From Cuzco the tourist will return to Juliaca, the junction on the main line, where he should arrive in time to take the train at 6.15 p.m. for Puno on Lake Titicaca, a ride of an hour and a quarter. The time table should be carefully studied in Arequipa and the journey planned to avoid a stop-over at Puno. Should this occur, notwithstanding, one may look about the town, which, founded in the seventeenth century, is an important center of trade in alpaca and vicuÑa skins and wool. One may therefore inquire for rugs, as these either of white alpaca or vicuÑa are valuable souvenirs, also purchasable in La Paz. The shorter vicuÑa fur from the necks and legs is considered more desirable; though the longer is preferred by some. The rugs vary in price according to buyer and seller, as well as the quality of the fur, from 25 or 30 soles to 100 or more for a special order. In La Paz they are sold at from 40 to 80 bolivians each. Alpaca rugs are more rare and cost about the same as the better vicuÑas. They are quite double the weight. Llamas, sometimes called the camels of the Andes, are prized chiefly as burden bearers, though their long coarse wool is serviceable. The vicuÑa and alpaca are never used as pack animals, being smaller and of lighter build. The fine quality of the vicuÑa wool and its scarcity makes it expensive and desirable. A poncho or any other article of this wool is something to be valued. The Indians alone manage all of these animals successfully; though the vicuÑa is hardly domesticated. A profitable industry in which to engage would be the culture if possible of these animals for the wool. The llamas are of various colors, black, brown, white, and mixed; the alpacas are oftener black or white, the vicuÑas a tawny or fawn shade, fading almost to white on the belly. None of these animals have horns, and spitting is their only weapon of defense. They range mostly from 12,000 to 15,000 feet in Peru and Bolivia.

Puno is quite a town with a large plaza, several churches, many nice homes, a college, a hospital, and, in the vicinity, many ancient monuments; one famous round tower, called a chulpa, at Sallustani, of unknown origin, is by some believed to be a burial structure. Puno on the frontier of Peru is a meeting place between the two tribes, the Quichuas and AymarÁs, the latter, residents of northern Bolivia, while the Quichuas occupy the plateau region of the greater part of Peru and of the central and southern portions of Bolivia.

Lake Titicaca, halfway between Panama and Cape Horn, is on a great plateau more than two miles vertically above the level of the sea. About 135 miles long and 66 wide it has, with a very irregular outline, an area of more than 5000 square miles. Although at so great an altitude the waters never freeze, being slightly warmer than the atmosphere, the temperature of which in winter is often as low as 30° Fah. Snowstorms are no rarity. The glacier-covered mountains on the southeast have some effect upon the climate. A number of small streams flow into the lake which has a single outlet at the southwest corner, the Desaguadero River, 180 miles long, emptying into Lake Poopo. For a distance of 30 miles from Lake Titicaca the river is navigable for boats of 500 tons. So high that one Mt. Washington piled upon another would not rise above the surface of the water, and the loftiest mountain in the United States proper would appear but as one of the grassy hills around, this sheet of water, 12,500 feet above the sea, nearly as large as Lake Erie, is the most elevated in the world where steamboats regularly ply.

In the winter months, June, July, and August, it is quite dark before Puno is reached, but in the gloomy dusk one will have on the left glimpses of the Lake. At the Puno Station an animated throng will be waiting for the many who descend from the train; but the majority of first-class passengers, if it is the right day, will remain in the car for the half-mile ride to the docks, where they embark on a 1000 ton steamer for the sail to Guaqui in Bolivia. Formerly the steamer lay at the wharf until morning, the passengers sleeping on board. Then a delightful all day’s sail was enjoyed with continually charming views of deep bays, irregular hilly shores, rugged picturesque promontories and islands, and after a few hours, the splendid Cordillera Real at the east. Towards sunset, the line of snowclad giants, stretching from imposing Illampu to Illimani, presented a spectacle of extraordinary magnificence.

