Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1914-12-27
zN01eaz people OF the hugh A,.des.

messages climbed up over 1900 rect and
then slid down to sea level. travelling a
distance longer than from Boston to the
Great Salt lake. The highest OF the
HimaIayas is Mount Everest II measures
$500 feet. IL you could put Mount Wash
ington on top of Aconcagua II would just
about equal the height of Mount Everest,
the highest mountain or the world. Mount
Everest is over twice as high as Pixies
Peak, or Mount Shasta II 10 twice as
high as Fujiyama, and 1900 feet higher
than Mount Ararat, on which Noah
dropped the ark.
Our biggest mountain Is Mount McKin-
ley, in Alaska. II corresponds with Chin
borazo. and Is less In height than Sorata
and IllimanI. which are each 1900 feet
snow Caps Perpetual.
All Of these big South American noun
tains are capped with perpetual snow.
Even those of Ecuador, which lie on the
equator. have ice all the year round. There
are glaciers almost everywhere, and you
can so by the railroad TO within a stones
throw OF them in Peru and see them
hanging down over your train as you
pass. sent rifle shot into a glacier
from the baggage car door as rode over
the pass that leads to the Morocochs
mines. at an altitude OF l5,se5 feet above
the sea. This is the highest railroad point
OF the worlds and the glaciers lie within
stones throw OF the train
Tho volcanoes OF the Andes are num-
bered by scoges. and many Of them are
still splitting out ashos and flames and
molten rocls There Is no other place in
the world which offers 30 good a field
for the study of geology There are new
formations at every step. and the skin
seems TO be torn from old Mother Earth
and her inner workings laid bare. As 1
climbed up the Southern railway Of Peru
rode for many miles through lava about
the slopes OF Mount Misti. which Ia 5000
feet high. and on my way from Bolivia
to Chile saw great windrows of lava
near the volcanoes OF st. Peter and st.
Paul, which often break out in eruption.
In some places you see great fields OF
lava and again cascades OF lava, where
the molten rock has congealed and hard
ened ON its way down the hills. Now the
lava is In millions OF fragments. the
size Of your fist Now Il Is fine sand
ana now the fragments have been rolled
over and over until they are boulders The
plateau OF Bolivia, which Is as big as
Virginia. Is covered with boulders OF
many colors.
The rocks OF the Andes are as pieltur-
esque as those OF the Colorado canyon
or the Yellowstone park. Now they are
black, and now white as snow. Here
they are composed OF old red sandstone
and there they are ivory. while further
on they may be as yellow as gold. They
have every formation known 10 man.
There are great forts without number
there are spires which reach to the sky,
and Npinnaeles fit for the pulpits Of gods
The life OF the Andes Is unlike that OF
any other region on earth. THIS Is SO
OF the plant and animal world. The semi
arid plains OF the highlands have a veg.
citation like moss. there are strange wild
flowers and the high plateaus are az
barren OF trees as the Sahara Stnl they
grow potatoes and corn. barley and
auinua and other crops the names OF
which do not know.
People Have Quaint ways.
The people are different There have
never been any Indians like the Ineas
and there are none like their descendants
today They have their own customs and
traditions and folklore ready for the sci
enlist OF the future. / might FIN a page
Of this newspaper with stories OF strange
superstitions. could tell you OF the gods
and devils OF the high Andes and OF
fairies and witches. Last night / learned
how the Aymara believe that the flesh
and blood OF q certain lizard will give
one perpetual youth. II viii cure al
sorts OF diseases and even mend broken
bones. As the story goes. the Indian
kills the lizard and wraps It round the
fracture and the break becomes we'll II
Il also good for stomach trouble and the
wife Of an American miner cells me how
she was cured BY using H. The lizards
came from an old Indian. who prescribed