at prices calculated to tempt the hungry tourist. Llai-Llai is a pleasant little town of about 6000 people, at a height of 2625 feet above the sea. San Felipe, somewhat larger, is passed before reaching (to use the full name), Santa Rosa de los Andes.

A few rods from the station is the hotel where the night is passed. The town boasts of another, but through travelers prefer the pleasant little establishment, often over-crowded, from the rear of which the train early in the morning departs. In the summer the climate of Los Andes is delightful, the evenings always cool; at other seasons the nights are cold and frosty. Leave word in the office when you wish to be called, or you may be overlooked and miss your train or your coffee, which is not agreeable. The cars are apt to be full, so it is well to hasten, if friends wish seats together, or at times to obtain any at all.

The track follows the Aconcagua River, on which Los Andes is situated, up a beautiful valley, after 8 or 10 miles growing narrower between steeper walls. From luxuriant vegetation to bare rocks and snow, from beauty to grandeur, the change is quickly made. The river becomes rapidly smaller as we pass above the merry little streams which contribute to its madly rushing torrent. One bridge is called the Puente de las Viscachas, these being rabbit-like animals resembling the chinchilla but with coarser fur. The rocks of varying hue in sunlight and shadow, cliffs and gorges, and the foaming stream continually attract the eye. A hundred yards beyond the station, Los Loros, is the place called Salto del Soldado, the Soldier’s Leap, to see which one must keep a sharp lookout on the left, the train passing on a shelf with the stream 60 feet below. Various tales are told of the origin of the name, one that in the War of Independence a patriot escaped from the enemy by leaping the narrow gorge which is crossed by the train on a bridge. At the station, Rio Blanco, White River, a stream of that name joins the Aconcagua. Not far beyond is Guardia Vieja, where for more than two centuries a sentry or watchman has been stationed for the protection of the traveler, a necessary though inadequate safe-guard, as in the old days bandits sometimes lay in wait even for parties of considerable size. Robberies were not infrequent and murders were by no means rare.

In ascending the Visp Valley to Zermatt by the aid of the rack and pinion system, also employed on the Andine, a height of 3000 feet is gained in a distance of 28 miles. On this road 7000 feet are climbed in 35 miles, 2000 of these in the last 8 to Juncal, a rapid ascent for a traffic as distinguished from a purely mountain railway. Juncal is noteworthy, as the place where formerly the night was spent by those tourists and business men designing in the early dawn to set out on saddle animal or in mountain wagon for the summit and the other side. Farther on is a tranquil little lake, above 9000 feet, an opalescent gem, at times turquoise or sapphire, called the Lago del Inca. Now the track makes a great curve into an immense couloir, passing at the foot or along the side of cliffs or steep slopes, where, as in places lower down, rocks small and large seem ready to fall, as others have already descended. From the farther side of the great curve we soon look across at the track 1000 feet beneath. We gaze in admiration upon the splendid gloomy cliffs with tints of slate color from blue-gray to black, and on rocks with delicate hues of pink and cream, splashed with red and bronze or green; intermingled with these are patches of pure white snow. Observation cars would greatly increase the pleasure. Too soon at Caracoles, at a height of 10,486 feet, the tunnel’s portal is reached and the splendor of the majestic scene has vanished. Now for almost two miles, to be exact, 10,385 feet, the train goes on through the backbone of the continent at an elevation about the same as the tunnel’s length. Near the center, the international boundary is passed; hence, after ten minutes of darkness, coming once more to daylight, one is in the great country of Argentina on the east side of the Andes, still in a vast wilderness of gorges, rocks, and peaks of multifarious shapes and colors, diversified by immense fields of snow, with many brief visions of grandeur which one would fain tarry to enjoy. Fortunate the traveler, who, 7 or 8 miles below Las Cuevas, has at the head of a side valley at the north a glimpse of colossal Aconcagua 15 miles away, a long ridge of snow arching into two domes, with a sheer drop of 10,000 feet on its black southern wall; and farther on a sight of Tupungato, 30 miles away at the south: both mountains first climbed in 1897 by the Fitzgerald Expedition, though he unfortunately was compelled by mountain sickness to forego the satisfaction of attaining either summit himself. The first to reach the supposed apex of the Western Hemisphere, the top of Aconcagua, according to the latest measurement, 22,817 feet, was Matias Zurbriggen, the celebrated Swiss guide, who in almost every land has led English and Americans to the summits of noted mountains. Alone, January 14, 1897, he gained this height, and there erected a stone man as is the custom where possible. In April of the same year, the first ascent of Tupungato, 21,451 feet, was made, also by Zurbriggen, and the Englishman, Vines.