To those who delight in ancient myths and archÆological research, perchance to all who know the legend of Manco Ccapac and Mama Oclla, children of the Sun, it would be a privilege to call at the sacred islet Inti-Karka or Titicaca, now commonly referred to as the Island of the Sun, whence these two set forth on their wonderful mission and career. It was reserved for the fourth Inca, Maita Ccapac, to return with an army to this region, then entitled Collasuyo, and to reduce the people to submission; and for his successor, Ccapac Yupanqui, to complete the conquest. The Incas were greatly impressed with the more ancient monuments at Tiahuanaco, evidences of superior civilization; and on the island from which his ancestors were supposed to have issued on their beneficent, civilizing mission, Tupac Yupanqui erected a splendid palace and a temple to the Sun, the richest in his entire empire. A temple also was built to Thunder and Lightning, a monastery for the sons of nobles, a sanctuary for vestal virgins, and dwellings for his courtiers. The island is said to have been paved with gold and silver. A smaller island near by is called Coati from Coya, the Moon, wife of the Sun, where temples to the Moon were erected. On both islands many remains still exist, but to visit them is difficult, as the regular steamers sail direct from Puno to Guaqui, at the south end of the lake. These boats which were built in Scotland, brought up in pieces and here put together, have comfortable staterooms with electric lights and afford good enough meals. The curious native boats, the balsas, one must try to get a glimpse of near the dock at Puno, or in the early morning. These are made of reeds, which grow in the water near the lake shore and are bound together in rolls. The broad sails also are of reeds. After a while they become water-soaked, lasting only about six months. The boats are propelled from shore with a long pole. Before the coming of the steamships these boats transported much freight among the various lake ports, but are now little used except by the Indians who are adept in their management and seldom wrecked, though often severe storms suddenly arise. August is the month of best weather, though the coldest. Warm clothing and wraps are indispensable. Thunderstorms may occur at any time, especially in summer when waterspouts are not infrequent; but in my seven crossings the weather has always been good and everything comfortable; berth and meals are provided without extra cost.

Copacabana. In 1903 the steamer called at the town of Copacabana, on the west shore of the lake, where there is a far-famed shrine to the Virgin, once the richest and most renowned in all South America. The story goes that the image of the Virgin is the work of a converted Indian, who, ignorant and unskilled, from pious zeal devoted many years to the task. Aside from the face and hands, the entire image is covered with gilt upon which are colored designs so applied as to give the effect of an elaborate robe. The gold crown and the many priceless jewels with which the image is decorated possess a value indeed amazing to find in a town largely Indian in this remote corner of the globe. Candles are ever burning before the sacred shrine. Besides the church, a cupola on columns of Moorish style is notable. At the time of the great festival to the Virgin in July, this usually quiet town is thronged with Indians who come from all directions, a distance of 100 leagues. Mingled with Catholic ritual and ceremonies are primitive Indian rites and beliefs, and the religious exercises are followed by grotesque dances and songs, drunkenness and bestial excesses, as happens generally on the great feast days elsewhere among Quichuas and AymarÁs. In an earlier period there was here a city with accommodations for the pilgrims who annually came to visit the Temple of the Sun on Inti-Karka and to pay homage to the Inca. Pilgrims still come from Mexico and Europe to be healed. The tourist has now no opportunity to visit the place except by chance, or with an outlay of considerable time, trouble, and expense, by chartering a special balsa or by making use of the small coasting steamer.

One should rise early the morning after leaving Puno, in order to enjoy the imposing sight of the great mountain range from Illampu to Illimani, a distance of 100 miles. No more splendid vision, some maintain, may be witnessed on the whole round earth. As one beholds the glistening glaciers which, pierced by bristling ramparts of rock, in immense masses clothe the vast and towering peaks, with the brown plain and the blue waters of the lake as a contrasting foreground, it is difficult to realize that one is two miles above the sea and still within the Torrid Zone. After passing through a very narrow strait, the ship sails west into a considerable bay, at last along a narrow, artificial channel to the port of Guaqui near the southwest corner of the lake. It is a bustling place with plenty of Indian men and boys to assist in transporting hand baggage to the train 30 or 40 rods distant. A trifle bleak, maybe, in winter, exercise and sunshine promptly dispel discomfort. There is not much of Guaqui save the dwellings connected with the port and railway terminal. It has been growing with the increase in traffic ever since the opening of the railway in 1903; but its progress may now be retarded by the new railway from the Pacific recently opened between Arica and La Paz. Life on this desolate plain which might seem a dreary lot to many is yet enjoyed by civilized Englishmen and their families, who find the climate agreeable and are content in the possession of all essential comforts.

