A NEW ERA FOR BOLIVIA--IMPORTANT PUBLIC
WORKS--RAILWAYS--TELEGRAPH LINES
[Illustration: PUENTE SUCRE, LOOKING FROM THE SUCRE END OF
THE BRIDGE TO THE POTOSÍ TERMINUS.]
Covering an area of about seven hundred thousand square miles, and
presenting a variety of geographic and geologic conditions unsurpassed
by any other country of the globe, the problem of transportation, upon
the satisfactory solution of which so much depends in the promotion of
national progress in any country, has been one of paramount importance
in Bolivian politics ever since the organization of the republic. Large
sums have been paid by the government for the improvement of roads, the
building of bridges, and the maintenance of communication between the
principal cities, but the country’s finances have always been taxed
to the limit by efforts which proved more or less inadequate to the
task, with the result that although the budget continually shows large
amounts spent in roadways and bridges, the problem of transportation
in Bolivia is only now, for the first time, giving promise of a
satisfactory solution. There are, nevertheless, evidences of excellent
road building on all the principal highways, especially those
connecting the departmental capitals, and in some instances, as along
the route from Sucre to Potosí, and in the environs of Cochabamba,
massive stone parapets and bridges are seen, which compare favorably
with the best examples of work done by expert engineers in this branch
of construction in any part of the world. But nearly all the highroads
pass through the cañons of the Cordilleras in some part of their
course, and during the rainy season, from November to March, a flood
frequently rushes down these _quebradas_ with such destructive
force that every vestige of road building is swept away in a day. For
this reason, wagon roads are abandoned during the wet months and all
travel in the interior is done on muleback, usually by a route more
precipitous than the coach road, but safer because it passes chiefly
along the higher ledges, with only an occasional descent into the bed
of the cañon. As stated elsewhere, the only railways now in operation
are the lines connecting La Paz with Guaqui, on Lake Titicaca, and
Oruro with the seaport of Antofagasta, though surveys have been made
and the work of construction has commenced on a new railway system,
which will completely change industrial and commercial conditions in
Bolivia.
The history of railroad building in Bolivia dates from the year 1887,
when the government issued a decree calling for proposals for the
construction of railways throughout the republic. The following year
a proposal was received from the mining company Huanchaca de Bolivia
to build a railroad from the Chilean frontier to the city of Oruro,
passing by the mining establishment of Huanchaca. The national Congress
approved the proposal, with slight modifications, in a decree issued on
November 29, 1888. The rights acquired by the company were transferred
the next year to the Antofagasta and Bolivia Railway Company, Limited,
an English corporation, which now operates the line. This company has
a guarantee from the government of six per cent per annum for twenty
years on the capital invested in the construction of the line, which
guarantee became effective on the delivery of the railway at Oruro on
May 15, 1892, amounting to forty-five thousand pounds sterling, though
this is only nominal so far as the Bolivian government is concerned,
the revenues derived from the line more than covering the guarantee.
The railway is five hundred and fifty-five miles long, from Antofagasta
to Oruro, and ascends from about twenty feet above sea level at
Antofagasta to more than twelve thousand feet, crossing the high
plateau from Uyuni to Oruro with little variation from its greatest
altitude. It is the longest single line track in the world of such a
narrow gauge, only two feet six inches wide, throughout its entire
length. The Huanchaca company owns and operates for its exclusive
benefit a branch road from Uyuni to Pulacayo and Huanchaca, the centre
of its mining industry, nine miles distant. The Bolivian section of
the Antofagasta and Oruro railway is under the direction of Mr. Hugh
Warren, a railroad manager of large experience and mature judgment.
He has his headquarters at Oruro, the present Bolivian terminus of
the road. The line will soon be extended to La Paz. Passenger trains
leave Oruro every day for Challapata and Uyuni, and three times a week
for Antofagasta. They run at an average speed of twenty-five miles an
hour, the entire trip having frequently been made, on a special through
train, in twenty-three hours. The roadbed is excellent, and the maximum
gradient does not exceed two and ninety-eight one hundredths per cent.
The locomotives are of American manufacture, from the Baldwin, the
Rodgers, and the Stevenson locomotive works. The passenger cars are
modern, well built and extremely comfortable. The scenery along this
road is magnificent, and some of the bridges which cross the great
ravines are counted among the highest in the world. The construction
work of this road was done under the direction of an English engineer
of eminent talent, Mr. Josiah Harding, who built one of the greatest
incline railways of the world at Junín, Chile, and who is now engaged
in studying the route of the proposed Arica and La Paz railway. From
Uyuni to La Paz, the traveller seems to be always within close distance
of the snow-covered summits of the Andes, which rise above the horizon
of the high plain like great white temples overtopping the clouds. As
seen from the car window, the mining towns of Poopo and Machacamarca,
and others which lie along the route, present a very picturesque
appearance. But the beautiful scenery of this road hardly surpasses
that of the railway from La Paz to Guaqui, on Lake Titicaca, which has
in view the majestic Illimani and Sorata and a whole range of lesser
peaks clothed in perpetual snow.