Puenta del Inca. The first station in Argentina is Las Cuevas: then we drop quickly to Puenta del Inca where a few moments are allowed for tea. The contrast between the green and luxuriant vegetation of the Chilian side and the barrenness of the Argentine is singularly opposite to that in Peru, where the western slopes of the Andes are mostly desert while the eastern are clothed with the richest verdure. At Puenta del Inca is a curious formation from which the place is named, a natural bridge of stratified rock, one of nature’s marvels. The stream has perforated a bank about 20 feet thick so as to form, 80 feet above the river, a fine arched bridge, at the top 150 feet long and 20 wide, and nearly 30 feet thick. The piers have been strengthened by calcareous deposits from springs which gush from the earth just at the bridge. On the left bank of the stream a path of steps partly cut in the rocks leads down to hot waters. First comes the Bath of Venus, an effective grotto of white stalactites. Next is the Champagne Spring, its foaming waters revealing a considerable pressure from below. Among other warm springs beyond is one called Mercury. On all sides gush forth these waters cold, hot, and tepid, saturated with carbonic acid gas; the Venus is 86°, the Champagne 93°, the same when the path is covered with six feet of snow. The waters are superior to the more noted Vichy in containing twice the quantity of carbonic acid, hence greater effervescence; and five times as much iron. This renders them a real treasure, a few months’ treatment causing maladies to disappear (they say) upon which the Vichy waters make no impression. The iron, salts, and gas of the waters make them efficacious in gout, rheumatism, and severe stomach affections, as well as an excellent tonic for those who believe such to be required. Sulphur, good for skin diseases, is also present. The Hotel del Inca affords comfortable accommodations (including a billiard room); all that could be expected at an altitude of 8924 feet, for a daily fee of six pesos ($2.64) with some extras.

One who is ambitious to ascend one of the lofty peaks near by, or who would merely stroll to a lesser height to gaze upon those above, or who would wander in strange valleys and on ragged slopes will here find the most favorable headquarters for his rambles, as well as cure for many ailments. While the great mountains, Aconcagua and Tupungato, no longer afford opportunity for a first ascent, there are many other peaks of various altitudes, the summits of which are yet untrodden; one, lofty Mercedario, about 22,000 feet, to the north of Aconcagua, believed by some to be second in height to that alone. Expert climbers only should attempt exploits of such magnitude, and these not without Alpine equipment and more; for to the ordinary paraphernalia of proper shoes, ropes, and ice axes must be added tents, sleeping bags, etc. The season for climbing here is not the same as in Peru and Bolivia, but during the summer of this region, December and January. Strange to say, although in the Temperate Zone, so vastly farther from the equator, these mountains have infinitely less snow upon their slopes than have Huascarán and Illampu. They are therefore much easier to climb, making Swiss guides not an imperative necessity, so far as the technical difficulties are concerned: though whether reliable companions as porters could be secured upon the ground is an extremely doubtful matter.

But on this journey by rail how much has one missed! Discomfort indeed has been avoided; but at the cost of a glorious and exciting experience. In former days, what a rush and bustle at Juncal! in the chilly hour between three and four a.m., when an army of pleasure and of business travelers hurried to secure places in the mountain wagons, or to select a gentle and sturdy animal for the seven hours’ ride. The coach drivers were reckless Jehus who madly raced for the summit and then for the lower goal, amid a caravan of freight wagons, baggage animals, and riders, the latter to their joy soon left behind. Though the roads were called good they were deep with sand, and have no such great curves as the roads over Alpine passes. Short zigzags with acute angles, a roadbed rough with ruts and stones, few walls at the corners where a slip over the edge would mean a roll of a few thousand feet, made a ride in a swaying coach behind horses going at a gallop assuredly exciting to people with any nerves. Some, once embarked and unable to escape, would turn their thoughts from danger to admiration of the scenery, reflecting perhaps that accidents were rare. The view of mighty walls, of glaciers near at hand, of distant glorious mountains; the fine pure air ever colder, though alas! ever thinner, was a blissful experience for those who could enjoy it; but not for the faint-hearted either literally or figuratively. Here and there one would grow faint, become unconscious, perhaps even pitch out of the wagon: oftener a stalwart man than a frail woman. On they would go, their friends uncertain whether a temporary weakness or a serious, possibly fatal affection was attacking the victim.

At last the cumbre or highest point was reached, 12,796 feet above the sea; not a sharp ridge, but a nearly level stretch a quarter of a mile across among the massive hills and mountains: a tremendous range of gloomy, desolate, forbidding peaks, or a splendid rampart of majestic, glorious mountains, according to the soul and mood of the spectator. Here in the midst of this great solitude is the most impressive monument, men say, in all the world, the Christ of the Andes, a bronze figure of Christ of heroic size, 26 feet, one hand outstretched in blessing, the other supporting a still higher cross. The circumstance of its erection, the sentiment involved, as well as the unique position of the monument, make it the most remarkable in the world’s history.

Chile and Argentina in 1900 were on the verge of war over a boundary dispute involving 80,000 square miles of territory in the Patagonian country. Immense sums expended for warships and other preparations were the cause of abnormally high taxes, the products of which were needed rather for the development of physical resources and of education. The British Ministers employed their good offices and two bishops, one of each country, traveled among their towns and villages preaching the cause of Peace and Arbitration. Bishop Benavente in Buenos Aires, on Easter Sunday 1900, first suggested the erecting of a statue of Christ upon the boundary, to prevent if possible any recurrence of strife. A treaty was made, the controversy was submitted to the arbitration of the British Monarch; King Edward entrusted the case to jurists and geographers whose decision, dividing the disputed territory, was cheerfully accepted. In June 1903, Chile and Argentina, pleased with the outcome of this matter, made a general arbitration treaty, the first ever concluded among nations; a considerable disarmament followed releasing much money for needed internal improvements, and good feeling and confidence have replaced bitterness and jealousy.

