Evening star., 1898-07-23

are good mechanics, and as to bookkeepers
and clerks the markets are OVerstocked. 1t
takes a large amount of money to travel
here, and without proper supplies the hard-
ships are inconceivable | met last week
two Americans who had been prospecting
in the Benz region of Bolivia and in the
Carabaya district of Peru. They were the
hardest-looking Yankees l have seen and
their story was harder than their looks.
They had attempted to live off the country
and had had little more than cornmeal
mush for three months. Some of the time
they were almost starving, Notwithstanding
the fact that they had plenty of money
with them. For weeks they had to walk
through the rain and sleep at night with
out a fire in rude Indian huts. where at
times they were only admitted because
they forced their way in. There is abso-
lutely no chance for a man to make his
expenses as he goes along, and for try
ing to wash enough gold out of the streams
to support him, this is an impossibility, for
the surface waShingS and, in fact, all gold
bearing gravels that could be easily gotten
at have been worked over and over by the
indians, first in the days of the Incas. later
on when they were under their Spanish
taSkmaSters, and since then from year to
year for themselves. The gold regions on
the eastern sides of the Andes are in many
cases malarfous, and those about here are
so high that many cannot stand the rare
fed air and have soroche. No American
can work here as he can at home and most
of those who attempt to do so soon give it
up. AS to the roughnesS of travel here and
in the Rockies there is no comparison. The
passes of the Andes are over the ridges of
the mountains rather than through valleys
and passes of 5000 and II O0D feet are com
non. Mr.. Bellows told me he crossed the noun
tains in one place at 1900 feet and that
when he got to the top the other side SEEM
ed straight down. and his trim from there
on was like climbing down the side of d
wall. Some Of the roads over the noun
talns are by a series of steps, and mules
are trained to climb and jump up from
step to step. In some places the mules will
sit down upon their hind legs and slide down
the mountains. and you are often in such
a situation that if you or your mule makes
a mlsstep you are lost.
Troubles of the Miner.
Let US look at what it will cost the Or
dinary American to come here to mine,
We will suppose that his purse is lean and
that he travels in the cheapest way If
he goes by steerage from New York to
Panama it will cost him $50 and he will
need $50 more for his steerage passage to
Mollendo. 1t will cost him s22 for actual
expenses from Moilendo to La Paz, and
so far nothing whatever has been allowed
for extras. AT La Paz he must outfit, and
here everything is high. sack of flour
will cost him $11. He will find no baking
powder and no bacon, and he will have to
stock up with such canned goods as he
are that he will decide to live off the
country, and that his stomach will be turn
ed upside down as soon as he gets outside
OF the settled regicrs. What he will have
to eat if he can buy it will be cholona
This Is sheep, split and dried whole in
the sun. He packs this on his mule or
burrow, and it forms his staple food 1t
Is exposed to the rain and then becomes
soft. A terrible stencil rises from it. and
1t looks like putrid meat, as it really is
Another food that is a staple is chuno, .r
frozen potatoes dried. These are much liked
by the Indians, but are not relshed by for
eiEners. Outside of these two articles you
can buy nothing on the road. At the Indian
villages you may sometimes be able to get
VeSeta bleS, but no meats. Game is very
scarce. and there is little wood for cooking
except In the regions on the eastern slopes
of the mountains. There Is absolutely no
fuel for warmth in what are some of the
coldest of climates. If you carry an oil
stove you will have to pack along kerosene
Tor 1t, and this will cost you for the Peru
Wan variety more than 81 per gallon. Many
people cannot realize that it is cold in South
America i am wearing two suits of under
clothing at this moment and my feet are
in fur foot-warmer like that we some
times use when out sleigbing. I am only a
little over 1900 feet above the sea, in a
hotel built of sun-dried bricks Many of
the mining regions are 1900 and more feet
above the sea; there are no houses what
ever, and at certain seasons the winds OF
the Andes are damp. cold and bonebrea king.
The wind and sun tan you, and as a result
of my rides In the highlands my face and
neck are now the color of a boiled lobster
while my rosy nose is peeling off in scales.
l now wear the knit mask which the
natives wear on cold journeys. 1t is of
brown yarn and so made that 1t covers the
whole head, leaving holes for the eyes, nose
and mouth. 1t serves it's purpose, but 1t
makes one look very MephistopheleS
The rainy season is serious time for the
American prospector. The grass on these
high pampaS is of a soft, spongy nature. 1t
holds the water, SO that going over 1t is like
walking on wet sponges, and no boots can
keep your feet dry: Rubber cracks and
peels when exposed to it. In the gold re-
gions of the Benz river. where 1t Is warmer,
the rains are heavier, and the vegetation
Is so dense that at times you have to cut
your way through with machetes. Some
times 1t Is impossible to make more than
two or three miles a day. and in some re-
gions you find savage Indians who think
you are trespassing upon their territory
and treat you accordingly. Most of the
above evils. however, can be materially
modified II not removed If one has plenty
of money, and for such the opportunities
are, I believe, worthy of serious investi-
CATION. FRANK G. CARPENTER.
Sacred Concert.
From the New York Weekly.
Mrs. BillsOn (Sunday eyenine1 = a(yan,f