In spite of the commonplace and stereotyped talk about the worthlessness of the aborigines and their laziness, all my observations led me to believe that the Bolivian Indians are an appreciable element in the economy of the State, and are capable of assisting the national development. In the puna, or mountain regions, where most of them are found, Nature has not been so prodigal that they can live without work. They do labor in the mines, in tilling the fields, in tending their flocks, and as freighters. Their endurance is remarkable.
But this native population is not enough for the development of the mines which may be expected during the next ten or twenty years. A mining population will have to be brought from other lands, and if not from neighboring countries, then from Europe, possibly Galicia, in Spain, and the northern districts of Italy. The white race endures the cold, and works in the rarefied air of the mines, 12,000 to 15,000 feet above sea-level, without serious impairment of its vital powers. I noted this from individual experiences and from what mining superintendents told me.
The Bolivian government has a very liberal policy with respect to immigration and the public lands. Hopes are entertained that a scheme of European colonization on an extensive scale will be inaugurated within a few years. This must come with the development of the chaco, or tropical prairie and forest region, which extends from the eastern slopes of the Royal Andes to the Paraguay River. Some of the chaco is swamp desert, and some is baked soil, covered with thorny scrub; but much of it is fertile, and the climatic conditions are not unfavorable. Several years ago the government granted a railway concession, known as L’Africaine, to the French Bank of Brussels, with the special purpose of securing the peopling of this region. The railway enterprise has not advanced rapidly. In time it may be carried forward and bring the chaco district into railway communication, not only with Santa Cruz, which is the tropical capital, but also with Sucre and the whole network of railways. Santa Cruz has encouraging possibilities for the European immigrant.
The agricultural region in the Southeast, of which Tarija is the capital, is now partly settled, but there is room for a much larger number of tropical farmers in that locality. In proportion as the mining population grows, colonization may be encouraged, because there will be the inducement to the agricultural production which supplying the mining camps will demand. There also will be an overflow into farming and pastoral industries.
The climate of Bolivia is so modified by the configuration of the country that more than a general statement is not possible. Lying within the torrid zone, the altitudes are to be taken into consideration as modifying influences. Fully 80 per cent of the population lives at altitudes above 10,000 feet, and not less than 60 per cent may be said to exist above 12,000 feet. That is the height above sea-level of La Paz, which is the largest city, and of the central plateau. The mean temperature between 12,000 and 13,000 feet varies in different years from 57° Fahrenheit to 59°. Above 15,000 feet it is 43°. The seasons, wet and dry, are of more consequence than the temperature. The central plain, the regions of the Cordilleras, and the chaco, are all in their climatic character hospitable to natives of the temperate zone.
There are three distinct climatic belts or zones in the Bolivian territory, according to the altitude of the respective regions. These are called yungas, or hot valleys; valles, or valleys; and punas, or cold lands. Cabecera de valle, or head of valley, is a subdivision of the main valley division. The puna brava is also a subdivision of the puna. The mean temperature and the production of the several zones are as follows:[17]
| Zones | Altitude | Mean temper- ature | Products | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vegetation | Animal life | |||
| Metres | C. | |||
| Snow region | 5,000 | 1.3° | Valerian and other Umbelliferæ | The condor or Andean eagle |
| Puna Brava | 4,787 | 6.4° | Cryptogamia | Llama, vicuña, alpaca, chinchilla |
| Puna | 3,614 | 12.1° | Stipa bromus, bacaris, bolax glebaria, ocsalis tuberosa, quenopodium | Cattle, sheep, horses, donkeys, bears |
| Cabecera de Valle | 3,058 | 15.2° | Wheat, vegetables, trees | Improved species of the same stock |
| Valle | 2,500 | 17.9° | Fruit-bearing trees, corn, pulse, etc. | All kinds of domestic animals |
| Yungas | 1,688 | 21.0° | Thick woods, coffee, cacao, sugar-cane, coca, rubber, cinchona bark, and fruits of all kinds | Puma, tapir, and birds of beautiful plumage |
17 Sinopsis Estadistica y Geografica de la Republica de Bolivia, La Paz, 1903.
The average annual rainfall is shown in the following table:
| Latitude | Temperature | Rainfall |
|---|---|---|
| C. | mm. | |
| 0 | 38.00° | 836 |
| 5 | 35.34° | 818 |
| 10 | 32.68° | 800 |
| 15 | 30.02° | 782 |
| 20 | 27.56° | 764 |
| 25 | 24.90° | 746 |