Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1890-09-20
The Trials Of Travellers in South
America.
LA PAZ TO LAKE TITICACA.
Journeying Among b Andes In .
Four . Wheeled Carriage Royal
Roads as Monuments 20 the Incas-
System q Posts.
From The srAR's travelling Commissioners.

I'LL oHSo mOAcs 4htIc - uO way u VI
i. but that by which the early Spaniards
~a1D came. up, by zig gag windings, from
the sequestered valley of La Paz to the Andean
plateau and thence, following the old highway
OF the incas among tho mountains. to Lake
Ilticaca. small steamers ply between Chililaya,
a village on the Bolivian border of the lake,
and Puno, on the Peruvian side. Chililaya is
fifty-six miles from La Paz and a diligencia
runs between, making the round trip only once
a week, timed SO as to meet the regular arrival
and departure OF the steamers. The diligencia
is u numbering coach of the Oldest Concord
pattern, resembling an ark more than q car
rage, with four seats inside Of it and several
perches on top, which by tight squeezing can
De made to % from fifteen to
twenty passengers. The fare one way is IS for
each person. This, however, does not include
luggage, all of which must be sent the dav be-
fore to tile coach Office, where it is duly
weighed and charged for ut an average Of SO
per hundred pounds and is then sent on ahead
In freight wagons, when it is not forgotten.
CARE OF BAadAaE
Everywhere in South America. and especially
in these parts, tho tourist will do we'll to
keep a sharp eye on his own baggage. or the
chances are about ten to one that it may
be left behind. II no trunks are to be
found when you are ready to sail across
N N"NS = WI nc ptOkuSc ~ .
on the part OF the bowers that be and no end
OF assurances that the missing articles shall at
once be forwarded to your address. But don't
you believe u word OF it, though the promises
are probably made with the best intentions.
There being no check system there is no way
ofidentifying stray bags and boxes and the
employees are much too careless to be trusted.
Az any rate a great many things disappear
somehow on this short journey as mysteriously
and completely as though the earth had opened
/ and fhnD. h1,l a. - :.
made promptly at 7 o'clock, "a very early hour
IN this country, the accommodating officials
will not send the coach to your door, and there
fore the mountain must go to MahOmet. De-
spite the absence OF breakfast (Which you could
not possibly procure anywhere in Spanish
America before 1890 am. storms, cold,
sirroche, or whatsoever may betide. you must
hurry on foot up and down the steep and stony
streets to the dillgencia office, which is fully
three-quarters OF a mile from tho hotels.
THE TILLBURY.
Besides the stage there is another vehicle
that may be hired for private use, if ones
purse is long enough. 1t is called q 'Till-
bury" from the name of the English manu-
facturer and Is an odd cross between u double
phaeton and a Black Maria. A days use
OF it costs anywhere between $50 and 800.
according to the mood OF the owner and
the eXlgeucies OF the occasion. II your
need il great-such, for instance, as having
10 convey an invalid who could not posssi-
bly, endure the crowded coach-tbe high
est price will invariably be charged: but
II You are careful to display no eagerness
and are only a travel-stained pilgrim with
no indications OF wealth about you, you
may get the Tillbury for $50. 1t is a
two-seated vehicle and only four persons,
including the driver. are permitted to ride I'M
der any circumstances; therefore il your party
numbers three $40 apiece is not so bad. espe-
claliy as the carriage will come to your door and
its driver will conform somewhat to your direc-
tons in the matter OF going fast or slow and
the length Of stops. Think OF being whirled
over the Andes sitting at ease in a carriage!
We have crossed and recrossed these mighty
mountains In many places. generally on mule
back over perilOus trails, ana l am glad to tell
you that though grand and picturesque from
any point of view the Andes can nowhere be
seen with greater satisfaction than right here
on the easy road between La Paz and Chililays,
on THE ROAD.
The first three miles out Of the valley the
road is like a corkscrew, winding higher and
higher by SO sharp an ascent that frequent
stops must be made in order to allow the pant
ing animals time to recover breath, though
eight horses are to the coach and six to the
Tiilbury. When the plateau is reached at last
the view spread out beneath is more magn,f-
cent than tongue or pen can adequately de-
scribe, and one might travel the world over
without finding its superior. More than l. 500
feet below lies La PaZ in its narrow gorge, but
from this aerial perch nothing of it is visible
but an apparently fat surface of red-tiled roofs,
pierced here and there by trees and church
towers and curling columns Of smoke. On
every hand there are hills on hills, crowding
close upon the town, and beyond rise the Jagged
peaks OF the snow-capped cordilleras. Ii is
now nearly 8 O'Clock and the mists of morning
are rapidly rising. As we look the view is sud-
denly shut of 30 that the zigzag road IN
which We came seems to drop into a sea of
cloud. And thus we bid adios to the 'City Of
Peace"
THIS VAST ANDEAN PLAIN,
Of which Lake Titicaca is supposed to be a
part, lies at a mean elevation of 13, 900 feet.
and is $50 leagues long by IS leagues wide
q Bolivian league being nearly three miles
and a half. Instead of three miles according
to the measurement Of North America.
The broad road is excellent, though not even
drained. being neither wet nor dusty, and hard
Ms if macadamized. Part of it leads along
tho ancient highway of the incas, a wonderful
work, which still endures In good condition,
though constructed nearly eight hundred
years ago. Perhaps the best monuments left
by those people OF the past are their caminos
reales, or royal roads," which extended from
Cuzco, the capital, to the remotest parts of
their empire. One of them led to the sea and
the other, which is followed to La Paz, ran
along the crest of these cordilleras.
wv iOuSth vi DOtu Wltn
their branches being about four thou
and miles. Says a recent writer: I'm
contemplating them We know not which to sd-
miro most, the scope OF their projectors, the
power and constancy Of the incas who carried
them to completion or the patience Of the peo-
| pie who constructed them under all the obsta-
cles resulting from the topography OF the
country and from an imperfect means of exc
cution. They built these roads in deserts.
among moving sands rejecting the fierce RAYS
OF q tropical sun; they broke down rocks, graded
precipices, leveled hills and filed up valleys.
without the assistance of powder or Instrument
OF iron; they crossed lakes, marshes and rivers.
and without the aid of the compass followed
direct courses in forests of eternal shade. They
did, In short, what even now, with all of mod
ern knowledge and means Of action, would be
worthy OF the most powerful nations on tho
globe"
Up MOUNTAINS AND OVER MooRS,
In ascending mountains too steep to admit
Of grading broad steps were cut into the solid
rocks, while the ravines and hollows were filed
with heavy embankments fanked with para
pets and planted with shade trees and fragrant
shrubs. The royal roads, were from eighteen
to twenty-five feet vide and paved with
immene blocks OF stone. At regular distances
tambos were erected for the accommodation
OF travellers. Where rivers were to be crossed
bridges were constructed which, though
simple, we're we'll adapted for these rapid
streams that, rushing down from the Andes
at certain seasons, defy the skill of modern
engineers. Strong cables of twisted rawh,de
were stretched from one bank TO the other.
something after the style Of the great suspen.
| sion bridge At NiaQara- polas woro l.shAd