Arizona weekly journal-miner., 1900-01-24
FROM FAR AWAY PERU
A Former Resident of Prescott Writes Very Interestingly and EntertainingIy of His Ex-
 perience in South
 America.
Scaling the Andes Through a Cold Dismal and Desolate Country and Suddenly Dropped
 Into a Tropical
 Jungle.

The following private letter re- gently received here by citizen of Prescott has been very kindly placed at the disposal of the JOURNAL MINER by the recipient. It was written by William S. Steele, who left Prescott last September in company with several others for Peru. It was dated at Santo Domingo mines, Peru, and of number of letters which have been received from members of the party who left here this will be found most interesting and instructive:
 My last letter to you I wrote from TIrapata, Peru, on the "Harry Meigs Railroad" October 10, I think. The 11th of October we left that station for the Santo Domingo mines, l50 miles further inland; 100 miles we made on mules, and the fifty on foot, the last end being too steep for animals to carry and pack over-that part of the road all goods are carried on the backs of Indians and "Llamas." You can i'm agine what it costs to get stamp mill, for instance, into such coun- try, say nothing about provisions and material to operate a mine. From Tirapata Elevation 12,000 feet) we struck out east, northeast, into the heart of the Andes, rising gradually over country without a stick of timber growing in it, noth- ing but coarse sour grass, hardly any inhabitants, occasionally az h. dian town, cold, dismal. desolate country, the home of the ''Llama" and Alpaca" a few cattle and sheep once in a while. until finally we reached the pass we had to make to reach these mines, the summit of the Andes mountains, where, at an elevation of 16,500 feet, with eternal snow on all sides of us, we dropped over from the Pacific slope to the Atlantic. It was like dropping down into the middle of the earth 10000 feet in seven miles. Ire mendous canyons cut into the mountains on the east side-streams, regular torrents, water falls 1000 feet in height, over vertical cliffs Such scenery 1 never saw anywhere before-beyond description. From country without timber or brush, cold and where it seldom rains, we dropped suddenly into a regular tropical jungle. A person cannot go any place off the regular beaten trail or trails cut through the jungle, all manner of tropical vegetation, monkeys and parrots oi all kinds, birds of brilliant plum age and where it rains 36O days out Of the year. This is the ''dry sea- son" so-called, and it has rained every day since we have been here Don't know what it will do in the wet season." We are at an eleva- tion of about $500 feet and 1t i: healthy, no fever, no change i'll ell mate, good water to drink, but wet "oh, boysl" Seventy five miles from here one gets down out of the hills into the tropical South America country proper-bad water, sickly flat, snakes 25 feet long, boas, etc Here there are few wild animals Once in a while a mountain lion leopard, and lots of monkeys big a: a man, few poisonous snakes, nc flies nor mosquitoes.
 These people in South America are no good, far inferior to the Mex. jeans in everything. No govern ment worth calling so, revolutions and uprisings every little while These revolutions amount to about as much as a street fight in the United States.
 Am working as miner now but don't know what may turn up after while. My health is and has beer good since 1 have been here and lost about week on account of two big boils on my legs.
 would like you to write me fol you promised me you would do SO Tell me what is going on in the world. Of course we know nothing of what is happening outside of this place. Would like to know the news generally and also to hear what is being done or going to be done on the railroads, the whereabouts oi the "boys," etc, what they are do- ing.