Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1890-06-28
CROSSING THE ANDES.
A Race With the Grip Among the
Towering Southern Peaks.
AMONG THE MOUNTAINEERS
Adventures in n Journey From Peru Go
Belivia-Primitivc Mode of Life-Dir.
fieuisics of Traveling-Wherc Horses
Cannot Live.
ldence Of THE EVENING STAR,

Ha interchangeable traveller which has nearly
circumaay gated the globe might some
how miss South America, but like thief in the
night 1t came, appearing simultaneously on
both sides of TIE continent. in Buenos Ayres.
Valparaiso and Lima, coon making sad havoc in
al. the coast cities.
stopping awhile in Arequipa. lovely old
city in eastern Perm. it happened ous day tina.
the whole garrison OF wretched soldiers fell
down as one man under the stern grasp of the
grip. Then we fed to Bolivia. the great but
almost unknown republic that lies cornerwise
between Peru, Brazil, the Argentine country
and Chill, in the vain hope that the disease
might expcrd its force near sea leyei aud not
cross the intervening cordilleras of .hs Andes
the seven successive walls, snow topped and
SKY piercing, with the deserts and great lake
that lie between.
RACE WITH THE GRIP.
Leaving the eternal summer of Arequipa in
the morning we took midday lunch in a snow
storm nearly $4,000 feet above the sea. and the
same night reached Puno the last town in Peru,
on the western edge of Lake Titicaca. at the
height OF about IL, 500 feet But the grip went
1dster than we, and two DAYS after we arrived
IN Puno that town was almost az bad as Are
quipa.
NlosS'uS Ldhe Iltlcaca. the nlgnest naTl-
RaD!e water on the face of the earth, as well as
the coolest. stormiest and most disagreeable
whose sacred Islands of the long dead Incas
yet show their ruined temples OF sun worship
ana moon worship, we came to La Paz. the
melancholy city, which is not really the capital
OF Bolivia though at present its seat of govern
nient fut one flne morning We awakened TO
the knowledge that fully seventy-five per cent
OF the clty's population were wrestling with
the scourgeI
There was but one way of escape, to run away
into the interior. beyond the borders of civiiza-
ton and almost beyond the haunts of man.
lnere Is but one such pathway leading out of
La Paz, except in tho direction from whence
Came the enemy, and that is to tho tropical
valley OF lungas, where raised most Of
BollVlas cocoa and coffee. fruits, wines and
sugar. An arriero or mueteer was quickly
engaged, who supplied mule for each person
and several for carrying our beds, provisions.
hampers and other luggage; a mozo or man
servant was taken In tow, and carly one morning
the flight into Egypt began.
But alas. The enemy from which we fed
went with us, in the throat of the arriero. The
second day out he developed the grip in its
worst form, which spec div ran into pneumonia.
We were compelled to leave the poor fellow at
farm house, after doing all that was possible
for his comfort, leaving medicines and money
with the people who took him in charge: but
IN little more than week he was dead.
MOUNTAIN ROAD.
The round trip between the cities of La
Paz and Chulmunani, the latter being the
capital of the department of Yungas, is a
distance of about 272 Yankee miles, reck-
oned by reducing the Bolivian league.
which is 6,l00 English yards. Though most
Of the products that are used in and ex-
ported from Bolivia come from the narrow
lunSas valley, and though the government
annually expends a large sum on the al
laUn1 fh, ALL, l.,
centuries Is mostly a narrow trail, cut
round and round the edges of the mountains,
sometimes zlgzaggIng to and fro over their
perpendicular faces, like the lacking OF ship
IN places where neither man nor mule could
walk, straight up like fly on the wall. But
few places are wider than barely to allow two
mules to walk abreast and many miles of it
compel slngle-hle professions. Horses are never
used on this journey, for they cannot survive
the rapid change between the regions of eternal
snow and perpetual summer. While a horse
might possibly reach the lowlands, il suffi-
ciently sure footed, ON the return he would
surely die of sirroche which In reality is heart
failure brought on by lack of oxygen in the
air. Mules are employed instead and the
sturdy little donkeys of the Indians hundreds
OF them being constantly on the road laden
with every imaginable commodity. Llamas
those strange animals that are found only in
the Andes, are also used as beasts of burden in
the mountains, but as they cannot live below a
certain elevation they are never seen near sea
level.
The wonder is that any road at all could ever
nave been made in these stupendous heights
On the first day out about eighteen miles from
La Paz and 1000 feet above it, the highest
point is attained, called Alto del Cruz, which is
2,40O feet higher than the very top of Pixies
Peak, or about IL, 900 feet nearer the stars than
you are at home. The ALTO" extends almost
on dead level for seven miles before grad
ual descent begins. At any time of year
the traveller away mp here Is apt to encounter
snow storm, the big round fakes that
look like hail melting rs they fall wetting his
garments through and through, while a sting
ing wind chills him to the marrow In addi-
ton to the usual program a thunder storm was
thrown in for our entertainment, lightning
playing in the clouds below and hol-
low echoes reverbcrating from peak to
peak. OF course our animals suffered severely
and were obliged to halt every few moments,
painting painfully, while We, between the wet
and bitter cold, had not breath to spare with
which to urge them onward.
A CHASTITY SIGHT.
To add to the general melancholy Of this most
desolate spot, we passed the body of dead
man lying prone across the road. with CLASSY
eyes staring up to the cherries sky. Whether
he had been murdered or had died from natu-
raj causes we dared not pause to investigate
for if the former the finders of the corpse
might be held for months in La Paz to give tes-
timony in the slow process of the Bolivian
courts. A number of Indians had lust dis
covered the unfortunate and to their care we
left him.
From time immemorial these lonely noun
tains have been infested with bands of high
waymen, who murder even the poor Indian
on his return to Yungas from the sale of his
little crop OF cocoa for the sake of the few dol
lars his half years work has gained. The In.
dian highwaymen, though less numerous than
those Of lighter color and more cowardly. are
much more to be dreaded for they do not
fight openly, but skulk like snakes behind the
rocks and throw stones at your head from a
sling with unerrlng accuracy Of aim. Their own
battles with one another are always fought
with stones and sings a la David and Co.
Hath and very seldom does an Indian fail to
bring down his man. Sometime after un-
usual atrocities have been perpetrated, troops
are sent out to hunt down the assas-
sins, and then for a time comparative
safety is insured. general robber hunt
had been made shortly before our journey,
in which large number was captured.
and, as soldiers were still continuing the
search, We had no occasion for fear. In the
prison at Chulumani we saw nine of the newly
captured banditti, three of whom were women.
and more Misunderstanding group it were
hard to find
SEEN ON THE ROAD.
On the first days ride from La Paz, though
one is unused to the saddle, the extraordinary
altitude and the terrible roads, SO miles must
be made to reach sleeping place, the only al
ternatlve being night in the open air. At in
tervais all along the uninhabited part of the
highway the government has caused places of
shelter for man and beast to be erected. Tbese
are called tambos Qfac-similes Of the misons of
Mexico) and each is in charge of n familv who