The cars for the journey to La Paz, 60 miles distant, are of ordinary American style. A seat on the left will afford the finer prospects, though at the start the hills on the right are higher. These are often covered with a thin coating of snow which at times spreads over the plain. Near the lake the land is well covered with brown bunch grass, good food for cattle, many of which with long rough hair may be seen from the car window. Trains of donkeys, mules, and llamas are often in evidence, and many Indian men and women, not very prepossessing in appearance, the AymarÁs, who are of more churlish manner than the Quichuas of Peru. Along the line are Indian villages and solitary dwellings of sun-dried bricks, the latter surrounded by thick walls of the same material, though walls of stone are used to separate the cultivated fields. Fifteen miles from Guaqui is Tiahuanaco, the seat of a wonderful prehistoric civilization. Beyond the railway station may be seen at the left great stones of a sacred enclosure, a mound showing evidences of excavations, perhaps a colossal statue. No time is given to examine these marvellous ruins, for which purpose one must make an especial excursion from La Paz.

After an hour or so the Cordillera comes again into view, when the great Illampu will excite profound admiration, until the Alto Station is approached. Two hours from Guaqui the train reaches the station Viacha, a junction from which a road leads south to Oruro, and the newer road west over the mountains, to the sea at Arica. Often there is here a long wait, which begins with much bustle and animation, women offering for sale fruits, rolls, and a variety of curious concoctions. The village is at some distance on the right; a church is conspicuous on a hilltop. A half hour beyond at the Alto Station another pause is made. The train is divided into sections and with a special engine attached the car proceeds in reverse direction. For a moment it continues on the practically level plain, but keep a sharp look out! Presto! You begin to descend and suddenly perceive that you have passed the brink of an enormous caÑon, its vicinity hitherto unsuspected, and you gaze in astonishment at the steep enclosing walls and far below in the distance on the red roofs of the city of La Paz more than 1000 feet beneath. A remarkable, astonishing, and delightful ride is before you. One wishes to look all ways at once, to admire the long curves of the winding track, the strangely carved walls of the caÑon, the troops of llamas or burros with their Indian drivers, the steep pathways up which they toil, the patches of bright green in the midst of the brown slopes, and the gradually approaching city. The descent is on the sloping head wall of the curiously carved oval basin, the sides of which appear in places perpendicular and converge at the farther end in such a way as to leave no opening visible, though an outlet is really there. The upper edge of this great basin is called the alto or height by the people dwelling below. Thus concealed in the very heart of the Andes is the unique city of La Paz, with its 80,000 inhabitants, over 12,000 feet above the sea, the highest capital on the globe, a curious, fascinating place, surrounded by these strange walls; while brilliant, snow-crowned Illimani, towering in majesty 9000 feet above, adds a charm comparable to that which the Jungfrau gives to Interlaken. But La Paz itself is as high as the shoulders of that glacier-robed Alpine summit; an altitude which in other regions signifies perpetual snow here bringing only a temperate clime, where flowers blossom in the open throughout the year, and the rare inch or two of winter’s snow quickly vanishes in the morning’s sunlight.

The railway down to the city, by many pronounced impossible of accomplishment, was opened in October, 1905, through the initiative and agency of Mr. T. Clive Sheppard, then Superintendent of Public Works. The road, 5½ miles long, has an average grade of six per cent with curves on a radius of 100 meters. The power is electricity obtained from mond gas, an explosive mixture compounded of coal gas, steam, and air, cheaper than either gas or steam; a consideration of importance where coal from Australia in 1908 was selling at retail for $50 a ton.

