A short distance farther is the Perené, a coffee plantation, at 2500 feet, belonging to the Peruvian Corporation. The estate of 5,000,000 acres is not half cultivated, though 1¹⁄₂ million coffee trees had been planted in 1903. At this altitude the country is still in the foothills of the Andes with steep slopes on every hand, a narrow way only extending along the river bank. The Perené is a considerable stream easily navigable, an affluent of the Tambo, which flows into the Ucayali; but the stream goes south a long distance around, and through a region inhabited by savage Indians. It is therefore not used. The Chunchi Indians living close by are fine looking people and friendly, sometimes working on the plantation. This plantation is on the main and mail route from Lima to Iquitos, capital of Loreto, to which with good luck a journey may be made in 15 days. Seven days are spent between Oroya and Puerto Jessup, then one in canoe to Puerto Bermudez, and 5 or 6 in steam launch to Iquitos, where a steamer may be taken to Manaos, Pará, or New York.

A branch railway line, American owned, built by the Cerro de Pasco Copper Company, extends north from Oroya to Cerro de Pasco, about 90 miles over a hilly country, past Lake Junín. Along the way many Quichua Indians are seen, the chief population of the plateau region. Cerro de Pasco, the terminus of the road from Oroya, is a town of 15,000 population at an altitude of 14,300 feet. A branch railway leads to Goyllarisquisga, 26 miles, another to Quishuarcancha, 11 miles, to their coal properties.

Another branch or a continuation of the Central Railway runs south on the plateau in the valley of the Jauja River past a city of that name, population 3000, altitude 11,050 feet, a resort for consumptives for whom the coast is too damp. Seventy-eight miles from Oroya at Huancayo, population 6000, the road halted some years, but lately building has recommenced and the road is probably open some miles farther. Construction is proceeding in the direction of Ayacucho to continue from there to Cuzco. By the time this is accomplished a long stretch of the Pan American Road will be completed, probably from the Callejón de Huailas to Lake Titicaca, but the crossing of three cañons, one 3000 feet deep, makes this an expensive job.

The Southern Railway of Peru, also planned and partly constructed by Henry Meiggs before he commenced the Central, begins at the port of Mollendo; after a few miles along the beach it climbs the high bluff on the side of projecting buttresses, winding about till it reaches the edge of the desert plateau 3000 feet above. Then it proceeds on the almost imperceptibly inclined desert, presently along the edge of the Vitor Valley, 107 miles, to the beautifully situated Arequipa, population 50,000, altitude 7550 feet.

The city is on the lower slope of El Misti, partly in the valley of the Chili River which flows between Misti, 19,200 feet, and Chachani a little higher. Arequipa has a fine cathedral, and cultured society, but poor hotels. A good one, opened prematurely some years ago, unfortunately failed; it would be a great success now. In the crater of Misti are pure sulphur crystals, with some of which I once filled my pocket; but other sources are more accessible. Much business is transacted in the city, this being the centre of commerce for Southern Peru, an immense district with many towns and mining centres on and off the railroad. At least one night must be spent here on the way up, and several days are desirable both for business and to become proof against soroche. The city is the site of the machine shops for the railway, which with 526 miles of track is the longest in the Republic. From Vitor between Mollendo and Arequipa an automobile road is to be constructed to the Majes Valley and Chuquibamba.

From Arequipa there are semi- or tri-weekly trains to Cuzco and Puno. The road winds around the desert slopes of Chachani to the higher land beyond. From the divide, 14,688 feet, the descent is gradual to Puno on the shore of Lake Titicaca, 219 miles from Arequipa.

At Juliaca, 30 miles before Puno, the line branches north towards Cuzco, 210 miles, a journey of a day and a half. Sleeping cars run from Arequipa. The highest point on the north division is 14,153 feet. Cuzco itself is at an altitude of 11,445 feet. The place, almost surrounded by hills, has a more genial climate than might be expected at this altitude. The appearance of the country is very different from that near Cerro de Pasco with more green and a milder atmosphere. Cuzco is said once to have had a population of 400,000, instead of the present 30,000. Some progress has been made since railway connection was established in 1908; a decent hotel, the Pullman, has superseded the apologies for one then available. The population is chiefly Indian, and many come in from the surrounding country to the markets. The Department, a very rich but undeveloped section, is on the border where Quichuas and Aymarás mingle.

From the port of Puno, on the shore of Lake Titicaca, altitude 12,500 feet, there is, in connection with the railway, steamboat service (an all night journey) to Guaqui, at the south end of the lake. Here is railroad connection for La Paz, a three hours ride, all under the management of the Peruvian Corporation, a British company which controls also the Central Railway and most of the short lines from the various ports; the Corporation has further among other concessions one for the export of guano.

Proposed Railway Extension

It is evident that the railways of this great country which nowhere touch the vast montaña region and which leave destitute most of the towns of the sierra district, are totally inadequate for its development. However delightful the climate or rich the country in agricultural or mineral resources, few persons in the present age will settle in regions remote from cities in time if not in distance, and where the interchange of products is almost impossible for lack of means of transportation. The leaders of the Government are well aware of this fact and are doing their utmost to promote railway development, both through their own initiative and by their willingness to grant favorable terms and, to some extent, guaranteed concessions to foreign capitalists. The importance of connecting the coast and sierra cities, and these with the Amazon Basin and river transportation to the Atlantic is perfectly apparent. The ideal is for three or four railways serving different sections to extend from coast ports up over the mountains down to the navigable waters of the Amazon affluents, and that such roads should be connected by a north and south line in the sierra country as a part of the great Pan American system long ago planned. Branches would diverge from all of these lines, thus opening up large mineral deposits for operation, and the rich agricultural lands of the montaña for settlement and commerce.