New-York tribune., 1922-11-19

THREE AsSES IN BOiaYiA. BY Lionel
Portman. New Yark: Houghion- Siifflin.
tass. ss Illustrated
E HE almost simultaneous publ
cation of three voiames of
A travel and adventure in little
known and sparsely populated
South American country suggests inn
mediately that the country is OF par
eicular nresSnt-day interest. Upon in-
qsiry, suck integes. Is found to be
shreefoid Remarkable natural re-
sources. foreign tmany of which are
Americafi) investments and recent
loans by American bankers aggregating
some twenty-odd millions of dollars.
Bolivia, midway down the western
coast Of South America. includes an
area that approximates the combined
areas of France and Spain. While lit
orally on the coast, it has no ports of
its own, having lost such important
commercial points through wars with
Its more powerful neighbors. Its popu-
iation, half Indian, numbers about
three million.
From the standpoint OF natural re-
sonrces, Bolivia contains almost un-
limited supplies Of '.tin, copper, gold,
silver, tungsten, in the mountains; oil
y
cocoa, grain, in the valleys, as well as
pasture for huge herds of cattle" An
other interesting though not natural
resource Is the supposedly vast amount
Of buried treasure running back to
days of Spanish and the earlier Inca
conouests. This wealth, however, but
partially accounts for currently stiTnu-
lated interest; similar wealth is pres
ent IN n,auv other sections of the
southern American continent.
Mon in itself does the foreign for
tune privately invested in mines, plan
tafions and commercial ventures JUS
4ifv any unusual American interest;
such Investments, again, are general
throughout all of Central and South
America. One looks further, and the
following paragraph, quoted from "the
Freeman" of October IL, seems to ad-
init far more; light upon the subject:
"Boiivia has already obtained loan of
s24. 600 900. in return for which Amer
lean bankers have stepped into the
Banca de la Nacion, and a commission
Of three members. including two Amer
cans. has been appointed to take COM
ynand OF the revenues and fiscal affairs
of the natien.n IL this is true Amerl-
cans may well regard Bolivia with an
actual and increasing interest. The
country - and it's future - deserves
watching; and intelligent watching will
require some knowledge of the land
itself. 4g
With it's remarkable range of climate
and altitude. Bolivia presents re-
markabie geographic aspect c.. ID.
Prodgers divides 1T very simply into INT,
four zones according to attitudes. The
irst consists of peaks and mountains
above the snow line, the highest peak
being something over 10000 feet. The
second zone is the plateau region, vary
ing from 5000 to $4,000 feet, possessed
Of the "purest atmosphere in the
world" mining country. noted also
FOR its expectations of chinchilla furs.
The third zone, semi~tropical valleys,
offers a mild climate that permits the
raising of call kinds of fruit" and
offers much game. The fourt' includes.
low lying lands Of the Beni, Madeiro,
Mamore. Tipauni, Challana and other
tributaries Of the Amazon, and lands
aloping to the River Paraguay. "This
1.-THE fourth zone is great rubber
country in the interior; very beautiful
and very unhealthy. To get to il you
have to cross the highest ranges Of the
Andes. There is plenty of game, but it
10 very hard TO get al"
OF Che three volumes covered in this
review "Six Years in Bolivia" is by
uortant. A. ". L. Guise studied mining
engineering at Columbia and Lehigh
universities after receiving his earlier
education in Europe and England.
About ten years ago he was sent to
Bolivia as representative of an English
mining syndicate, where first he man.
aged a tin mine. Later, after short
period of road building, he supervised
The erection Of a dredge for gold on
one of the iesser tributaries Of tbs
Amazon. Though his activities were
limited to the northwestern section of
Bolivia, his account OF the country ap-
pears to be broad and complete, cover
Ing a wide range of subjects that in
clude not only types Of mining, but
manners Of travel through mountains,
plains, jungIes and rivers, as well as
descriptions of native tribes and
methods of living.
In the six years of work he func-
tioned not only as an engineer but as
doctor, Judge, merchant and chief. His
experiences brought him into close con
tramps"-whites, with more fondnesi
for drink and travel than for work
with major and minor Bolivian officials
and with numerous other Americans o.
Europeans like himself engaged al
representatives Of foreign mining ant
trade syndicates. Recurrent attack!
of n1alarial fever forced him eventually
30 leave the country.
Mr.. Guise writes competently; his
incidents and anecdotes are choser
with the skill of o man of letters a
brief quotation from his jungle notes
will suffice as an example of his color
full descriptive pa ssages: "Overhead, {
iow-hung sky of darkest purple and Of
rose-1eaf texture. On every
side is the age-old jungle, dark ant
mysterious, brocding as if ii were 6
living thing. girdled by the broad river
that CLEANS and flashes in the moon
light. Palm leaves, stirred by the
faint breeze, are rustiing softly, with
s dry, sibilant sound. as though ghosts
were whispering. On a breath from
the forest is borne q perfume sweet
and memory haunting, which linger:
4 moment and is gone. Now and
a9ain. distinct from the noises Of the
night, come the long. shrill whistle o!
che tapir and the savage miouw oil $
hungry tiger-cat. There Is a crashing
ant swishing in the trees that edge the
clearing, and the dark forms of trool
of lefnurs can be distinguished, leapine
Z. She toprnest branches, uttering, al
che sight Of man, their short. coughing
5angev signal"
.Adssntures IN Bolivia" deals witt
che experiences of it's author. c. II
prodeers, an Englishman. in charge Of
a large racing stable in Chile. who in
1903 was engaged to explore the Chal'
lana country fthe Chaliana is one Of
the Amazon tributaries flowing through