Omaha daily bee., 1898-06-26

Biographies. They tell you 1t lies in the
Andes, about half way between the 18TH
mus of Panama and Cape Horn, l2,5oo 1eet
above the sea. They represent the lake as
oval in shape and state that it is 40 miles
long. ffty-seven miles wide and that 1t has
an area of 1000 square miles. Some OF these
statements are true. Others are all con-
lecture. The lake has in reality never been
carefully surveyed. 1t has great bays which
have never been sounded and it winds in
and out in places like a river, giving q sue
~cession of beautiful scenes of islands, noun
tains and coast. In crossing from Peru TO
Bolivia we sailed a distance of ITO miles
over water which was In many places, the
captain said, more han 1000 feet deep. Lake
Superior has, l believe, an average depth
of something like 600 feet. Some parts OF
the bottom of Lake Titicaca have never been
reached and the captain told me that II he
should land upon certain parts of Titicaca
island he would lave to cast his anchor
high upon the rocky shores, as the waters
which wash them are so deep that the crap
ping hooks could not reach the bottom
Think of a body of water like this at an
altitude of more than two miles above thf
sea. Let it be more than 300 miles from
the ocean in a basin which next to Thibet is
the loftiest inhabited plateau of the world
Remember that you must cross a mighty
desert and climb on the railroad over a pass
which is nearly three miles above the sea
to get to 1t and you will have a slight idea
of the wonders of Lake Titicaca. You mus
add, however. that while 1t is fed by the
SHOWS and glaciers of the Andes, 1t has
itself no visible outlet to either ocean. Nine
rivers flow into 1t, but only one carries of
any part of its waters. This is the Desa'
g~uadero, which connects 1t with it's little
sister lake. known as Lake Poopo, which liei
about $50 miles further south in this sam,
Bolivian plateau. The Desaguadero has II
this distance a fall of 500 feet. 1t is n rush
ing turbulent stream large enough to bt
navigated by steamers for a part of its
length. 1t carries off a large volume o.
water, but Lake Poopo has no outlet to The
sea, and Notwithstanding this drain LAX
Titicaca remains at the same level whether
the season be wet or dry. year in and yea
out.
Steamers of the Heavens.
The steamboats, which sail upon Lake I'll
ticaca might be called the steamers of tn,
heavens. They sail at times in and out o
the clouds and they are nearest the SIX,
of any craft on earth. Think of lifting al
iron ship of 600 tons over a pass highe
AhAI u AbPIui inc . itdhs II 10 VIA
was done with the steamer Choya, upol
which l am now writing. The ship wa
made in Scotland and brought to Mollend
in pieces. Here it was loaded upon tn
cars and carried over the Andes to Pune
1t was there put together and it now sail
as well and furnishes its passengers Wit
as comfortable accommodations as an
steamer of its size In American waters. !
is as beautiful as a gentleman's yacht an
II can make twelve knots an hour withou
trouble. 1t is propelled by a screw and It
fuel is Australian coal, which is brough
over more than 1000 miles OF water an
lifted on the railroad over the Andes I
Puno, at the edge OF the lake. BY the tim
the coal reaches the ship it costs abou
s25 in gold per ton. but the traffic on tn
lake is so great that the steamers, / al
told, pay for themselves many times owe
A large part OF the freight OF Bolivia goe
to the markets OF the world via Chililay
and Puno over Lake Titieaca and the rail
r road TO the seaport Of Mollendo. Cargo