In 1901 the women of Buenos Aires, on the initiative of Señora de Costa, President of the Christian Mothers’ Association of that city, acting upon the suggestion of Bishop Benavente, undertook to secure funds for a statue. A young Argentine sculptor, Mateo Alonso, created the design; the statue was cast from old Argentine cannon. In May 1903, the Chilian representatives came by sea to Buenos Aires for the ratification of the treaties, when the statue of Christ was inspected and Señora de Costa pleaded that it should be placed on the highest practicable point on the boundary of the two countries. In February, 1904, the final steps were taken. The statue was carried by rail to Mendoza, and on gun carriages up the mountain side, soldiers and sailors in dangerous spots taking the ropes from the mules. On the 13th of March, 1904, the dedication ceremonies took place in the presence of hundreds who from both sides had come up the night before and here encamped to witness this extraordinary spectacle. The Argentines stood on the soil of Chile, the Chilians on that of Argentina. The booming of guns, the sound of music re-echoed through the mountains. When all was ready, the monument unveiled, there was a moment of solemn silence, followed by the dedication of the statue to the whole world, as a lesson of peace and good will.

The monument consists of an octagonal granite column 22 feet high upon which is a hemisphere of granite with a partial sketch of the world’s outlines. On this stands the bronze Christ 26 feet high, the cross extending five feet above. Two bronze tablets on the granite base, the gift of the Workingmen’s and Workingwomen’s Unions of Buenos Aires, bear inscriptions in Spanish, on one side statistics and dates, on the other—

“Sooner shall these mountains crumble into dust than Argentines and Chilians break the peace to which they have pledged themselves at the feet of Christ the Redeemer.”

Until the opening of the railroad in May 1910, this great statue was annually passed by thousands who paused here for a moment in the midst of their dizzy ride to rest and to gaze upon the scene. Now it stands ever lonely between heaven and earth, the silence no more broken by the raucous shouts of swearing coachmen and muleteers, or by the crude jests of a boisterous throng; to the few who now venture along that solitary way, a solemn spectacle.

On this journey over the cumbre one is likely to descry specimens of the great condor, oftener to be seen in Chile than in the countries nearer the equator. In the many days I have spent above 15,000 feet in Peru and Bolivia, not one appeared within the range of my vision. In the mountainous regions of Chile, the birds are so numerous as to be a pest, attacking pigs, sheep, children, and rarely a grown man; hence a reward for condors dead or alive has been offered by the Government. From the top of the pass down to Las Cuevas near the tunnel entrance it was said to be a swift slide at breakneck speed. The thankfulness with which the tourist descended from the coach to enter the prosaic train may well be imagined. The sturdy pedestrian was the one who in safety and tranquillity might truly enjoy the magnificent visions, while others in terror had fleeting glimpses of the splendid panorama. One should not, however, even with a good revolver, in these days venture alone upon the traverse, unless thoroughly seasoned to greater heights; for though the brigands who once haunted this region have probably departed to more frequented scenes, the danger of an attack of mountain sickness or of a sudden storm, especially towards the beginning of winter, should deter most persons from the excursion except with suitable companions and equipment. It should be noted that high winds frequently prevail in these lofty regions after nine or ten in the morning, strong enough at times to hurl horse and rider from the track to the depths below; this fact accounts for the unearthly hour at which the start was formerly made for the ride over the cumbre. Stone huts called casachas, anciently built as refuges from storm, are scattered along the road, though now apt to be snow-filled and useless.

Below Puenta del Inca, the region seems like the interior of an extinct volcano, with variously tinted volcanic rocks. Dotting the slope of a jagged mountain, some odd small black pinnacles, called penitentes, are supposed to resemble toiling pilgrims, and the perpendicular cliffs above suggest a cathedral. On other slopes are nieves penitentes, ice pinnacles, curiously formed by the action of sun and wind, these the original penitentes, as the pilgrims were garbed in white.

Beyond Punta de las Vacas is a point on the left where the rock strata are of tints especially magnificent. At the station Uspallata, the narrow gorge opens into a little plain at right angles, where river and railroad both turn south. The name Uspallata is applied to the whole pass: its passage by a division of San Martin’s army with cannon was a remarkable military exploit: the general himself with the larger force crossed to the north of Aconcagua a slightly lower but colder pass called Los Patos.

Cacheuta. Near this station, 40 kilometers from Mendoza, are more hot baths, on the left of the railroad descending, but on the right bank of the river. Here is a surface of about 3000 square meters where by digging to a depth of 2 or 3 feet hot water will gush forth, the temperature varying according to the location, the hottest water near the river, 112°, the lowest, 79°. The waters are valuable to sufferers from rheumatism, articular, muscular, and visceral; less so for neuralgic pains, which may return. Women are benefited in their special ails. The waters strongly stimulate the nervous system, the power of nutrition, and the whole organic system including the heart action and circulation, and are therefore forbidden to persons suffering from diseases of the heart and circulation, some of whom pay for their rashness with their lives. The bath establishment, affording fair accommodations, a dining-room seating 250, and a billiard room, receives about 20,000 guests a year. Summer visitors are the most numerous. The baths include a swimming pool, and smaller tanks with water hot or cold, and a grotto for Russian baths. The price for two meals daily and bath is six pesos, or second class 4.50. The two meals are almuerzo and dinner, morning coffee being extra, a curious custom first observed in Chile but obtaining largely in Argentina. The Indian name, Cacheuta, is derived from the fact that here an Indian chief bearing, with attendants, two skins full of gold was met by Spaniards as he was going to ransom the Inca. The Indians succeeded in deceiving the Spaniards and concealing the gold. The secret was well kept until a poor Indian, befriended by a missionary, revealed the hiding place; but there was a mistake somewhere as all search was vain.

