The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1898-06-19

Description of the LOftIest Scien-
tIfc Station of the World--It Is
on the Top of Mount NIisti, a Mile
Higher Than Pixies Peak-A
Ride Up the Andes Over the Most
Expensive Railroad ON Earth
Life and Love I'm the Capital of
Southern Peru-A City of Vaults,
Iron Bars.
Copyright. 1898, by Frank G. Carpenter.
PUNO, Peru, June Al write this
letter in the attic Of the South Amer
lean continent. l am in the heart Of
the Andes mountains, on what, with
the exception of Thibet, is the Hottest
tableland of the globe. At my feet is
the western shore of Lake Titicaca
the highest water OF the earth upon
which steamboats, sail, and looking
down upon me is the snowy peak of
1llampu, which next to Aconca qua In
Chile, is the highest of the Andes. Dur
ing the past week 1 have been travel
ing among the most wonderful noun
tains of South America, and l am now
IN a region which has not its counter
part upon the planet.
Here and in other parts of the noun
tains of Peru are the highest places
where people live. During my trip up
the Oroya railroad 1 found a village
Of about 200 souls at an altitude of
more than three miles above the sea
There is mining camp in the Pc
ruvian Andes which is more than 10000
feet high, and in crossing the desolate
plain known as the Pampa de ArrieroS
I stopped some time at Vincecya,
where there is a locomotive round
house higher up in the air than the
top of Pixies peak. In coming here /
travelled for two days over one of the
steepest railroads of the world, and
now, at a distance of more than 800
miles from the Pacific, I am on the
great plateau which lies between the
two ranges of the Andes, varying in
altitude from $4,000 to $1,000 feet above
the sea.
1 am hundreds of miles south of the
point where l crossed the great noun
tains from Lima, and in a region where
the Andes are more grand than at apy
point in the 1000 indies of their length
Think Of mountain which towers up
into the skies so that its ragged,
snowy summit Is four miles above the
level of the ocean. Imagine, if you
can, others which are over 10000 feet
high. Make a wall of such mighty
hills and paint them in the wonderful
colors, shades and tints of the Andean
skies, and you can get a faint idea of
my surroundings. have with me many
books upon South America, but I fail
10 find in them any descriptions of the
scenic eHects of these mountains. This
Is the region Of all others for the art
ist, and as yet no great artist has at
tempted to transfer these wonderful
pictures to canvas.
PICTURES FROM THE ANDES
My trip over the Andes was a con-
tinuous panorama. Let me give you
my notes of the scenes along the route
as Jotted them down on the way. I
Desln at Mollendo on the Pacific ocean.
1t is a ragged town on the ragged coast
of-the Peruvian desert The ship lies
out in the harbor and the surf rolls in
With great force. striking the rocks and
sending its diamond spray fifty feet
upward into the air. The harbor is
rougher than that of Jaffa. and NV
baggage is lowered into a bounding
boat over the side of the steamer. I
have to jump into the boat when II is
on the crest of the waves. and 7 feel
my stomach rise as I sink down into
the deep The landing is so bad that
men and baggage are often thrown into
the water, and l am told that the in
surance companies always charge ONE
enghth Of one per cent more on all goods
shlpped TO Mollendo. I am rowed to
the shore by brawny, cofTee-colored
poatmen through huge rocks. Now we
run into lighter which is bringing
1u- cargo Tor the steamer and are near
~ S GaPsized., Now we Craze a great
pOuluer, and at the wharf I have to
Jump when the boat is on the crest of
wave to get a footing on the steps.
MY baggage cannot be landed except
by means of crane, and I paw four
men two dollars to carry NV heavy
trunks up the hills to the custom house
"A little later on I am seated in the
car on my way to AreqUipa, which,
though only about 100 miles from the
coast, is higher up in the air than
mount Washington Our train first
skirts the coast, and then shoots off
into the bare hills of the desert There
Is not a shrub, not a vestige of green
we climb up a per cent grade, wind
ing ABOUT IN horseshoe curves. At
places we see the tracks over which
we have passed running parallel with
but lar below us. Now we are on g.
slde or the mountain facing the ocean
Inc sky-blue Pacific, hazy and smoky.
stretches out towards the west suntii
It's delicate blue fades into that of the
SKY. A patch of reddish gray sand
sklrts the foot Of the brown velvet
hills, and this is divided from the sky-
blue water by the silvery strip of surf
which is dashing it's waves unon the
shore. The scenery changes at almost
every turn of the wheel There is no
place where nature clothes the earth
IN such royal garments as here. At
times the Andes are great masses of
blue and brown p1I1Sb
The clouds of the sky. thoueb of .
heecy whiteness, paint velvet spots If
many cclorS upon the hoary hills ans
at times 1t seems as though all the ink
bottles Of the heavens had been scat
tered over the mountains. At other
times the sun tints the mountains with
the most delicate blues, which fade INFO
nghter tints of blues in the distance till
the whole horizon seems billoWy. wa
wing sea of blue busted with silver
Which meets and loses itself in a silver
plue sky. Winding in and out among
such nils, We rise to great desert
known as the Pampa de Islay. Here
everything is gray and dazzling white
there are hundreds Of huge mounds of
moving sand which are travelling slow
~ but surely over the plain.
There tons of bleaching bones of ami.
mails which have died in trying to cross
Inc desert waste, and the only appar-
ently living things are the mirapna
which now and then deceive the travel
er with the Idea that they are coo,
lakes, inverted cities or GASES of vege-
tatlon near at hand. AT the little tow,
OF Iltor' mile above the ocean. we
49,, .ne emu OF the pampa and again
begin to ascend. We are again in "a o.
geo hills. and soon are travelling amono
the clouds. We pass through deem ont
lungs IN the mountains and end the Arc,