[Illustration: RAILWAY STATION OF PULACAYO, HUANCHACA MINES.]
The Guaqui and La Paz railroad was the first constructed by the
Bolivian government out of public funds. Its successful inauguration
was due to the initiative of ex-President General José Manuel Pando,
who, in 1900, authorized an expert Bolivian engineer, Señor Mariano
Bustamente y Barreda, to make the necessary studies and plans. When
these were finished, they were approved by Congress; and a law was
passed in the same year, authorizing the construction of the road and
appointing a board of directors to supervise its management. In order
to meet the expenses of building, it was provided that all revenues
from the alcohol monopoly and from rubber taxes in the department of
La Paz should be set aside for three years for this purpose. The line
was completed and opened to traffic on October 25, 1903. Its total
length is fifty-nine miles, from the port of Guaqui to the Altos, or,
more correctly, to El Alto de La Paz, the road ascending from twelve
thousand five hundred feet at Guaqui to fourteen thousand feet at
Viacha and descending not more than two hundred and fifty feet to
El Alto station. The gauge is three and one-third feet wide, and
throughout the entire distance the tracks cross what appears to be
almost a level plateau, with Lake Titicaca behind and the wonderful
white mountain peaks in front glistening in the sun. The total cost
of the line, including interest during its construction, amounted to
one hundred and seventy thousand nine hundred and eighty-one pounds
sterling. On May 31, 1904, a contract was signed by the government
with the Peruvian Corporation, Limited, which owns and operates the
Southern Railway of Peru from the port of Mollendo to Lake Titicaca, as
well as the lake steamers that cross from the Peruvian border to the
Bolivian port of Guaqui, the terms of the treaty giving to the Peruvian
Corporation control and administration of the railway under a seven
years’ lease, thereby affording it a through system of transportation
from Mollendo to La Paz. The corporation loaned the government fifty
thousand pounds sterling at six per cent interest, for the purpose of
constructing an electric car line to connect El Alto de La Paz with
the city, and in addition to this sum the government recognizes a
previous indebtedness of about twenty thousand pounds sterling, all
of which will be charged against an amortization fund of forty per
cent to be reserved from the revenues of the railway, the corporation
retaining sixty per cent of the railway revenues for operating expenses
during the term of its lease. If at the end of seven years the total
obligation has not been covered by this amortization fund, the
government agrees to extend the lease or pay the balance.
The history of this railway during the three years that it has been in
operation is one of continued and increasing prosperity. It has been
a paying investment from the first, never having yielded less than
seven per cent dividends since its inauguration. Statistics furnished
by the acting director of public works of Bolivia, Mr. Pierce Hope,
under whose management the road was finally completed, show that the
receipts for the month of January, 1906, were sixty-four thousand two
hundred and eighty bolivianos. The increase in the freight receipts
of 1905 was fifty per cent over the year previous. The electric line
from El Alto terminal down the incline, or La Bajada, to the city
station of Challapampa was completed and opened to traffic on December
1, 1905. It is five miles long, and has the same gauge as the main
line from Guaqui, with a grade of six per cent. The locomotives used
on the railway and the electric cars for the incline were purchased
in the United States. The revenue from traffic over this part of
the line for the month of January, 1906, was fourteen thousand four
hundred and eighty bolivianos. The trip from Guaqui to the city takes
about two hours, and will no doubt be a feature of one of the famous
tourist routes of the world some day. Not only does it offer the
grandest scenery on the picturesque road from Mollendo to La Paz, one
of the most beautiful routes in the world, but it possesses especial
interest in the wonderful ruins of Tiahuanaco, which are situated at
about an hour’s ride from Lake Titicaca. It affords also the novel
experience of travelling by rail and steamer above the clouds and of
enjoying a trolley ride down La Bajada to one of the most interesting
and foreign-looking cities in America, La Paz, standing radiant in the
sunlight just below the highest peaks of the Andes.
[Illustration: CASCADE ON THE PROPOSED ROUTE OF THE ARICA AND
LA PAZ RAILWAY.]
But though the railways from Antofagasta to Oruro and from Mollendo to
La Paz take the tourist through wonderful and varied scenes, a more
rapid route is being built in the new railway from Arica to La Paz,
which will bring the metropolis of the Altaplanicie within fourteen
hours of the coast, instead of three days, the time now required by
the most rapid route. Chile has already begun the construction of the
Arica and La Paz line in accordance with the recent treaty between the
two countries. It will pass through the rich copper region of Corocoro,
thus facilitating the shipment of the valuable ores of this district,
and will connect with the Guaqui and La Paz road at Viacha. Either
Corocoro or Viacha will be the junction of a line which is proposed to
connect La Paz with Oruro, in conformity with the arrangements made
by the government for the construction of a general railway system.