At the station are porters who for modest fees will transport to your hotel your baggage, both large and small. Big trunks they carry on their backs with apparent ease. Carriages may be at hand, costing one bolivian, 40 cents; or on the other side of the station an electric car, fare 20 centavos, first class, will soon be passing. This will bring you to the Hotel Guibert, half a mile distant, the oldest and best of the hostelries of the city, unless a new one, long promised, should be already completed. 20 centavos is an ample fee for the boy who takes a bag to the car or even to the hotel, and 50 centavos to the man who brings the trunk.

Of the early history of Bolivia, little is known. At the time of the Spanish invasion the country was under the sway of the Incas. These being overthrown, no resistance was here offered to the advance of Diego de Almagro, who chose this route for his southward march for the conquest of Chile. After this unhappy adventure Gonzalo Pizarro invaded the country; the city of Chuquisaca was founded (at times called Charcas, and La Plata), now known as Sucre. Quarrels among the invaders culminated in a victory near Cuzco by the Viceroy Pedro de la Gasca over Gonzalo Pizarro, who was put to death. As a memorial of the peace thus secured, La Gasca ordered Captain Alonso de Mendoza to found a city in the valley of Chuquiapu, where an Indian village already existed, and October 25, 1545, the first anniversary of the battle, the foundations were laid of a city named Nuestra SeÑora de La Paz. The city of PotosÍ had been founded a few months earlier, after the discovery of the wonderful silver mines which soon made the city and cerro famous throughout the world.

The country now known as Bolivia, formerly Alto Peru, was a part of the province of New Toledo granted to Almagro, who was beheaded after his party was defeated in a conflict with Pizarro’s forces near Cuzco, subsequent to his return from his unfortunate expedition to Chile. In 1542 the Viceroyalty of Peru was created with authority over all the Spanish American possessions. Under the Viceroy were later two Audiencias Reales, Royal Audiences, of Lima and of Charcas, the latter covering the former New Toledo and having jurisdiction over the provinces of TucumÁn, Paraguay, and Buenos Aires. The Audiencias were supreme courts possessing also executive functions, and were responsible to the Crown. The Audiencia of Charcas, created in 1559, had its chief seat at Chuquisaca, the site also of the bishopric of Charcas, and of the University of San Francisco Xavier, renowned in Spanish America for its learning, and ranking with Salamanca in Spain. La Paz became a Cathedral city in 1605, and Chuquisaca in 1609 was made the seat of the archbishopric of La Plata. Other cities were founded; explorations were made east and north of the Andes Mountains; the work of christianizing the Indians was prosecuted by the Jesuit, Franciscan, and other padres. At the same time great abuses were practiced upon the natives, who both in Peru and Bolivia were compelled to work in the mines, and suffered such hardships and cruelties as rapidly to diminish their numbers. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries there were many struggles and conflicts, chiefly between the native born Americans of Spanish ancestry and the rulers who were for the most part Spanish born; several insurrections occurring with intent to throw off the Spanish yoke. In 1776 the Viceroyalty of Buenos Aires was established, to which the Audiencia of Bolivia was transferred. In 1780 occurred an Indian rising instigated and directed by three brothers named Catari, for whose heads 2000 pesos each were offered by the Audiencia. Thus they were betrayed. The Indian revolt in Cuzco led by Tupac Amaru occurring about this time incited the Bolivian Indians to further efforts. The Indian Ayoayo with 80,000 men for three months besieged the city of La Paz until dispersed by an army from Chuquisaca. The town of Sorata was destroyed, but in the end, after 50,000 lives had been lost among the Spanish Americans and many more of the Indians, they were finally crushed.

