Evening capital news. (Boise, Idaho) 1901-1927, 1914-06-14

AG@YE@cSz ward until you are more
than two and half miles
above the level of the sea. Then fly about
1000 miles straight to the south. Cross the
Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean sea;
twist your way in and out among the high
peaks of the Andes, through Colombia,
Ecuador and Peru; then descend just 500
feet and you are at Guaqui, Bolivia, on the
shores of Lake Titicaca, the highest body OF
water that is now traversed by steamer.
You are further up in the air than the top OF
Fuiiyama Japan. You are more than twice
as high as Mount Washington, and less than
1900 feet below the top of Pixies Peak. You
are on the shores Of an inland sea almost
half as big as Lake Erie, and in plain sight
of a snow-clad wall of extinct volcanoes,
some of which are nearer to heaven than
any point on the North American continent.
Much of the high plateau that borders the
two sides of the lake is 1000 feet above sea
level, and the lake itself is more than $500.
Mt Sorati, at one end of the ragged wall OF
glaciers in front of you, is more than 22OOo
feet high; and the glaciers on Mt. lllimanl
are SO tall and so steep they have never been
climbed AS | stand here on the shores OF
the lake | seem to be on the very roof OF
the world and as I ride over the waters |
feel as though, if climbed up their shores,
I would drop off into space.
came to Lake Titicaca from Cuzco, rid
i..g for 200 miles on the railroad through
the high valley between the Andean ranges
The whole way | was in plain sight Of
II +1xya ,oi1aa
above me. and could look over pampas, the
sod of which was as smooth as that Of the
lawn in front of your dwelling. These high
Andean plains, which are SO far above the
sea that 20 Washington monuments resting
one on top of the other would not reach to
their altitude, were covered with sheep, al
pacas and llamas, and spotted with the mud
huts of the Indians. The latter part of the
journey was over plains that once formed a
part of the. bed of the lake, and | crossed
many streams that were winding their way
down into it.
AS | came nearer Lake Titicaca, the cul-
tvated patches increased. The soil was
richer, and there were hundreds of Indians
working their crops of barley potatoes and
uuinua The flocks of sheep became larger,
anu i was lOlQ that tlClC dlC IdSlCHudo
nearby, each of which has flocks numbering
thousands.
We stopped at Juliaca and an hour later
landed at Puno, tin and mud town of one
and two story buildings rooted with galvan-
lied iron. | remember seeing an American
windmill close to the station, that seemed to
wave its arms in welcome to me as the train
took me out on the long pier to the steamer
Yavari. There l embarked for my trip
across the lake from Peru to Bolivia. The
distance is 120 miles, and we were steaming
all night and the greater part of the morn
ing l am now at Guaqui, the Bolivian port
on the southern end of the lake, and not
very far from the source of the river Desa-
guadero. This river forms the outlet of the
lake. 1t carries its waters into Lake Poopo,
which is only a few hundred feet lower
down nearer the sea- There are a dozen
rivers that flow into Lake Titicaca but the
only one that flows out of it is the Desa-
guadero. This river connects Lake Titicaca
with Lake Pampa Aullaugas, or Lake
Poopo, as it is sometimes called. Lake
Poopo is only one-third as large as Lake
Titicaca, and it has no visible outlet. Lake
Titicaca receives every minute more than
5000 tons of water from the streams that
flow into it, while less than 90 tons per min
lite are known to flow out Lake Poopo is
its only reservoir, and the Desaguadero is
the downspout from one to the other. These
two lakes receive the drainage Of great