At length the mountains are left behind, probably after dusk has fallen, so that the arrival at Mendoza is in the early evening. The tourist who is making a hasty trip will hurry across the station to the probably waiting train, by which he will arrive in Buenos Aires the following evening. The more leisurely, and the tired traveler will take a carriage to the Grand Hotel where an excellent dinner will be enjoyed and comfortable night quarters may be obtained. In looking about the town and visiting one of the great bodegas, a day or two will be agreeably spent.

Mendoza Hotels, the Grand, the Club, the Francia and others. At the Grand, on Plaza San Martin, the table was unexpectedly good; the dinner, served on the broad veranda, from seven to nine on a balmy summer evening, was a genuine pleasure.

Mendoza, with 45,000 inhabitants, the largest city in West Argentina, has a remarkable record. Strange, indeed, that this town at the base of the loftiest of the Andes, by these separated from one ocean, and by 650 miles of pampa from the other, was founded nearly fifty years before the first settlement in the United States and twenty years before the city of Buenos Aires came permanently into being. If we knew or reflected more on the bold deeds of other days in other countries, we might, perchance, have more respect for others and less assurance of our own great superiority. May 2, 1561 (some say March 2, 1560), a city was founded by Pedro del Castillo in a fruitful spot watered by the Mendoza River. At an altitude of 2500 feet, in the longitude of Portland, Maine, and a latitude corresponding to that of Charleston, it is an agreeable place, with plazas, wide, pleasant streets, and attractive buildings; but all seems new. Two cities there are, the living and the dead; not as in Cuzco, the one of an earlier race, built over and around by invaders, but an old city of the sixteenth century, a new one of the nineteenth. Unless aware of this fact, the old will be ignored, the visitor passing on, unaware of its existence. Some, indeed, may prefer so to do, but others will desire to have a glimpse of the ruins: for the city of 1561, 300 years later, was utterly destroyed by a tremendous earthquake. The catastrophe was of a singular character. At 8.30 p.m., March 20, 1861, a subterranean groan was heard. On the instant, before there was time to flee, the house walls crumbling fell, the roofs in the middle, so that the people, generally in their houses, perished to the number of 10,000-15,000. Some, who were promenading in the streets or plaza, were killed or thrown to the ground; but many of these who were saved engaged in the work of rescue: too few, however, to do effective labor, so that a large number who had not been killed outright, confined among the ruins, perished from asphyxiation and starvation. From lamps and fires in the dwellings and the breaking of gas pipes, a conflagration followed, rendering the night more horrible. Some districts next day were flooded from the obstruction of the canals; the odor of dead bodies became insupportable, as the survivors were too few to remove them. The shocks had continued until nothing was left standing; there were 19 within the next 24 hours, 17 of which were violent; 14 more the next day; gradually they diminished, coming to an end in May. It is extraordinary that the strength of this violent convulsion was confined to a district 60 miles long and 6 wide, extending southeast from the Uspallata Valley. A slight jar was felt at Buenos Aires, but in Chile across the Andes no tremor at all. Assistance, though promptly sent, was long delayed in arrival, as at that time practically no railroads existed in Argentina. Succor first came from the neighboring towns of San Juan and San Luis, then from Chile, all of Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay, Peru, and Europe; by which the survivors were enabled to rehabilitate themselves.

There was the usual talk of changing the location of the city to a site not far away near granite hills, indicating a more solid substratum; but the people as elsewhere refused to move, rebuilding close by in the lighter Chilian fashion, with a larger use of wood, and employing much material taken from the ruins. Thus these have to some extent disappeared, but it is worth while to have the coachman drive you over, if you care to see the destruction wrought.

The new city of Mendoza has recently experienced a rapid growth and great prosperity. Of the seven plazas, most important are the San Martin on which is the Grand and another hotel, also the handsome building of the Bank of the Province; and the Plaza Independencia, larger and finer, around which are already erected or about to be built, a new Government Palace, a Legislative Building, and a Hall of Justice. Other objects of more or less interest according to one’s taste, are churches, convents, libraries, a national college, a kindergarten of the very latest model, a normal and an agricultural school, factories of various industries, several Clubs of foreigners here resident, hospitals, orphan asylums, and a fine penitentiary. There are many broad streets, the chief avenue for shopping and promenade, the San Martin, being 100 feet wide with four rows of fine poplars. The streets, clean and well paved, are lined with a profusion of trees, more than 10,000; so many as to render the atmosphere at times (it is said) stifling and unhealthy. The houses are mainly of one story and none are above two, out of consideration for the earthquakes.

