Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1898-04-30

item behind and Mr. Rudolph ID. Kauff-
mann, young American who lives here, ard
myself in front, We rode out from the shore
and wound for miles in and out over these
wonderful Peruvian sands which lie at the
foot of the Andes Now and then We
stopped to examine the black volcanic rock
with which much of the desert is covered
and again we went off to photograph the
travelling sand hills which | shall describe
further on. Since then ! have spent much
time on the desert. L have ridden for
miles over it on horseback, and have visit
ed the queer little towns which are found
in the short irrigated valleys which run
here and there through it. This desert
extends from the borders of Ecuador, 1000
miles southwark, along the Pacific coasts
of Peru and Chile 1t is as long as the dis
lance from New York to Salt Lake City,
and in place more than eighty miles
wide. I have seen something of the other
great deserts of the world. From the top
of the Pyramids l have looked over the
dreary white rocks and sands of Egypt:
l have sailed along the deserts of Arabia
in going through the Red sea, and from the
Mount of Olives have cast my eyes over the
bleak wastes between Jerusalem and the
Jordan l have Travelled extensively over
the dusty plains and rocky highlands OF
our western territories, and have had my
eyes daZZled by the aikali deserts of Mex
leo. This Peruvian desert is like nothing
else I'm the world It's formatio is a won
der to the average man.
How the Desert Was Made.
I can explain it best by saying that the
atmosphere forms the clothing of the
earth, and that old Mother Earth works
well only when her clothes are decidedly
wet. The mountains are great clothes
wringers, which squeeze the rain out of
the air and by the differences in tempera-
ture cause it to fall upon the land The
Andes kiss the sky at higher points than
any other mountains on the globe, with
the single exception of the Himalayas.
The direction of the winds which sweep
over South America is such that they all
come from the east. ] am now not far
from the equator as ] was a few weeks
ago. when l waded through the tropical
mud amid the dense vegetation of the 18TH
mus of Panama. The sun is continually
drawing up Vapor from the sea in front of
me, but the winds are carrying it north
ward and westward. and the air We have
is the cool, dry, rainleSS ozone which
sweeps down upon from the Andes. This
air started on from the west coast of Afri-
As it swept over the Atlantic il pump
ed itself full of water. and when it reached
the coast of Brazil it was well loaded. AS
it crossed the continent 1t dropped its
moisture, feeding the great rivers of lower
South America and covering the land with
tropical verdure 1t dropped more and
more as it climbed up the eastern slopes
of the Andes until when it reached the top
it left its last water there in the form of
snow. The result is that all of the water
that comes down to the west coast is from
the melting of the SHOWS. This is enough
to form river here and there through the
desert and it is in the valleys of these
rivers that you find the habitable parts OF
the coasts region of Peru and northern
Chile.
There is another habitabls region fur
fnfn nc "a al
two ranges of the Andes, which here run
almost parallel, and wild strip on the
eastern slope, which Will, by means of the
railroads Of the future, some time be one
of the most productive parts of the globe
Peru altogether is very large country.
II would make more than nine states the
size of New York. 1t runs from north to
south in the shape of great wedge, which,
if laid upon the surface of our country,
would go as far south as New Orleans, at
which point it would be about as wide as
the distance between New York and WASH
ington.
The Travelling Sands of Peru.
One of the wonders of this desert is its
travelling sand hills. Back of where now
am there are great mounds containing hun
dreds upon hundreds of tons of fine gray
sand. These mounds are always moving
onward under the influence OF the winds.
They are in the shape of perfect crescent
and their little grains, MOT 50 idISe dS d
mustard seed, are ever rolling up, up and
over the top of the crescent, going always
toward the north They climb over hills,
they make their way through valleys. as
uneasy but as steady in their march as
was the Wandering Jew. Here at Pacas-
mayo there is a railroad which crosses the
desert on its way up the Jequetepeque val
ley. When 1t was built the engineers
thought nothing of these sand hills, which
were far to the southwark. The sands,
however, are no respectors of railroads.
They moved onward and swallowed up the
track so that 1t had to be taken up and
relaid on the other side of them. In the
ride which I took on the hand car up the
valley I saw one place where a mound OF
sand containing some thousand of tons was
encroaching upon the track. A stream of
water from the river had been let In
through q ditch at the side in a vain at
tempt 70 carry away the sand, and men
were at work shoveling the dirt away from
the rails. As passed saw the sand COM
ing down In a stream like that Of thick
molasses. and could see that It was al
most impossible to conquer Il.
This morning ! went out and took photo
graphs of some of these moving hills
climbed to the top of one of them. expecting
to find myself sinking down to my neck In
the sand. discovered, On the contrary, that