The daily morning journal and courier., 1903-08-15

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 cas than these wonderful roads, consid-
 ering the topography of the country
 and the imperfect means at command in
 that early day. They built broad high ways to endure for hundreds of years | in deserts, among constantly moving | sands which reflected the fierce rays of | tropical sun; they broke down rocks,
 graded precipices, leveled hills and | filled up valleys, without the assistance
 of powder or instruments of iron; they | crossed lakes, marshes and rivers, and | without the aid of the compass followed | direct courses in forests of eternal
 shade. They did, in short, what even now, with all of modern knowledge and
 equipments, would be worthy of the
 most powerful nations on the globe. In
 ascending mountains too steep to admit Fof grading, broad steps were cut into I the solid rocks, while the ravines and hollows were filled with heavy embank-
 ments flanked with parapets and plant | ed with shade trees and fragrant shrubs The royal roads were from l eighteen to twenty-five feet wide and paved with immense blocks of stone.
 At regular distances tandos were erect 1 ed for the accommodation of travellers. Where rivers were to be crossed bridges
 were constructed which, though simple, were we'll adapted for these rapid
 streams that, rushing down from the :, Andes at certain seasons, defy the skill ! of modern engineers. Strong cables of | twisted raw-hide were stretched from 1 one bank to the other, something after l the style of the great suspension bridge | at Niagara. Poles were dashed across l transversely, covered with branches, and these were covered with earth and l stones so as to form solid floor. A
 kind off wicker balustrade was made l by extending other cables along the sides, which. were interwoven with branches of trees. Some of these old | bridges still exist, the newest of which are known to be nearly five hundred Il years old. Another way, yet used in many parts of South America for cross 1 ing deep rayines and mountain torrents, l was to suspend a wicker-work basket
 on single cable, to be drawn by, ropes from side to side. A few years ago,
 when the government extended the
 Inca road beyond La Paz iii the direc- ton Of Obrajes, the work was begun
 with religious ceremonies presided over by the bishop, assisted by a large num- Der of priests, the president, the diplo- matic corps and other prominent per
 sonages. In cutting through hill
 close to La Paz the workmen came upon a number of crushed and buried houses, skeletons, household utensils, I etc.; doubtless the work; of an earth quake at some forgotten period. Along this wonderful mountain highway the
 degenerate descendants of those who built it are everywhere to be seen, with faces which in shape and feature close l ly resemble those in the ancient water jars dug from the Inca tombs. At this altitude the weather is always cold and I the Indians have queer way of warm ing themselves by piling all available l covering upon their heads, leaving the lower extremities entirely bare. Though nature has provided each with a heavy shock of coarse hair like a
 mane, he draws knitted cap tightly 1 over his head and ears, and cuts fold ed blanket on top of that. Both men l and women peranlbulate the earth with naked feet the former with legs also much exposed to the weather, theit I short black trousers slipping up above the knee. and the loose white cotton
 drawers beneath Tapping like patent
 fans when the wearer walks. Their
 adobe huts, brown, solemn and expres-
 sonless, seem off the same piece as the | eiJo foyxTT1 wh1
 cultivate their poor farms, drive their llamas, or sit by the ayside with eyes fixed upon vacancy, never designing to
 bestow passing glance upon travellers
 Alternating with acres of stones are fields of barley, now yellow and ready
 for cutting, though at this altitude the
 stalks are headless. Other fields.
 freshly planted or. just being ploughed
 are covered with clouds of black birds
 industriously searching for worms and
 seeds. Women and children are dig
 ging potatoes that resemble chestnuts in size and color. There is considerable
 snow in places between the potato hills,
 but as those tiny bulbs are all to be Ifrezen before being considered fit to eat
 an extra frost biting will not make much difference. Somewhere toward
 noon we stopped at a wayside tambo for breakfast-an adobe casa of con-
 fortable size, the corral for mules and cattle in front, all inclosed like fort
 within thick walls of adobe as high as the house. There were no chairs in the
 inn, but boxes turned up on end with l plonks laid across served we'll enough flor seats The floor of the eating room is only Mother Earth, undisguised and
 unadorned; the wall. close overhead, is g. statch of clean straw; and the plank table was covered with a strip of coarse
 sheeting; but what is most to the point
 for hungry travellers who have beer
 riding several hours in the chilly
 weather on nothing more sustaining than mug of coffee, the breakfast was
 much better than might have been ex' pected. It consisted of cabbage soup hot, though watery; beef, for which the dentists of the country ought to pay g
 premium, with fried eggs on top; bread l a trifle sour, without butter, and . strong bitter coffee, without milk
 Each dish was served with ceremony II
 a separate course, to the tune of a dol lar head At this typical tambo the horses were changed and after al hours rest we tucked our blankets about us and again went bowling along toward Bolivia's capital. On one sidt the mountains followed us all the way