El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1914-02-21

~ Alta, Peru, Feb. I'll am $50
9 miles south of Panama on the
northern eGge Of the great South
American desert. My last letter was
Gated in the jungles of the EcuadOran
tropics. This comes from country
as dry as any pans of the Sahara The
coast is all sand and rock and the
Andes mountains, which lie close be-
hind, are as sterile as the driest part
of the great western plateau. The
first port after leaving GuayaqUu IS
Tumbez. 1t belongs to Peru, but lies
just over the EcUadOran line and is an
oasis Of green.
Desert Extends 2O0O Mics.
Beyond Tumbez the desert begins,
and il extends from there southwark
/ down the westward coast of the CONT
nent for a distance as long as that be-
tween the Atlantic ocean and the Great
Salt lake. It's length is 1000 miles. 1t
borders the whole of Peru and takes
UP all northern Chile, extending almost
to Valparaiso. In no place is it more
than so miles wide, and yet 1t is zOOO
miles long. At its eastern edge it IS
lost in the Andes, which are without
vegetation clear to their tops Where
the rocks are lost in the snow.
Lies Between the Ocean and the Andes.
This desert is shut in between the
ocean and the great wall Of the Andes.
Those mountains rise almost precipl-
they are among the highest on the
earth. They are SO high and so cold
that they squeeze the rain out of the
winds from the east that bring all the
moisture, and it flows down their east
ern slopes.
The winds here all come from over
the mountains, but the water has been
squeezed out of them on their way
and when they flow down the western
slopes of the Andes they are as dry as
Iva n Engaam
dropped. 1t has covered eastern South
America with tropical verdure. 1t has
filled the valleys of the Amazon and
the Paran with the greatest, water sup
ply known to man, and has made the
larger part Of this continent bloom like
No Rain in - Years.
On this side of the Andes, in this
strip of 1000 miles, about the only
water comes from the melting SHOWS
on the tops of the mountains. 1t sell
dom rains. Patta has not had to use
an umbrella for the past p years, and
waterproof coats and rubber boots
would be a drug in the market any
where from below Tumbez to far oe-
yOnd AntOfagasta. Indeed, the only
fertile regions Of the desert are where
the snow fed rivers from the mountains
cross it and flow out to the sea There
are 50 such streams along the coast OF
Peru; and the cultivable territory
watered by them has an area OF L5OO,-
600 acres. Two fiIthS OF this IS lrrl-
gated and already in use, and it pro
duces some of the finest crops OF the [
world. 1t is at present the most I'M
portant part of Peru; it feeds most OF
the people and supplies a vast deal OF |
exports. The government is now con- /
sidering the further development OF /
this region by the extension OF the II /
system, and it has had Amerl- ]
can engineers here going over the |
ground
One of the richest Of these desert |
valleys is that of Piura, which is not 4
far from Paita. Here the lands are lrrl-
gated by the Piura river and they grow /
great quantities of cotton, sugar cane I
and grain as well rs every KIND Oh
fruit that we have in California. There
are GASES along every stream between
here and CallaO and Lima is the pro
duct of the Rimac, which gathers the
SHOWS Of the Andes and spreads Ihem
In the shape of water out over the
plains.
Paita a Desert City.
Paita, the port for the Piura oasis,
Is desert city, with streets or sahu
and one and two story houses maze Oh
framework of wood poles ana DdIHDOo /
canes over which is spread a mixture OF
sand and mud that daZZleS ones eyes. /
indeed, most OF the houses are OF muu
and fishing poles smOOthed down Win
5tUccO. Their walls are painted All
2olors of the rainbow.
There is no water to be seen outside
hat of the ocean, and much of the
supply is peddled about upon
ionkeys in ten gallon kegs from house
% house
The most of the traffic of Paita is
iron dOnkeys. I saw caravans of them
vegetables, sugar and rice to
he port and when 1 went to the post
'ffice I walked by the side of the mail
wagon, which was really a dray drawn
" a mule.
Notwithstanding all this, Paita is the
hlef port of northern Peru, and II