The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1914-06-16

as much as one grain Of Titicaca Is
land corn in his s~torehouse would
not lack for food during his lfe-
time. on this island Is still shown
the rock where Nance Capac. ana
his sister wife stepped they
dropped down from the sky. Iney
were. you know. the Adam and Eve
Of the IncaS, To whom this rock WAS
more sacred than Plymouth Rock Is
70 rs. It is said 10 have been plated
with gold and kept covered With a ven
The temples about ii were decorated
with gold, which the lncas looked
upon as the solidified tears OF the
sun.
About six miles from Titicaca IS
the Island Of the Moon. This island
is now called Coati. In coming 10
Guauui. as we wound our way around
the peninsula of c~opOcabana. We
skirted its shores, and with our glass
es could see the ruins that still stand
| on the hillsides. Here was the Temple
Of the Moon and the palace or the
| wife of the Inca, and here also was
the great convent where lived the
virgins Of the sun. The ruins Ehow
the remains of many rooms. surround
ing a court. They are high upon ter
races. the walls of which are put to-
gether withou cement. The stones
Join as closely as those in the fortl-
| fcations of Sacsahuaman, or in the
temples OF CuzCo.
+ was inside that convent that
were kept the loves of the lucas who
also acted as priestesSes to the sun.
According to tradition. none could
be admitted to this life except maid
ems OF royal descent. who in thelr
earliest youth had been place under
the care of aged matrons and trained
for the purpose. AS the girls reach
ed maturity they were obliged to take
an oath of perpetual seclusion. and
were supposed to be the SpouSeS Of
the sun. Some of the records say
that not even the Emperor was ad-
mitted to see them: but others allege
that they are supposed to have been
his secondary wives and, in short, his
| harem.
The Lake Titicaca of today is more
interesting thar the traditional lake
Of the past. 1t is now the halfway
station on one of the chief high roads
Of traffic from the capital of Bolivia
out to the ocean and northward tC
the Panama Canal. Right here a
Guaqui they are now unloading f1ou1
from California. That -four has come
up the Andes and over the lake, an(
it is now being put on the railroad
train that will take it from here t.
La PaZ. On the whareVs are stack
Of Oregon pine, and our ship, thu
Yavari, is loaded with mining ma
Chinery and other goods for Bolivia
The purSer of the boat tells me tina
the steamers always run full, and tha
during his last trip he carried 800,
900 pounds Of tin across to Puno OF
its way to the sea. On u Steame
we had rolls of paper from the United
, States for the dailies of the Bolivia,
: capital, and also the boiler Of a rail
: road locomotive destined for an in
!. terror railroad.
: The greater part of the freight O
: Bolivia is now going this way out t
: the ocean. The distance from La Pa
, to MOllendO on the Pacic is about so
: miles, and the passenger trip from
= one place to the other costs just $40
= There is IN additional charge for tn
chair far from Mollendo to Lake II
tlcaCa. The trip can now be mad
very comfortably and within consid
erably less than two days. The frs
: stage Of the journey is to Arequips
whose altitude is o hat of Mexic
City. Here n stays over night. TIL
next stage is IN all-day ride, durin
which you cross a pass almost thre
miles in height, and then slide dow
to Lake Titicaca, where you are sti
: over 1880 feet above the sea. Tt
! third stage is the trip across the lax,
a and the fourth is a four-hour rid
over the high plateau of Bolivia t
the great basin in which La Paz lie
> | doubt whether there is a journey O
= earth that will show as great
: variety of travel and SO much magn
ficent n
Added to this is the side trip
n CuzCO. hat is one of the wondt
tours Of the age. 1t requires two
Re three days additional, but it is we
p worth it. and when our canal is con
pleted it will be undertaken by tho,
n sands OF American tourists.
80 1t seems strange to think of hun
g ing and fishing in these bleak regio,
IF of the high Andes. Nevertheless, tn
IS is n of the game preserves of IL
continent. / am old that there a.
he millions Of ducks hat frequent the:
Of lakes. / saw thousands from the dec
ID Of my steamer as / ode across
"a There were teal. snipe and mud hen
N 49,