Injustice and oppression had been the lot, not of the Indians only, but of the native born Spanish Americans, in spite of the fact that especially from Peru and Bolivia fabulous wealth had flowed into the treasury of Spain. The Revolution in North America was a warning, but the concessions granted were too late. July 16, 1809, conspirators at La Paz deposed and imprisoned the Governor and proclaimed the independence of the country, organizing a Junta of which one of the leaders in the movement, Pedro Domingo Murillo, was elected President. This insurrection deserves especial notice as the first effort in South America towards democratic government. A trained army sent by the Viceroy of Peru overcame the feeble opposition of a few patriots, and Murillo, January 29, 1810, perished on the scaffold; yet full of confidence he exclaimed in the words of another, “The torch which I have lighted shall never be extinguished.” Within a few months the Viceroy at Buenos Aires was deposed and an army from Argentina under General Belgrano met and defeated the royalists on the field of Suipacha. From this time on, there were various conflicts in which the royalists were usually successful; but the patriots, in spite of serious defeats, for years continued a persistent guerrilla warfare in which a large number of their leaders perished. The arrival of General San Martin with his victorious army at Pisco in Peru, and soon after the proclamation of independence at Lima, July 28, 1821, gave new hope to the Bolivians. The battle of Ayacucho December 9, 1824, having ended Spanish dominion in South America, January 29, 1825, just fifteen years after the first patriots suffered martyrdom in the plaza, the last Spanish authorities evacuated La Paz, which was occupied by the Independent Army of Alto Peru under General Lanza the same day. The victorious army under General Sucre, marching from Cuzco, made a triumphal entry, February 7, 1825, in the midst of wild rejoicing. With General Sucre acting as the prime organizer of the Republic, the first National Assembly met in June at Chuquisaca. The Act of Independence bears the date of August 6, 1825; the Republic was named for Bolivar, who was elected its first President, while Chuquisaca was made the capital under the name of Sucre. Nuestra SeÑora de La Paz became La Paz de Ayacucho. General BolÍvar, on his arrival in La Paz August 18, was greeted with unbounded enthusiasm. In November at Sucre he was inaugurated President, but resigned in January, 1826, to return to Lima. The troublous times which followed, continuing many years, must be passed over, up to the Chilian war. A quarrel arising over the collection of an export tax on nitrate, Chile sent troops to occupy Antofagasta, then Bolivian territory. Peru having previously made a secret treaty with Bolivia joined her in the declaration of war, April 5, 1879. As the allies were altogether unprepared, Chile was completely victorious and Bolivia lost what little coast she had previously possessed. During the last thirty years, however, internal dissensions have for the most part ceased, and with more stable government there has been successful development of the rich resources of the country. In 1898 trouble arose over the question of the seat of government, sessions of Congress having been held in several cities. Congress passed a law that Sucre should be the permanent residence of the President and Cabinet. The people of La Paz protesting, a Federation was formed and, after several engagements, General Pando, commander of the revolutionary forces, gained a complete victory, with the result that La Paz was made the real seat of government although Sucre retains the name of capital. General Pando was elected President. During his administration occurred the Acre boundary difficulty settled by the cession of considerable rubber territory to Brazil, in return for which Brazil paid Bolivia £2,000,000 to be used in building railways, while Brazil further agreed to construct the so-called Madera-MamorÉ railway around the rapids in those rivers, thus giving to Bolivia an outlet by the Amazon and ParÁ for her own rubber districts and for a large section of her territory. Under President Montes (1904-1908) a treaty was made with Chile according to which, in addition to bestowing a subsidy and other considerations, Chile agreed to build a railway from Arica to the Altos of La Paz, recently opened to traffic, and affording a shorter route to the Pacific than those by Mollendo or Antofagasta. During the administration of President Eliodoro VillazÓn progress has continued in other directions and especially in the development of railways. The road from Rio Mulato to PotosÍ has been opened and that from Oruro to Cochabamba will probably be in operation before the close of 1913; thus these two important cities are brought into better communication with the outside world. The Madera-MamorÉ Railway is already in service. President VillazÓn is now succeeded by former President Montes.