The Plateau Region of Bolivia, 90 miles from the Pacific, extends from northwest to southeast about 460 miles, with an average width of 100 miles and an altitude of 12,500 feet. It is bordered on the west by the Cordillera Occidental, containing snowclad peaks, several of which are volcanoes, many dormant or extinct, and on the east by the Cordillera Oriental, the northern part of which is the Real or Royal, a name eminently deserved. The two ranges come together at the Knot of Cuzco or Vilcanota. Northeast of Lake Titicaca is another confused mass or knot, the Nudo of Apolobamba, where are said to be some of the highest peaks of the Andes. The central plateau, once an inland sea, and now including Lake Titicaca, slopes slightly from the north, where it has a height above 13,000 feet. It is broken in places by ridges and peaks, one over 17,000 feet high, and is cut by a few cañons. In the West Cordillera a number of peaks reach an elevation of 19,000, 20,000, or 21,000 feet; on the east the Cordillera Real contains several above 21,000. Farther south in the lower ranges are some peaks of volcanic character. A transverse ridge, the Serranía de Lipez, terminates the Bolivian Plateau.
East of the southern part of the Cordillera Oriental is a mountainous section of which the Sierra de Cochabamba on the northeast and the Sierra de Misiones on the east form the limit. Considerably farther east in the region of the lowlands is the Sierra de Chiquitos between the Mamoré and Guaporé Rivers, mere hills in comparison, with one almost attaining 4000 feet. The highland or plateau section, the only part visited by ordinary tourists or commercial men, occupies hardly two fifths of the territory, the less known lowlands three fifths.
The Lowlands, extending farther north than the Bolivian plateau, comprise low alluvial plains, swamps, and lands often flooded, including great forests and llanos. The great forests are at the north in the Amazon Basin, the open plains in that of the Plata.
Rivers. The only rivers of consequence are those which flow towards the Atlantic, with the exception of the Desaguadero, about 200 miles long, the outlet of Lake Titicaca. This river flows into Lake Pampa Aullagas or Poopo, which has no outlet unless it be by an underground stream to the Pacific, of which there are some indications. The principal rivers of the Plata system, the Pilcomayo and the Bermejo, flow southeast into the Paraguay River. More numerous and important are the streams flowing northeast belonging to the Amazon Basin, the chief of these, the Beni, and the Mamoré, which form the Madera River. They have many tributaries, the Beni having the Madre de Dios, the Madidi, the Cochabamba, and others; the Mamoré receiving the great boundary river, the Guaporé or Itenez, and many more.
Climate
Bolivia, still within the tropics, has the same variety of climate as the countries previously described, the difference in altitude causing the variation. The portion of the table-land where the altitude is 12,000 to 13,000 feet, called the puna by the natives, has two seasons which resemble autumn and winter, the summer is so short and cool. The summer, the season of snows, is from October or November to May; the winter usually has slight precipitation. Little will grow here except potatoes, barley, and quinua. The higher land up to the snow line, perhaps 17,000 feet, called the puna brava, is still colder, supporting grass only, where herders alone are found with native flocks and rare mining settlements. Higher still is eternal snow with almost Arctic temperature, -20° I found it at night on a glacier on Mt. Sorata. A professor once told me that at 16,000 feet he was unable to keep warm at night however much clothing and blankets he used, but the Indians, moderately clad and with bare feet, endure the cold with apparent indifference.
The valleys as high as 12,000 feet, as in the case of La Paz, are comparatively comfortable, being shielded from the bleak winds of the plateau. From 9500 feet to 11,000 the climate is sufficiently temperate for the raising of vegetables and cereals. In what is called the Valley Zone, 5,000 to 9,000 feet, there is slight variation throughout the year, perpetual summer and subtropical vegetation. Below are the yungas, deep valleys with semitropical climate, and further the tropical lowlands. Except for the last section the country as a whole may be called healthful, diseases arising from bad habits, poverty, ignorance, and unsanitary conditions, rather than as a necessary result of the climate. In the lowlands, however, tropical fevers and malaria are likely to exist, while many persons are more or less affected by soroche on ascending to the plateau from the sea. In La Paz the weather in winter is cool, with a temperature occasionally below freezing and ranging from 40° to 50° in the house. Snow though not uncommon soon vanishes in the sun, and flowers like geraniums blossom all the year in the open. In summer, with much more precipitation, it usually rains in the valley, with snow often on the puna and always on the mountains above.
CHAPTER XXV
BOLIVIA: CAPITAL, DEPARTMENTS, CHIEF CITIES
The Capital
La Paz, the de facto capital, population 107,000, is by far the largest and most important city commercially. It is the highest capital and large city in the world, also one of the most picturesque, both on account of its location at the bottom of a cañon, 1000 feet deep, and of its street scenes with the strangely garbed Indians and cholos, and the droves of llamas. The city has better sanitary arrangements than Quito, the narrow streets are remarkably clean, but some conveniences are lacking. There are electric lights and cars, but a meagre water supply, and too few opportunities for a bath. Good hotels are needed, the new “Paris” and some older houses being wholly inadequate for present necessities. The business of the city is largely in the hands of foreigners, i.e., the best shops, and some of the banks and importing houses. La Paz is the chief centre of trade of the country, the Custom House here transacting by far the most business, but supplemented by several others at the east and south.