[CHAPTER X.]
RAILWAYS OVER THE ANDES.—FROM LIMA TO MOLLENDO, AREQUIPA, AND LAKE TITICACA.—THE CHINCHA ISLANDS AND THE SODA DESERTS.—UP THE ANDES BY STEAM.—IN A RAILWAY CARRIAGE FOURTEEN THOUSAND FEET ABOVE THE SEA.
Within the last twenty years Peru has made earnest efforts to connect her inland cities with the Pacific Ocean by means of railways. There are several private lines, the oldest being the short one connecting Lima with Callao; it was completed in 1851, and has paid handsomely to its projectors. Of the lines built by government there are seven in all; five of them are finished and the remainder are in course of construction (or suspension), with considerable uncertainty as to the date of their completion.
One of the unfinished lines, the Oroya Railway, starts from Callao, and is intended to connect that seaport with the silver mines of Cerro de Pasco, by a branch from Oroya, and to extend to Fort San Ramon, or Mairo, where it will connect with steamboats on the Amazon. It was undertaken by an American contractor under government guarantee; it has cost many millions of dollars, and many other millions will be required before the locomotive can make the journey from Callao to Mairo and Cerro de Pasco.
At the time our friends were in Lima the work was suspended, and Dr. Bronson learned, in answer to his inquiries, that the terminus was at an insignificant town among the mountains. Trains did not run regularly, as there was no business to pay the expenses of running them; the government was waiting for the country to recover from the effects of the war before proceeding with the work.
One day there was an opportunity to make an excursion to the terminus, about ninety miles from Lima, and the Doctor at once arranged for the trip. They were to leave the capital about nine in the morning, spend the night at the terminus, and return early the next day. The programme was carried out to the satisfaction of the wandering trio, as we shall see by referring to Fred's note-book.
DEEP CUTTING ON A RAILWAY.
"We ascended the valley of the Rimac," said Fred, "and in the first forty-six miles gained an elevation of five thousand feet. We had only two carriages in the train, but the locomotive puffed and tugged as though it was drawing three or four times that number. At every mile of our advance the route became more and more intricate; we passed through narrow gorges and along the brink of fearful precipices, and time and time again we seemed to be in danger of toppling over and falling into the abysses below. We were reminded of the passage of the Sierra Nevadas by the Central Pacific Railway, in our own country, and of the line between Colombo and Kandy, in Ceylon.