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