The log cabin Democrat., 1916-05-27

H ROBABLY no place in the world D 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 in 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 Garnett 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 frma and five or six miles were consid- cred a 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, 3,400 miles above it's mouth. Cochabamba itself is a city of 60,000 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 ascended the third by pack train starting from Cochabamba. Our party consisted of Messrs. Alfred Collins, Willard Walk CT. George K. Cherrie Robert Booker and the writer; and after securing 2S 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.
 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. It 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
 
 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- bamba was hot and dry, over trails covered with white dust, but the last divide we crossed in thick mist and fpr n3,,o dua 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 ill 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 as the slipping of a mule on the steep incline might be fatal to both rider and animal.
 2. Get Out If You Can"
 At Sal-sipuede ("get out if you can")-there were many places to which this name was applicable-we had to dig or cut out track along the face of a cliff where a slide had oc cured, to make room for the pack ami mals to pass. This was got only diff. cult to do on account of the steep de. cline and precarious footing; but also the work had to be very we'll done be cause if the pack of a mule should catch against the side of the cliff in