The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1898-06-26
ABOVE THE CLOUDS.

tin I'd tEe Dezagsadsso river from the
rIch Mining region % Csruro. The TIticaca
s1ea .net Ace vas founded by tee Peruvian
soVassaeT. a. part u ~ trahsssoz, atio-
SYSTEM, wfgfeh, as / have said before, was
tie Yncst expensive eEer Planned CT built
TIE frat steamers cost more than their
ssight - silver. They Mere made in Eng
land and shipped 70 the Peruvian coass.
ard tEeuce carried or me b& Es q men
ard mules over TIE AIDES i was Ten
years after he ships acre landed on TIE
coass before they -. 10 the .ak@s and the
ErZi.sh engineers dsey salaries during ire
delay w1l.e 61ss3ag the job. One &c ne
largest ships vas after ARD cuI II tao
ana a section Of hull Etty feet long III
serted This work vas done by the raj
road shops AZ AFeagipa. AID the snip 50
Enlightened Is used On The AXE c0day. TIE
smaller steamers ply 10 and fro from the
lesser ports They visit GSost % th@ towrs
upon the coast and carry freight and pas
seugers 10 the numerous .slancs
The Sacred Isles of Lake sritieaca.
Lake TYtcaca has many beautiful isl
ands, The most OF them are rocky. ragged
mountain peaks which have thesr bodie.
under the water and thin coating or soil
on the rocks above II. Eight OF the isAuGs
are Inhabited. and these are cultivated 20
the very tops II the mountains Ii the
United States could be as carefully titled
as the parts of Peru through which / have
Travelled, where every available bit % land
Is used. Il would. I believe. furnish enough
food for all OF the people OF the world and
leave enough grain to giut the Chicago
markets during corner on wheat.
Patches Of soil as big d bed quiIt are
surrounded with STONES and carefully tiled.
BIS Of land between the rocks are green
with scanty crops OF potatoes. barley and
guinea, which are about the Only things
that will grow at this altitude. and You
see people working on the sides Of hills
where they almost have 10 hold on with
one hand while they use the rude little
hoes Of this part OF the world with the
other. This Eruhbing FIR "A bare existence
goes on over the greater part Of the pIa-
teau In which Lake Tt:caca lies Il Is the
plateau whica formed the chief center Of
the Inca civilization which prevailed here
when the Spaniards came. Lake Titicaca
VAS the center of civilization genera
tons older than that of The Incas, and
upon It's shores still stand ruins 50 old
that the Incas could not tell the Span
iards anything about them. and Only said
mat the mighty monuments were made
by a race OF giants who lived about this
lake before the sun appeared in the heav-
ems. These ruins are those which lie near
the little town of Tiahuanaco. They cover
an area OF about three miles. and consist
OF the remains OF massive walls. terraeed
mounds ana the ruins Of a great edifice
which Is sometimes called the temple
This building covered about four acres,
and il was made of great blocks of black
stone, each thirty inches thick The
stones. like those OF the famed buildings
Of Cuzco, were fitted together without
mortar, and were 50 carefully laid that il
was impossible to .nserI a knife blade be-
tween them From these ruins some of
The most curious archaeiog. cal relies have
been taken. many OF the most valuable
having been secured by Prof Adele Ban
doiier. who Is spending his life in this
region as the collector for the New York
Museum,
Prof. Bandoiier has made many new dis
coyeries and Investigations ab0u. Lake
Itticaca, ana he Is Inclined to believe nat
the most OF what has been published
about some parts Of this region Is almost
pure fiction. He has spent months unon
TItcaca island. which some authorities
claim was the Garden OF Eden Of the Inca
mythology the spot on which their Adam,
and Eve first lived upon earth ard from
which they started out 10 fouod C,uzco
and build up the race. According TO this
theory our first parents were the children
u the sun. There were two OF them.
Nance Capac and Mama Oello. his sister
"iie. on TINS account. so says Squer,
Who Is one OF the authorities on Lake TIT
AGA, the Incas considered this lake and
specially Tsticac2 island holy. They built
tAe.r temples here had wonderful palaces,
and even brought soil 70 the island fro1,
The mainland IN order that corn might he
grown upon the is'aNf. This corn -,
says one Of the old chroniclers. who Prof.
Bandolter thinks had n very lively imag!-
nation, was considered SO sacred that
when grain OF it was put in one OF the