The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1913-04-27

not tree nor a house, though many
a mirage showed shining water pools
and trees around them. Rocky hill
locks rising here and there like is
lands strengthened the impression that
this had been in some earlier age the
bed Of great inland sea, larger than
Lake Superior in North America.
The Worlds Highest Railway.
Looking eastward, we could see
heavy clouds brooding over the east
ern ranges, which showed that beyond
it lay valleys, watered by the rains
which the trade wind brings up from
the far distant Atlantic. Presently the
sweetest hour of the day came as the
gray sternness of the heights to the
south softened into lilac, and a pale
yellow sunset such as only deserts see,
flooded the plain with radiance. The
night was intensely cold. and next
morning. even at o'clock, the earth
was frozen hard in the deep, dark
hollow where the train had halted.
We are now just inside the Chilean
frontier in the heart of the Western
Cordillera, among some of the Hottest
volcanic mountains OF the continent.
On one side a branch line Of railway,
the highest in the world, begins it's
long climb to the Collahuasi copper
mine. on the other side there rose
above us the huge black mass az
Ollague, snow patches on its southern
side and steam rising in wreaths from
a cleft not far below the summit We
guessed the height at 19, 900 feet. The
Collahuasi mine is nearly 10000
Beside US was what seemed a frozen
lake, which glittered white when the
welcome sun began to overtop the
heights and warm our shivering
bodies.
Chiie's Famous Lakes of Borax.
We had reached the smaller OF the
two famous lakes Of borax, parts Of
which are water holding borax in So
luton, while the rest Is mud covered
with the valuable substance. They
have neither infiuent nor outlet. This
place, and similar lake in Peru. fur
nish the world with a large part Of
its supply, the rest coming from Cali
fornia and Siberia and Tibet, where
the conditions of a rainiessness that
keeps the deposit from being washed
away out OF the soil are somewhat
similar
Presently we reached the larger
lake, which IS twelve miles long and
two to five wide, and stopped to see
the method Of gathering and prepar-
ing the mineral. one end of the (so-
called( lake Is dry. a thin stratum ~
whltlsh earth covering the bed OF boz
rax. which is about three feet thick
N hen dug out, the mineral Is spread
out on the ground round the works
10 dry, and then CaiCined in furnaces,
forming a white mass of crystals,
which are packed in sacks and sent
down 10 the coast to be shipped -
Europe and there. turned into the
bora& of commerce. a large number
Of lahorers are employed in this lonely
and cherries spot fifty miles from the
nearest village.
When / asked what fuel was used
for the furnaces. they pointed to a long
wire cable stretched through the air
from the works 10 a point high on the
mountain side opposite Ollague. Down
this rope small cars were travelling
containing masses Of a kind of very
hard, stin plant with whitish flowers
so inConspicuous that 1t is usually
taken for a sort of moss. II grows
abundantly on the slopes between
eight and fourteen thousand feet. and
its thick hard cushions have to he
cut out with q pickaxe. Being very
resinous II burns with a fierce flame
but go quickly that large masses must
be constantly thrown In TO keep the
fire going.
(By special arrangement with the
Macmillan company from South
America; Observations and impress
sions," by James Bryce Copyright,
1912. by the Macmillan COMPANY
Copyright. 1913. 10y the Macmillan
Cofnpauy1