MOLLENDO, TERMINUS OF THE SOUTHERN RAILWAY.
THE TOWN OF MOLLENDO.
From Yura, the ascent soon brings one to the region of the puna, and here very little vegetation is to be seen. Pampa de Arrieros is as bleak and barren as a plateau at an altitude of thirteen thousand feet always is; and the train speeds along for thirty miles with little change of scene until it crosses the Sumbay bridge and climbs up to Vincocaya and Crucero Alto. From Pampa de Arrieros, a magnificent view of the snow mountain Coropuna is presented, this lofty peak towering nearly twenty-three thousand feet above the level of the sea. The volcano Ubinas comes into view a few leagues beyond Vincocaya, just before the station of Lagunillas is reached. Lagunillas, or “Little Lagoons” is so called from the lakes of Cachipascana and Saracocha, which lie on the boundary line between the Departments of Arequipa and Puno, at an altitude of thirteen thousand six hundred feet, more than a thousand feet higher than Lake Titicaca. There are few signs of human activity at the smaller railway stations of the puna, only a few cloaked figures appearing on the platform as the train stops; but at the junction of Juliaca the scene is one of animation, and many enterprising venders congregate outside the car windows to sell their wares. The Indian women, in their short skirts and mantos, or shawls, and their flat, stiff-brimmed hats, present a curious spectacle to the foreign traveller. Their dress is very sombre, in contrast to the bright colors worn by the Indians of the lower sierra. In Puno, one sees both the Aymará and the Quichua Indians, these two races meeting on the shores of Lake Titicaca. The Aymarás are better sailors than their cousins of the lower valleys, and the native boats, or balsas, that ply the lake are usually owned by Aymará traders. The balsas are made of the reeds of totora which are found on the banks of the lake, and are so lashed together as to make the skiff water-tight and not easily capsized.
NEW RAILWAY BRIDGE AND OLD COACH ROAD BETWEEN SICUANI AND CUZCO.
A few months after the opening of the railway from Mollendo to Puno, two screw steamers, the Yavary and the Yapura, were launched for service on the lake, having been brought out from England in pieces, which were carried up to Puno with great difficulty and put together in the company’s factory on the lake shore. New steamers have since been added; the Inca and Coya, recently launched, have a capacity of five hundred tons, are lighted by electricity, and provide accommodations for a hundred passengers. The voyage from Puno across to Guaqui, the Bolivian port, is made in a day.
From Juliaca to Cuzco, the journey is one of constant and varied interest. Nature presents many aspects in snow peaks and sloping valleys, and on the plateau are to be seen herds of llamas and alpacas. At the railway stations, groups of Indians offer for sale curiously-shaped objects in pottery, and the brilliantly colored blankets of this region. The jars, water-bottles, and ornaments which they make are often highly glazed and wrought in unique fashion. Horses, bearing cavaliers of the time of Charles V., in full armor, are favorite ornaments, though there are also water-carriers and peddlers with packs on their backs, and market women of wonderful dimensions. Most of these articles are made to be useful as well as ornamental, serving as water-bottles, toothpick-holders, match safes, etc. As works of art these efforts are among the crudest, but they are made by the most primitive process and represent much patience and industry. At Pucará, these venders throng the station platform, Juliaca being more noted for its blanket weavers. The Indians are very industrious, and whatever load they may be carrying is never allowed to interfere with their spinning, which goes on all the time, the bundles being strapped on their backs so as to leave their arms free.
ANCIENT VIADUCT SOTOCCHACA, AYACUCHO.