Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1890-10-25

| for Bolivia who was obliged to give 1t up
before the highest point on the road was
reached If fresh from an ocean voyage,
or after long residence near the level OF
the sea, the safer way would be to tarry
awhile midway, say at Areauipa, which
| has an altitude little less than 5000 feet,
in order to accustom ones self by degrees
to the oxygenless gas.
The traveller on this railway is con-
stantly reminded of that celebrated paint
ing called THE Heart of the Andes" and
realizes that he has found the very spot.
1t is always bitterly cold on the mountain
tops, and when, at Vincocaya, we pick our
way from the car to the Hotel Empress for
luncheon, in driving storm OF sleet and
snow, we console ourselves with the knowl-
edge that few hours more will bring us
down into region of perpetual summer
time, to the ever-blooming roses and soft,
warm sunshine of old Arequipa, the Inca
sPlace of Rest" Far as the eye can reach,
the soil Of the higher attitudes looks like
a vast bog, covered with patches of snow,
and short, coarse grass growing IN punches.
| As the storm increases TO a raging blizzard,
whitening all the landscape in a few mo-
ments, the domesticated llamas and alpacas
run to their corrals for protection, while
guanacos, vicunas, and other wild creatures
huddle together to keep warm, or skurry
away to sheltered gorges known only to
themselves. Undoubtedly those flour
sheep of the Andes" belong to the same
family, the alpaca being cross between
the llama and the sheep, and the guanacos
between the vicuna and the llama.
In some parts of Peru, Bolivia and Chile
guanacos are as common as goats in Swift
erland. The animals body is somewhat of
the greyhound build, being very narrow in
the loins but deep in the chest. 1t is COW
cred with long hair, exceedingly soft and
fine, pale yellow, shading to white under
meath combined with the strength and
endurance of the llama, it has all the
characteristics of the North American
deer, being as graceful, and feet-footed, and
! its flesh is much like that of the antelope.
! Their skins like those of the vicuna, COM
mand a high price in Europe, where they
are in great demand for carriage robes,
cloak Innings, etc.
In their wild state, the animals roam in
flocks, and one of the herd always stands
on guard. If danger threatens he gives
the alarm by stamping his feet, and swift
indeed must the pursuer be who can over
take them. They abound in great num-
bers in the less thickly settled portions OF
Southern Chile, and that part of the Ar
gentine Republic which used to be Patago-
MIA, where they furnish the principal sport
of the people Every hunter who can
afford it keeps pack of dogs trained espe-
cially for this chase The men stalk" the
game with greatest care, and sometimes get
near enough for a shot with their rifles;
but it oftener happens that the timid
creatures decline so close an acquaintance
with their natural enemy, man. If qua
naco is found grazing singly on the plain,
the chance of getting him is very small;
but when the herd is pursued, each ami
NAL tries to crowd himself into the center
for greater safety, thus considerably re-
tarding their speed by the confusion that
ensues. 1t is amusing to note how well
the dogs understand this trick, and while
crazy to pursue flock, they look with in
difference upon the solitary guanaco or
vicuna.
What is known as "bezoar stone" is oc.
| casionally found in the stomach of one of
| these animals, and to possess it is consid-
cred the greatest kind of good fortune, its
magical virtues exempting the lucky indi-
viduai who carries it in his pocket from
most of the ills to which flesh is heir.
Alpaca and vicuna wool closely resemble
one another, both being very fine and val
liable. Large quantities Of it are exported
to England, and little goes to the United
States. The coarser wool of the llama is
from six to eight inches long, and single
fleece often weighs as much as twelve
pounds; but it is seldom sheared, the ami
nal being most valuable as a beast OF bur
den in attitudes where horses and mules
are useless.
Not a great way from Vincocaya the
road passes between two brackish lakes, both
higher up than Titicaca, named respect
lively Saracocha and Cachipascana. They
are splendid bodies of water, blackened at
all times of year by wild duck and other
fowl; but whether they are navigable or
not nobody knows, nor is it matter of
much consequence in this uninhabited re-
gion. For miles we run along the banks Of
river fed from the clouds, where droves
of laden llamas, driven by Indians, are as
much feature of the landscape as camels
in Arabia. Though long stretch of this
''land of the sky" is exceptionally rich in
water and pasturage flor Peru, where the
face of the earth is mostly covered with
dry sandy, the cold prevents anybody from
living here Away up where nothing
grows, many fantastically-shaped rocks are
seen, as if the Titans of the Andes had
their halls of statuary in these solitudes.
As we slowly descend to lesser nights
the great mountain, "Misti," which stands
behind Arequipia, seems to come Hospitality
forth to meet US. Though only Is, $50
feet high, this inactive valcano is one of
the most beautiful in all South America
being a cone of perfect regularity crowned
with snow during most of the year, while
eternal summer reigns at its feet. Close
by Misti, apparently, but in reality sepa-
rated from it about seventy miles by the
plains of La Joya, is another snow-topped
sentinel called Coropuna, nearly $4,000
feet high. Then there is Charchani, a
little north of Misti, about $4,000 feet
high; Pichupicha, to the southwark,
II, 800 feet, and FL Ubinas, only 10000
feet, whose latest eruption occurred late in
the sixteenth century.
But Misti is grandest of all, though 5000
feet nearer to earthly things than Coro-
puma, probably because the beauty OF Its
cone is not detracted from by too near
neighbors. Many wild tales are connected
with this mountain, some of them an out
growth of Indian superstitions. The
Aymaras and Quinchuas, who come down
from Puno and above to Arequipa, if COM
PEELED by business to remain few days in
the lower attitudes, which affect them as
unpleassntly as the nights do us, invari-
ably 90 with their llamas away up into
the wild recesses of Misti to 'rest them
selves" as they say, and also to perform
some unknown religious ceremonies.
Not great while ago, two young Eng
lishmen, residing in Arequipa, undertook
to explore Misti, actuated purely by spirit
of adventure and also to discover posi-
bic trail which might be followed to the
other side and thus save the customary
Il 30