The route continues a picture of desolation, caused by volcanic upheavals and the erosion of countless ages. The Mendoza River, coloured by the various metals of the rocks over which it pours, tumbles along near the railway as both follow one pass after another. Las Vacas, Uspallata, La Invernada and other small stations are passed. About thirty miles before Mendoza is reached a change begins, and poplar and larch trees, alfalfa fields and the grape enliven the scene. Irrigation is utilized and the melted snows cause the land to bloom with remarkable fertility. At last the train runs into the creditable station of Mendoza, and the second stage in the transcontinental journey is ended.
THE CHRIST OF THE ANDES.
At Mendoza a change is made to the broad gauge trains of the Buenos Aires and Pacific Railway, which will carry the traveller over the remaining leagues of the journey. After leaving the irrigated lands of this neighbourhood, another stretch of miserable scrub land is crossed before the level pampas are entered. From there to Buenos Aires the route is over as level land as is to be found on the earth’s surface. Hour after hour the train rolls over these pampas, past small towns and through great stretches of grain and alfalfa. At last, after about a day and a half’s journey, the train enters the suburbs of Buenos Aires, and finally, with a shrill shriek, rolls into the Retiro Station, which is the end of the trip.
Grand and wonderful as is the ride through and across the Andes by railroad, the traveller has missed one of the most striking features of these solitudes. Almost immediately over the tunnel, and nearly three thousand feet higher, stands the famous statue, known as the Christ of the Andes. This statue was erected in 1904 as a symbol of perpetual peace between the two neighbouring nations. It was cast in bronze from the cannon of the two nations, which had been purchased through fear of impending war. Its location is on the new international boundary line that had just been established by arbitration. Near it is a sign with the words “CHILE” on one side, and “ARGENTINA” on the other side.
The figure of Christ is twenty-six feet in height. In one hand it holds the emblem of the cross, while the other is extended in a blessing, and as if uttering the one magic word “Peace.” On one side is a tablet with the inscription: “Sooner shall these mountains crumble into dust than the people of Argentina and Chile break the peace to which they have pledged themselves at the feet of Christ the Redeemer.” On another side is the inscription:
“He is our Peace
Who hath made both One.”
The Cumbre, as this ridge is called, is the highest point on the old trail. Travellers and baggage were transported over it by mule-back or in carriages, if the almost springless vehicles could be called by such a name, during the summer. It is a very zigzag trail up which the carriages wound, where as many as twenty twists and turns can be counted. On the downward trip the horses ran and jumped, until the timorous traveller began to have visions of disaster. Accidents were rare, however, and seldom was a vehicle overturned. Corners were turned on two wheels, with only a few inches between the outside wheels and the edge of the precipice.