The following cities should be visited:
| Population | |
|---|---|
| La Paz (the capital) | 85,000 |
| Cochabamba | 35,000 |
| Sucre | 30,000 |
| Potosi | 28,000 |
| Oruro | 25,000 |
| Santa Cruz | 20,670 |
| Tarija | 10,000 |
| Tupiza | 5,000 |
Bolivia may be reached via the three cities referred to, namely Mollendo, Antofagasta and Arica, these places being ports of call for all vessels. Both the Peruvian and Chilean steamship companies, as well as the European lines, touch here also. It is to be expected that some of the larger lines from New York will arrange a service passing through the Panama Canal and calling at these places, thereby saving the long trip around the Horn, or the trans-shipping at Colon and Panama.
VIII
PERU
Recent archæological finds warrant some authorities in claiming Peru to have been the home of a highly civilized and cultured people 25,000 years before Christ. The race which inhabited the land then were the Chumus, the progenitors of the Incas, whom Pizarro found when his expedition arrived in Peru from Panama in 1532. The Incas had a socialistic form of government, were able engineers, good surgeons, noted agriculturists and really a wonderful people. The treatment of this docile and intellectual nation by the invading Spaniards is one of the darkest pages of history.
Francisco Pizarro founded Lima, the capital of Peru, in 1535, was appointed by the Crown governor of the newly acquired territory and was assassinated in front of his palace in 1541.
The great wealth which Peru, through her rich mines, contributed to Spain, warranted that country in making this possession a viceroyalty, the viceroy at one time governing all Spanish possessions in South America from Lima.
The movement for independence from Spanish control, started early in the last century, found many adherents in Peru and after several reverses the yoke of Spain was thrown off July 28, 1821, a congress organized in 1822, representing a republican form of government and the first president inaugurated in 1823.
In 1879, over a question of boundary lines, Peru became involved in a war with Chile, lasting five years, the result being the defeat of Peru and the invasion of its capital. As a consequence, Peru ceded one of its richest provinces, Tarapaca, outright to Chile, and the territories of Tacna and Arica conditionally for ten years, at the end of which period a vote was to be taken in these provinces, and the inhabitants were to decide under which country they preferred to remain. The Chileans, despite the repeated requests of Peru, have failed to observe this condition of the peace treaty and these territories with all their wealth still are under the control of the conquerors. The methods employed by the Germans in Alsace-Lorraine have been used here by Chile, and the chances are that this district will always remain in the hands of its present governors.
A President and two Vice-Presidents, together with a legislative body of two branches, a Senate and a House of Representatives, control the destinies of Peru.