A comical and original method of street watering may here be observed. Considerable streams run along the sides of the main avenue, if not elsewhere, and boys with buckets on the end of long poles dip these into the water and throw it upon the driveway, a primitive but effective method.

On the west of the city an immense park is being developed into a charming resort at the edge of the Andean foothills. The handsome bronze gates at the entrance, costing $25,000, were imported from England. Within are splendid driveways lighted by electricity; beautiful flower beds; thousands of trees and shrubs; an interesting zoölogical garden; a pretty botanical garden; and a charming lake nearly a mile long and 330 feet wide, arranged with boating facilities, beautified by islands, and furnished with a splendid grand stand on a sloping shore with seating accommodations for 3000 people. Not far away is a rond point, with a kiosk as a band stand. Already a delightful resort which no one should fail to visit, it promises to be a truly magnificent pleasure ground. If there is one to compare with it in the United States in a city of twice the size, it has not come to my attention.

To many the greatest interest of Mendoza will be in the neighboring vineyards and bodegas. Many fortunes, large and small, have been made in viticulture in Argentina, and this region east of the Andean foothills is wonderfully well calculated for its development. Investments in this business return as high as 25 to 30 per cent profits. One hectare (2½ acres) of land will bear 300 to 400 cwt. of grapes, which sell at 3 or 4 pesos a cwt., an Argentine peso being 44 cents. An economical Italian family can live on the returns from a single hectare. Among the various industries of the province wine production is the most important, increasing between 1895 and 1908 from the value of 9 to 44 million pesos. The largest of the bodegas or wineries is that of Domingo Tomba, whose wines have received at European Expositions many gold and silver medals. This great establishment at Godoy Cruz, a pretty town half an hour by rail from Mendoza or a pleasant drive, may be visited in a half day. Interesting at any time it is especially so during the grape season which lasts from February to May, the fruit coming in first from the north and along down to the southern limit of production. Señor Tomba owns several large vineyards, 3000 acres, and purchases the entire product of others. The bodega, established by his brother Antonio (now deceased) in 1886, then producing 1000 hectolitres, increased to a production of 254,000 in 1909. All essentials of a first-class establishment are here found. The employees, like the proprietor, are mainly of Italian birth. It is an immense property with many buildings of various kinds. Rows of enormous casks for fermentation and deposit contain 220 hectolitres each, others are smaller, also there are great tanks of brick. The large two-wheeled carts for transportation are drawn by four horses, one ahead and three abreast, the driver riding one of the three. A large patio contains a pretty garden and a monument to the founder of the House. The buildings are as neat as possible and of fine workmanship. The wine is excellent, of good body, but not designed for export, not improving with age. For ordinary table use there is none better, and the demand for it in Argentina, in spite of continually enlarged production, is always greater than the supply.

Mendoza is a popular winter resort for many Argentinians on account of its picturesque surroundings and generally cloudless sky, with a superb view of snowclad heights; but most Americans would consider a frequent temperature in the forties a trifle chill without a fire, and would hie away to warmer climes.

The extensive system of irrigation carried on in the Province renders it highly productive of alfalfa, wheat, and corn, as well as grapes; also of vegetables rivaling the California giants, onions as large as plates, colossal carrots and radishes, at some seasons, mushrooms, marvellous in size and flavor, all these largely transported to Buenos Aires. As an attractive center of immigration this is the third province of the Republic.

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CHAPTER XXII
ARGENTINA—ACROSS THE PLAINS TO BUENOS AIRES

The great country of Argentina, the largest we have yet visited, in South America second only to Brazil, has more than five times the area of France and above one-third that of the United States. Considerably longer than the latter country, though not so wide, its latitude compares with that from Key West to Hudson Bay, a distance of 2200 miles; its width varies from 200 to 1000 miles. Its great length from north to south assures wide variety in climate, aside from changes in elevation, of which there is not much after getting away from the Andes. The climate range is from Sicily or hotter to Iceland, less than in corresponding latitudes in North America.

The central part of the country now to be traversed is the great pampa section, largely a region of cattle raising, where the soil is from 3 to 6 feet thick; farther north and east in the Paraná basin, where wheat, sugar, and many other products are raised, the soil is from 30 to 100 feet thick. In Patagonia at the south the plains are of sand and gravel, requiring irrigation except for a few small fertile valleys. A rich country is Argentina, now forging ahead with wonderful strides.

The journey to Buenos Aires is made from Mendoza in twenty-four hours by the express trains, chiefly composed of sleeping cars. These have by the windows at one side an aisle, from which staterooms open with berths one above another running cross-wise of the car. Each room contains a lavatory, electric lights and fan. By day there is a long leather-covered seat, less comfortable than those in our sleepers, and far less than on the despised narrow gauge railway from Oruro to Antofagasta. A dining car is attached to the train, furnishing fair meals at reasonable prices.

Leaving Mendoza by daylight, a region of vineyards with a few towns may be seen for some miles, and at harvest time men and women by thousands engaged in picking the great clusters of grapes; but soon an arid country is reached, not like the West Coast deserts farther north, but resembling our western plains. There is a scanty growth of scrub and an excessive amount of dust, which in great profusion creeps through the single windows to the discomfort of all passengers. Here there is almost no rainfall, and one need not regret passing in the night. Santa Rosa, a town fifty miles from Mendoza, has some historic importance as the site of two battles in the civil wars of 1874, where the national forces, defeated in October, were in December victorious under Col. Julio A. Roca.

