Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1905-01-06
THE ANDES IN BOLIVIA.

An Interesting Story OF the Geographical
Characteristics, the Mineral Resources,
and the Population Of the Great Noun
tain Region.
Charles NJ. Pepper, I'M an address before
the Geographic Congress, outlined briefly
the official mission with regard to the
Pan-American railway which caused him
to spend some time in the Bolivian An
des. and which took him, by means of
pack animals, railway trains, stages and
steamboats,, from one end OF the country
to the other. The great continental range
of the Andes, he said. forks northwest Of
Lake Titcaca, in south latitude IA de-
grees. The Occidental Cordineras trend
from northwest to south Of the Pacific
coast, and are igneous or volcanic. The
Oriental or Royal Cordilleras extend in a
general direction from moi invest to
southeast, and are Of more ancient or
! igin, geographically silurian and deVo-
Man, or, in popular terms, granite and
of sandstone character The Royal Cor
dlllera is marked by three series of peaks
known as the COloo which is i'm Peru
lllampu and Tres Cruces or Three Cross
es. The greatest of these Cordilleras are
the ludfnpu. lney extend from the low
ering glacier peak of Sorata to the sec
ton known as the Illimani These, ac-
cording to Mr.. Peppers description. form
an ice and snow wall for all of them are
in the region of perpetual snow. which in
this latitude begins at about L. 900 feet
above sea level.
1t is this region, Mr.. Pepper said, which
entities BOLIVIA to be called the roof of
the world. The peaks of the Illmani vary
| from q, $50 to p $50 feet, Sorata is va
riously estimated from 2l ,2000 to 1000
feet, but no accurate measurements are
known. The water system of this An
dean region is threefold The water
courses are from the Occidental COrdillera
to the Pacific from the slopes of both
great Cordilleras through the central ba-
sin or plateau into various lakes and from
the eastern slope Of the Royal Cordinera
TO the Atlantic. Near the city of Sucre
are two dominating peaks. From the side
OF one of these a rivulet starts, and fol-
ing north, ultimately reaches the Atlantic
through the waters of the Amazon The
other peak is tbs source of a brook which
flowing southwark, reaches the Atlantic
through the La Plata. Mr. Pepper gave
in detail the features of the southern sec
ton of the Royal Cordilleras as he had
observed them coming north from Ar
gentina with pack mules. The course
Is up the great ravine of Humahuaca and
Is the old Spanish trail that has been fol-
lowed for centuries This raVine is like
double funnel 1t widens and leads
across series of roller-top mountains,
the pass being known as the Three Cross
es Gateway, 12,215 feet above sea level
Ihence there is a descent to the valley
or TupiZa, nearly 10000 feet above sea
level. The Cordilleras, known as the
Chichas, and the Sierra of San Vicente
are crossed. The mountains lie in irreg-
ular masses, with many canons and
gashes.
The dominating summit in this region
visible at the greatest distance is known
as Guadalupe, and is sometimes called
the Pixies Peak of Bolivia. The geologi-
cal formation is of red sandstone and
limestone. There is a series of conical
peaks. Chorolque, Ubinas, Cotaigata,
whose heights range from II 900 feet up
para ana whose tops are covered with
eternal SHOWS. The pass which leads to
Iyuni is known as Portugalete and is
100 Feet above sea level pass fur
ther south is that known as Santa Fe.
and is nearly 10000 feet Mr. Pepper
TOOK the town of Uyuni as the basis for
description of the great tableland or
central plateau of Bolivia The table,
land lies between the Occidental and the
oriental Cordilleras, and its surface is
broken by many small sierras, presuma-
ply volcanic eruptions. 1t was once the
bed OF vast inland sea- as is evidenced
by the immense salt plains. The rail-
road runs from Uyuni to Oruro along the
mountain range known as the Cordillera
OF the Friars and from there stage
route is followed to the city of La Paz.
II Is along this route that the best view
OF the lllimani is had while the grand
uer OF the sorata is most apparent from
Lake Titicaca.
The lake system of the central plateau
was described by Mr.. Pepper as consist
ing not only OF Lake Titicaca, but also of
Lake Poopo. Titicaca is 1850 feet ahove