La Paz is surprisingly modern in the architecture of its business structures. Most of the buildings are of brick, plastered over and painted. Many of its shops would be a credit to an American city. They are by no means mere country stores, but carry an astonishingly good class of merchandise, and many of the products of France and the United States are displayed for sale in the various shop windows. To leave the capital city, one must ascend by electric railway to the plateau, where is situated the railway depot. One may go directly south by rail all the way to Antofagasta, Chile, where steamer connections are made for Valparaiso. On this journey, one obtains a wonderful view of the back-bone of the Andes, traveling along a plateau averaging in height about 14,000 feet above sea level. The snow-clad summits of this mighty range of mountains are constantly in sight. There are few cities along the railway. Perhaps the most important of the Bolivian towns is Oruro, which is in the center of a very rich salt country, and as the railroad approaches the Chilean boundary there are rich deposits of borax and nitrate.
LOOKING DOWN THE ALAMEDA, LA PAZ
Many travelers experience all the terrors of soroche or mountain sickness when traveling on the high Bolivian plateau. The altitude is dangerous for some people, and in a few cases results fatally. One whose heart is weak should not attempt the journey, as it is trying even upon the strongest constitution, and such evidences of altitude as nose-bleed and dizzy spells afflict even those who are accustomed to high altitudes.
Sucre
During the cold winter months, many Bolivians descend the eastern slope of the Andes to Sucre, which has become a favorite winter resort for diplomatic representatives. Sucre is several thousand feet lower than La Paz, and its climate is somewhat milder. Lower down, toward the Brazilian boundary, there are tropical forests and a wild, uninhabited country where disease lurks; and here are great jungles and swamps, making human habitation almost impossible except for the aboriginal tribes, which seem to be immune to the fevers that infest this low-lying country. Among other important cities in Bolivia are Potosí, and Cochabamba, where there is an American school, a branch of the American Institute of La Paz. A number of young American men and women have voluntarily left home and friends and have gone to Bolivia to teach the youth of that country. The best families send their children to the American schools, and the Bolivian boys and girls are not only taught the English language, but they are made familiar with the history of the United States. It is the ambition of many of the sons of Bolivian parents to acquire the language, so that they may make their future home in America. The American teachers are unusually capable young men and women, and the standard of efficiency that one finds in the American Institute is a credit to the young people who have made the sacrifice of leaving home and living in Bolivia.
The military system is patterned after that of Germany, as the soldiers of the country have been drilled by German officers, and their influence is plainly evident in the familiar goose-step and the various manœuvers that one may observe in military camps. The Bolivian soldiers have not the fighting qualities of the Chileans, and in past wars have proved anything but a match for their neighbors to the south.
Lake Titicaca and Guaqui
In going from La Paz to Lake Titicaca, one travels over a level plateau, nearly three miles above the sea. Little or nothing grows at this altitude, and the few Indians living on this plain must have their food supply brought up from the valleys below on the backs of llamas. Other than mines, there is no inducement for even an Indian to make his home on this lofty plateau. There is no source of income other than working in some of the gold, silver and copper mines which abound in these altitudes.