Near the small station Balde, 75 miles farther, is a noted artesian well 2000 feet deep, sunk in this arid region by the National Government at a cost of 150,000 pesos. Boring was begun March 31, 1884, with a tube of 20 inches diameter, decreasing gradually to 3½ inches. Not until October 12, 1887, did water begin to gush, at last in great quantity, estimated by some at 8000 liters, by others at 200,000 liters an hour, a rather wide margin. The water having a temperature of 105° is drinkable and of great value.

A little beyond is the town of San Luis (population 15,000) founded in 1597 by the Governor of Chile. From raising alfalfa, land has increased in value ten fold, being now worth $5 or $6 an acre. Cattle raising is a special industry of the province, also the sale of green onyx, beds of which lie to the north.

Villa Mercedes, a town of about the same size, is an important railway junction. One might here take a train by way of Villa Maria to Córdoba, if desirous of visiting that historic city. From here to Buenos Aires is a region of rainfall and of wonderful fertility, the great cattle ranches, formerly covering the whole country, being to some extent superseded by the cultivation of the soil; wheat, linseed, and corn are produced in immense quantities. It may be noted in passing that Argentina is the greatest exporter (not producer) of cattle and of cereals of any country in the world. At many stations there is but a house or two, an adobe hut occupied by an Italian or by a gaucho, a cowboy of mixed race, Spanish and Indian. Yet in the season 6000 tons of wheat may be seen at one of these stations, representing great wealth. The freight cars, weighing 12½ tons, will carry a load of 40 tons, this being a broad gauge road with straight and almost level track, inclining slightly to the sea. The longest straight in the world is here found, 175 miles in direct line, and, but for one S curve, 206 miles. Bronzed cattlemen may be seen at the stations, and along the way thousands of splendid cattle; then a sea of cultivated limitless plain, interesting for a while, but presently monotonous to many.

Between Villa Mercedes and Mackenna, 40 miles, is a very rich zone containing many elegant dwellings of modern style with city comforts, amid gardens and orchards, fields of vegetables and cereals.

Rufino, another railroad center, is a station of hurry and bustle. A wonderful change has taken place in this region in the last 25 years, from a lonely expanse with a rare dwelling and a few native cattle to villages, splendid herds, and grain fields whose products always outrun the provision of sheds and storehouses. Near the station Vedia, the end of the straight from Mackenna, is the noted estancia or ranch of Señor Benito Villanueva of 35,000 acres, which contained some years ago 14,000 Shorthorn cattle, besides Lincoln and Shropshire sheep, and 1200 horses of Clydesdale, Suffolk, and Hackney. A station on a branch line is called Gen. Arenales after the owner of an important establishment, with creamery and cheese factory making 200 pounds of cheese a day.

A busy town is Junín on the site of a fort from which forces sallied Dec. 10, 1876, against an invasion of cattle-stealing Indians. The latter were routed and the cattle saved. Here are railroad workshops employing 1000 men, and an electric establishment supplying light for the city and power for the making of butter, cream, and ice. Land here is worth more than $1.00 a square foot. Perhaps a peso was meant.

Fifteen kilometers from the town of Chacabuco is the estancia San Gregorio especially devoted to raising Hereford and Durham bulls, Lincoln sheep, Hackney, Morgan, and Clydesdale horses, collie dogs, terriers, and fowls of the Wyandotte, Plymouth Rock, Brahma, and other breeds. Seven thousand dollars was paid by the owner for a single bull.

Near Mercedes, a city of 15,000, is an estancia of 40,000 acres. This in addition to other blooded stock has many race horses, now used for breeding, which formerly won fame in Europe. For one of these the owner paid $150,000.

The station Open Door is so called from a remarkable governmental establishment for healing the mentally diseased by the outdoor system, work in the fields.

At Muñiz, 20 miles from Buenos Aires, there is a Campo de Mayo, a field for military exercises, where reviews frequently occur attracting many spectators. Close by is a famous estancia, that of Noberto Quirno, 4200 acres, fenced with wire, divided into 18 enclosures. Besides the pure blooded cattle, acres of the finest fruit, and an elegant residence, there is a dove-cote, supplying 40 to 50 pairs of pigeons daily.

The town, Hurlingham, 15 miles from the city, almost in the suburbs, is much frequented by those athletically inclined. A hippodrome containing apparatus for physical exercises is the scene of frequent hippie and athletic reunions with large and distinguished crowds. There is a race track of 2000 meters for horses, grounds for tennis, polo, cricket, etc., with pavilions for spectators, restaurant, garage, stables, and dog kennels. The whole, covering 22 squares, belongs to a society with 6000 members. At the opening of the season occurs an annual fête called Gymkchana. Among other sports is a Whistling Race. In this, after 500 yards, men must pause before a lady and whistle a tune, the name of which she hands to him on paper.

