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

lllItd1d 10 > I11lfCo 4 LIZ - AAAAAC
long. Some authorities state that the
lake has an era of $500 square miles,
while others put the area at more than
900. From some descriptions you
might imagine 1t a great eiilpse or a
rectangie. The truth is the lake has
never been carefully surveyed. | have
a map of it made by the railroad that
shows that it has as many great bays
as the tentacles of an octopus. 1t has
depths that have never been sounded.
1t is spotted with islands. and its
waters wind in and out in places like
a river. giving a moving picture or
magnificent scenes, including the is
lands, mountains. and coasts.
In crossing To Guaqui, | went over
places that were 1000 feet deep. and
right next to the famous Island of the
Sun, where the Inca race had its be-
ginning, l saw one where a depth Of
1000 feet has been reached. In land
ing upon the Island of the Sun one
has to throw the anchor of his boat
on the rocks Of the shore. for the
lake is SO deep at that point that the
graphing hooks cannot reach bottom.
Think of a body Of water more than
two miles and a half above the level
Of the ocean, and almost as big as
Lake Geneva, rising and falling under
the winds Let it be more than 800
miles inland from the Pacific, upon
a basin which, next to Tibet, is the
, Hottest inhabited plateau Of the
world. Remember that you must
cross a mighty desert and climb one
of the highest railroad passes on
earth to get to it, and you have some
idea Of Lake Titicaca and its sister,
Pampa Aullagas. You must add that
the waters are fed by the Andean gla-
cierS for although the eSion has a
Slight fall, the greater part of the
lake comes from the melting snow
and ice of the mountain brought down
by the rivers.
have written much Of the skies Of
the Andes as seen from the pampas
and desert. Those that cover Lake
TitiCaCa have also other beauties that
are particularly their own. The
clouds rise up from the shores like
walls, fitting into a vault of heavenly
blue, so that you seem to be shut off
from the rest Of the world. The
scenes change every moment. The
f1eecy white masses are blown this
way and that by the winds from the
ampaS At times great storms come
up. We had a rain last night JUS
before the sunset. and a mighty blow
of all cOlOrs seemed to rise from tbs
mountains, spanning the lake, n tt
lose itself in the mountains bordering
upon it. AS | looked | thought O
the vast treasure vaults of the Ande:
and the gold hat may really lie a
, the foot Of that rainbow. A little late
the sun went down. The sky wa
t still full of clouds and the blazing
god of the meas covered it with
hundred tintS of wonderful hueS. TIL
t sunset was reflected in the waters o
) the lake, and we sailed through on
l maze of gold, copper, and blue abov
and below.
5 AS we rose the next morning tn
: air vas SO clear that we could see 70
miles. The island seemed to f1oa
, upon the waters. They looked lik
! blue balloons rising from a sheet 0
I silver rather than the O~utCrOpping
Of the highest mountain chain on OF
y hemisphere. Coati, the Island of tn
Moon. / remember, rose out of tn
lake in the shape of a gigantic muSh
room of blue velvet. Another islam
7 looked like a huge whale, whose hea
: and tail stood high above the ate
and there were other optical illusion
due to the atmosphere, that seems t
work here like the mirage over tn
r desert.
There are hundreds of islands i
Lake Titicaca. They are the tops {
partially submerged mountains. tn
u peaks OF the AnQeS that are mere u
to their necks in the water. Most {
& the islands have hillsides covered wit
farms. There are many Indian hut
e In places the hills are terraced S
( that they form great steps runnin
: round with the curving shores {
: the lake and covered with patche
of potatoes, quinua and barley.
Upon these islands are ruins of tk
old Inca civilization. The Island
Titicaca, or as it is called the Islam
Of the Sun, was where the first Inc
appeared. 1t was there that the su
dropped down upon earth the fir
representative of civilized man. ar
from there he directed this ma
is Nance Capac and Mama Cello, h
h wife, TO take the golden rod he ga,
D. them and go forth and found a gre;
se city where it should sink into IL
As earth. The Quichua Indians ST
lie reverence that island: and you m
nv see there today the ruins of the ter
er pies Of the lncas the walls of viii,
it, were bedded in old
te Titicaca Island was especially hol