The Tomahawk., 1916-06-01

/ STlt- JA'o'' ~
| ~ NOTABLY no place in the world
sSss;: ssss n the trs 1's's: %'ss sna s
Il 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
| Ilc ulOSI dUuAudAC ClopiNGi
growth, the paths underfoot more often
resembled swamps than terra firma
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 or
the east, by far the most eventful part
of the journey is the 500 miles by mule
train from Cochabamba, high in thu
Cordillera, to Todos Santos, the head
waters of the Amazon, 3,4OO miles
above it's mouth Cochabamba itself
is city of 10000 inhabitants, the
greater number of whom has never
left it's 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 MOllendC
| 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
| er, George K. Cherrie, Robert Booker
and the writer; and after securing e
mules, chief arrierO or mule driver
and two Indian helpers, we started fol
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 tC
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, wellpopulated 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 q
! stream, and is often difficult even to 10
| 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-
search of better going, thus making
| false trails unsafe to follow unless
| with a 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 a 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 twcnty-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 quantl-
| ties of loose, small powders, made 1t
necessary to walk most Of the way,
as the slipping Of mule on the steep
| incline might be fatal to both rider
| and animal.
"Get Out If You Cam"
| At Sal-si-puede c"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 slide had oc-
Cured, to make room for the pack ami
| mails to pass. This was not only diill-
cult to do on account of the steep de-
cline and precarious footing; but also
! the work had to be very well done be-
cause if the pack of mule should
cs:cn against tho side Of the cliff in