In the real suburbs of Buenos Aires, at Villa Devoto, 10 miles from the city station, is a rifle range established by the Italians. The field, 1000 meters long and 100 wide, has a shooting gallery 550 meters long. Of the 30 targets 24 are for guns at from 300 to 500 meters, and six for revolvers at 10 meters. English societies have here tennis and golf grounds. Among many chalets with fine gardens is one belonging to John A. Hall containing about 1500 varieties of orchids. Of two asylums in the place, one called Umberto Primo, was the gift of the philanthropist Antonio Devoto, of which the cornerstone was laid February, 1904, by Prince Luigi de Savoia, Duke of the Abruzzi. From this suburb a tramway conducts to the city, passing on the way a Dispensary for the Tuberculous, and the National School of Agriculture and Veterinary, which was inaugurated September, 1904. Continuing by rail, one has on the left a glimpse of the river, and on both sides, of the Palermo Park, before reaching the station Retiro, a short distance from the center of Buenos Aires.

This wonderful city, the Metropolis of South America, which in the last half century has grown at a rate exceeded by few in the United States, was founded as early as 1535 by Pedro de Mendoza; but being twice destroyed or abandoned on account of troubles with the Indians, its permanent settlement dates from 1580. For this the honor belongs to Juan de Garay, Acting Governor of the Province of which Asunción was the capital. The latter city had been founded in 1536 by Juan de Ayolas, sent thither to discover a way through to the rich country of Peru. This colony, more fortunate than Buenos Aires, endured, and for many years Asunción was the chief city of this part of South America. Several other settlements were made in the present Argentine country before the permanent establishment of Buenos Aires: Santiago de Estero in 1553; and within ten years thereafter, Mendoza, San Juan, and Tucumán.

The name, Buenos Aires, dates from 1535 when Pedro de Mendoza, January 6, inaugurated the city of Santa María de Buenos Aires, in recognition of the sailors’ devotion to Nuestra Señora del Buen Aire, their especial patroness at Cadiz; tradition also has it that on disembarking here one said to another, “Que buenos aires son los de este suelo!” “What good airs are there on this land!” The town founded February 2, 1535, was practically destroyed by Indians and abandoned in 1541. In 1580 Garay with sixty-three colonists, provisions, tools, etc., coming from Asunción, on disembarking Sunday, June 11, 1580, proceeded to an elevated spot, where now is Parque Lezama. There he pronounced in Spanish the words, “City of the Trinity and Port of Santa Maria of Buenos Aires, I baptize thee in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.” All, saying Amen, then knelt to ask a blessing on the city to be founded. Proceeding north to an open space on the wooded shore they fixed upon the present Plaza de Mayo as the center of the city and placed the first stone at the corner of Rivadavia and San Martin. The new city was arranged in sixteen squares from north to south along the river front, and in nine squares east to west, with farms and gardens beyond. While the general trend of the river and the shore on this side is northwest to southeast, the front just here is almost due north and south, the Avenida de Mayo, at right angles, therefore running east and west.

The growth of the city was slow, being much hampered by strange regulations of the Mother Country. No commerce was permitted, either imports or exports, hence smuggling became popular. While the Viceroy at Lima was ruler of the entire country, his practical authority was here small, the Audiencia in Charcas (now Sucre), Bolivia, being in charge of the country east of the Andes. Subordinate to this were the Royal Governors of the Provinces, always Spanish, while the cities were ruled by Cabildos of from six to twelve members who were natives or creoles. These serving for life had charge both of judicial and administrative matters. The troubles with the Indians, and with the Portuguese who had settlements on the opposite bank may be passed over, but those with the British should be mentioned. At last, after about two hundred years, Buenos Aires in 1776 had a Viceroy of her own and more liberal government; unfortunately too late to undo the evil which had been wrought, although trade now flourished and the population soon doubled. In June, 1806, a squadron under Admiral Popham, and General Beresford with fifteen hundred men landed below Buenos Aires then a city of about 40,000. The Viceroy fled and June 27 the British occupied the city. A French officer, Liniers, in Spanish employ, procuring one thousand regular troops and some cannon in Montevideo, approached the city and was joined at his camp by many. The British on the advance of the army of Liniers, August 12, after hard street fighting, finally surrendered; the British flags then captured are still preserved in Buenos Aires as trophies. Four months later the British again came and with four thousand troops captured Montevideo. General Whitelock approaching Buenos Aires put to flight the army of Liniers which had come out to meet him; but on entering the city, July 5, stubborn street fighting ensued, and after forcing their way to the barricaded Plaza and losing in two days one-quarter of their men, the British agreed to withdraw and to evacuate Montevideo within two months.

This experience inspired in the Argentines a feeling of self-reliance. Accordingly when Napoleon, after he had overrun the Spanish peninsula, demanded, May 22, 1810, the resignation of the new Viceroy Cisneros, who had taken office in 1809, an armed assembly came together in the Plaza and proclaimed the Cabildo supreme in authority. While Acts were made in the name of Ferdinand VII, the Spanish ruler of Castile and Leon, then in prison, this date is regarded as that of the dawn of Independence. The Cabildo sent armies in various directions and bloody combats ensued, several at first successful, then with varying results. There were long troublous times, though Buenos Aires never again fell under foreign sway, and the sentiment of independence became firmly established by 1812. In this year returned from Europe the great patriot, San Martin, who, through the labors of the historian, Bartolomé Mitre, is now generally recognized as the savior of South American Independence.

