VIEW OF THE VALLEY BETWEEN SICUANI AND CUZCO, SOUTHERN ROUTE.
All the railways projected and under construction to connect the Pacific seaports of Peru with the Amazon tributaries are of political as well as commercial importance, as they will serve to unite in closer bonds the people of the coast, the sierra and the Montaña, hitherto so remote from one another as to have few interests in common, except such as tradition and sentiment have preserved.
The port of Paita offers many advantages as the Pacific terminus of a railway to the Amazon waterways. From Paita to Puerto Limon the distance is only four hundred miles, and from Puerto Limon to Pará it is nearly three thousand miles. At present, most of the commerce of the Montaña is carried down to Pará over the Amazon and its tributaries, and many of the river routes are even longer than that from Puerto Limon. It is estimated that the railways between the Pacific coast and the Amazon will not only provide much more rapid transportation, but also a more economical service.
The railways of the coast have been extended during the past four years both longitudinally and in the direction of the sierra. From the port of Tumbes a line was recently completed to La Palizada and the landing-place of the port was improved by the construction of a steel pier eight hundred feet in length. The Pacasmayo and Yonan railway has been extended to Chilete and Cajamarca, to afford an outlet for the cereals and other products grown in those sections of the sierra. From Chimbote to Huaraz and Recuay one of the most important of the coast railways has been built. A line is projected to run direct from Cerro de Pasco to the coast, with its seaport terminus at Huacho, the concession for its construction having been given to a North American capitalist. An important new railway connects the port of Ilo with the city of Moquegua; it was completed during the last months of President Pardo’s administration. Along the shore of the Pacific, a railway has recently been completed from Lima to Huacho on the north, and another is under construction from the capital to Pisco in the south.
Not only has railway construction received a great impetus under the energetic and progressive government of the past few years, but the public roads of the country have been extended and improved, new bridges have been built, new wharves constructed in several ports, and greater attention paid to commercial facilities than ever before.
SOUTHERN RAILWAY STATION, AREQUIPA.
LLAMAS OF PUNO EMBARKING ON A BALSA, LAKE TITICACA.