The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1916-05-26

~ ROBABLf no place In the WOrlQ
- gives the traveller more con-
trasts in trail, scenery and eli
mate than do the Andes In the
last range of the Cordillera. From the
barren snow line at the ridge down to
the headwaters of the great Amazon
system Is but few hundred miles, yet
in this distance four distinct changes
I'm the fauna and flora are apparent
Starting over hard open road where
we made eighteen or twenty miles a
day, the trail winds down through a
rolling country until the last pass is
crossed and the first signs of tropical
vegetation appear, writes Lee Garrett
Day, Of the Collins-Day South Ameri-
can expedition, in the American
Museum Journal Then through the
mountains of the Yungas the route lies
over forested hill and dale or along
narrow-ledge trails, and eventually
reaches lower planes where the fresh
cts turn into narrow streams and the
streams at last into rivers. Here
amidst the most abundant tropical
growth, the paths underfoot more often
resembled swamps than terra firma
and five or six miles were consid-
cred good days work. In fact, the
stream beds often proved better trails
than the machete-cut roads through
the palm and canebrakes
Crossing South America from Mol
lendo on the west coast to Para on
the east, by far the most eventful part
of the journey is the 500 miles by mule
train from Cochabamba. high in the
Cordillera, to Todos Santos, the head
waters of the Amazon, 3,4OO miles
is a city of $4,000 inhabitants, the
greater number of whom has never
left its suburbs. A railroad is in course
of construction, but from Argue, the
end of the rails. all commerce must
pass by mule pack for two days over
the powders of the river bed. We
reached Cochabamba from Mollendo
by rail, lake steamer and coach. After
crossing the first two ranges of the
Cordillera by rail, we assembled the
third by pack train starting from
COchabamba. Our party consisted of
Messrs. Alfred Collins, Willard Walk
er, George K. Cherrie, Robert Booker
and the writer; and after securing %
mules, chief arriero or mule driver,
and two Indian helpers, we started for
the head of the pass and the tribu-
taries of the great Amazon river be-
yond,
b Mule Trail Hard to Follow.
The mule trail from Cochabamba to
Todos Santos is far from an easy one
to follow, Notwithstanding that it is
constantly travelled, being the route
for most of the commerce between the
low hot grazing lands of Bolivia at the
eastern base of the Andes, and the
high, well-populated tablelands around
La Paz, Cochabamba, Oruro and other
cities. 1t is always very narrow, passes
through heavy woods, over ridges,
along sides of cliffs. up or down a
stream. and is often difficult even to To-
cate. Especially, is this true in the
rainy season when pools of mud and
tangled roots incumber the way in the
woods and mule drivers passing pre-
viously have often left the path in
search of better going, thus making
false trails unsafe to follow unless
with very experienced guide.
The short journey up from Cocha-
banda was hot and dry, over trails
covered with white dust, but the last
divide we crossed in thick mist and
turning due north from the Santa Cruz
trail. seemed suddenly to have entered
another country. Almost perpetual
rain was now encountered, and the pre-
cipitous nature of the descent, about
five thousand feet in twenty-four
hours, made travelling decidedly un.
easy and in parts dangerous, due to
the paths being water courses from
which all mold had been washed away.
Wet, slippery rocks and often Quanti-
ties of loose, small powders, made it
necessary to walk most of the way,