San Martin, born, February 25, 1778, of a creole mother and a Spanish officer father in a small mission town of the Jesuits on the Uruguay River, was taken to Spain at the age of eight years, educated in the best military schools, and served in many wars. Having imbibed liberal ideas he returned to Buenos Aires in March, 1812, and later, with a chosen company of the best youths, proceeded to Mendoza, where for three years he was forming and drilling an army for the purpose of invading Chile. This he did in January, 1817, the battle of Chacabuco, February 12, giving that country its independence. Going to Peru with his army in 1820, he proceeded himself to meet Bolívar in Guayaquil. When the latter rejected the coöperation proffered, San Martin gave up the army which he had organized and withdrew to Buenos Aires, suffering the imputation of cowardice without a word, and returning to Europe to live in reduced circumstances until his death at Boulogne in 1850.

Independence was formally declared by a Congress in Tucumán, July 9, 1816. From 1812 to 1862 civil and other wars were frequent. July 9, 1825, a National Constitution was adopted, and in 1826, Rivadavia, a very able man, became the first President. The greatest constructive statesman of the period, he undertook to reform the laws and administration, created the University of Buenos Aires, founded hospitals, etc., and engaged in war with Brazil, by which Uruguay became independent. But after a single year of office, on account of dissensions, he resigned. In 1829, following two years of strife, de Rosas became President and in 1835 Dictator. His name and his tyranny are regarded with detestation. Defeated June 8, 1852, by General Urquiza, he fled to the British Legation and later to England.

In 1853 Buenos Aires was recognized as an independent state, but in 1857 the Porteños or harbor people, as the residents of the city are called, under General B. Mitre were defeated by General Urquiza and again joined the Confederation. In 1861 another battle occurred under the same generals with a victory for Mitre, who then became President of the entire nation and by granting the Provinces autonomy succeeded in creating better feeling. In 1868 Dr. Sarmiento, a broad-minded scholar, was peacefully elected and did much to promote education and develop the nation’s resources. His successor, Dr. Avellanda, had a more troublous term of office. General Roca who followed, 1880, gained his position by hard fighting. He first declared the city the Federal District of the nation, promoted railway extension, and put down dissensions. After Dr. Celman had misgoverned for four years, Carlos Pellegrini finished the six years’ term in good fashion. Dr. Saenz Peña followed in 1892, but becoming unpopular, resigned; and the Vice President filled out his administration. Another term for General Roca was succeeded in 1904 by that of Dr. Quintana and after his death Dr. Alcorta; the present incumbent, Dr. Roque Saenz Peña, taking office October 12, 1910.

Buenos Aires, the Metropolis of South America, resembles Chicago in being located on the level frontier of a great prairie, and on the border of a large body of fresh water; at the same time it is like New York in being the chief seaport of a great nation. The so-called Rio de la Plata or La Plata River is in reality more of an estuary; so wide as to have rather the effect of a bay or gulf. Formed by the union of two rivers, the Paraná and the Uruguay, the La Plata basin is the second largest in the world, the flow of the river being 80 per cent greater than that of the Mississippi. And here let me make a feeble protest against the usage, general among the English, and now copied in the United States, of speaking of this water as the River Plate. Was there ever an uglier name in sound or sense? Were there any difficulty in saying La Plata there might be some excuse. True, one is liable to commit a tautology by saying the La Plata River, a repetition of the the in another language, but some sins are worse, and one to my mind is changing Plata to Plate. Plata means silver. Why not then call it the Silver River, if one would translate, or else say the Plata River? I, at least, give notice here that in this book it shall be properly called. The first a of course has the sound of ah.

The river is here 28 miles wide, so that one does not see the opposite shore except from a height such as the Capitol dome. It is 125 miles long more or less, according to where you consider the ocean line, Buenos Aires being called about 100 miles from the sea and 90 from Montevideo. The city, 65 feet above sea level, has like Chicago plenty of room to grow and has improved the opportunity to extend itself until in area it is one of the largest cities in the world, three times as large as Berlin, but smaller than London or New York. Its population, according to the last accounts, 1913, is about a million and a half. Thus it is the fourth city in the Western Hemisphere and the second Latin city in the world. At its present rate of growth it will soon be crowding Paris; some day, perhaps, it may become the first in population of the cities founded and ruled by a Latin race.

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CHAPTER XXIII
BUENOS AIRES

Hotels. Plaza, E. P., 10 pesos and up; Palace, a little more moderate; others A. P., Grand, 9-20; Royal, 9-20; Majestic, 12 up; Metropole; Splendid; Caviezel’s New Hotel; Phœnix; Albion.

Cabs. First class, 15 blocks, 1 peso, next 15 blocks, 50 ctvs.; second class, first course 60 ctvs., second 40 ctvs. By the hour, first class, 2 pesos, then 80 ctvs. each half hour; second class, 1.50 first hour, .60 each half hour. Automobiles, higher.

Money. Argentine peso, 44 cents; double the Chilian peso.

Guide-book to the Argentine Republic by Albert B. Martinez, valuable; in Spanish and French, perhaps now in English.