A decree passed by the national Congress on November 13, 1905, shows
that the government has determined to carry into immediate effect
extensive plans for railway expansion, some of which have been under
consideration from time to time during previous administrations, but
have never until now been practically developed to the degree necessary
for their successful consummation. The decree referred to declares:
that the executive is authorized to contract for and execute with all
possible simultaneity the construction of the following railways:
from Viacha or Corocoro to Oruro, from Oruro to Cochabamba, from
Uyuni to Potosí, from Potosí to Tupiza, and the first section of one
hundred miles of the line from La Paz to Puerto Pando, at the head of
navigation on the Beni branch of the Madeira River, employing for the
purpose the funds derived from the indemnity paid by Brazil and the
guarantees stipulated in the treaty of peace celebrated with Chile. The
executive is equally authorized to carry out any financial operations
that may be deemed indispensable, in the event that the funds above
named are not sufficient for the construction of the railways
indicated, but without compromising more than the said railways in
the responsibility of such operations. As soon as the railways above
determined are constructed, the following lines will be built: from
Oruro to Potosí, from Cochabamba to Chimoré at the headwaters of the
Mamoré branch of the Madeira, from Macha or from Potosí to Sucre, and
the second section of the railway from La Paz to Puerto Pando. For
the construction of the railway from La Paz to Puerto Pando the funds
derived from the increased tax on coca will also be employed, as the
object of this road is to serve the interests of the coca producing
region.
[Illustration: CUT IN THE RAILWAY DECLINE BETWEEN GUAQUI AND
LA PAZ.]
For the construction of the proposed new railways the Bolivian
government has already completed negotiations with the well-known
firm of New York capitalists, Messrs. Speyer and Company, whereby, in
conformity with the decree of Congress, a general system of railways
will be built, to connect the principal Bolivian cities with one
another, with the chief river ports of the Amazon and the Paraguay, and
with such railways of neighboring republics as have a direct seaport
terminus. By this practical method the country will be opened up to
industrial and commercial development, which could never be hoped
for under existing circumstances, as the obstacles to communication
presented by the mountainous character of western Bolivia and the
unsettled conditions of eastern Bolivia are apparently insurmountable
by any other means than the establishment of railway connection.
The importance of this enterprise on the part of the government can
hardly be estimated. It means practically the launching of Bolivia
into the full tide of modern progress, with no turning back to the
old ways of muleback travel and other seventeenth-century systems of
transportation. When the interior becomes more accessible through a
regularly established schedule of trains, which will bring the chief
cities within a few hours of one another and within a reasonable
distance from the seacoast, the rapid evolution of industrial activity
will no doubt see the building up of many large fortunes in the rich
mining districts, on the vast cattle plains, and in the farming
communities, to say nothing of the inexhaustible possibilities of the
rubber country. Foreigners are not slow to appreciate this fact. As
soon as it became known that Bolivia intended to spend millions of
pounds sterling in the construction of railways, not only railway,
mining, and rubber syndicates began to seek larger investments than
formerly, but new enterprises, involving the development of cattle
raising and other neglected industries, turned in this direction, and
the outlook is already growing brighter than it has ever been before in
the history of the country.
For more than a year active preliminary work has been in progress
throughout the entire route of the proposed system, at first under
the direction of an American engineer, Mr. W. L. Sisson, and then
under his successor, Mr. W. L. Gibson, who is the present directing
engineer of the enterprise. Señor Jorge E. Zalles, as secretary of
the Commission of Studies, has made himself master of every detail
connected with the work. Surveys have been completed between Viacha
and Oruro, one hundred and thirty-eight miles; Oruro and Cochabamba,
one hundred and thirty miles; Uyuni and Potosí, one hundred and twenty
miles; Potosí and Tupiza, one hundred and fifty miles; Oruro and
Potosí, one hundred and ninety-five miles. By an examination of the
map it will be seen that, in the extensive system proposed, railway
communication will be established, through Bolivian territory, between
the Atlantic and Pacific seaboards, and, by means of the great Amazon
and La Plata river systems, with the whole vast region of eastern
South America. Argentina has been authorized to extend her Central
Northern Railway as far as Tupiza; and as soon as Bolivia completes
her lines from Tupiza to Potosí, from Potosí to Oruro, from Oruro to
Viacha, and from Viacha to Arica, there will be established a trunk
line across the continent which will bring the Pacific port of Arica
within five days’ distance of Buenos Aires. By extending north to
Santa Cruz the branch line now under construction from the Argentine
Northern Central Railway to the Bolivian border at Yacuiba, and by
building another line to Santa Cruz from the Paraguay River at Puerto
Suarez, opposite the Brazilian port of Corumbá, over a route which
has already been reconnoitred and approved, both lines to be joined
and pushed on further to a river port of the Beni, an easy outlet
will be gained for the whole of eastern Bolivia, and the flourishing
capital of the department of Santa Cruz will quickly develop into the
Chicago of what may some day be one of the richest agricultural and
cattle-raising countries in the world. Eastern Bolivia presents no such
difficult problems of railway construction as the western part of the
republic, and the lines projected through this region can be completed
at much less cost. When the various South American continental lines
are joined to cross Bolivian territory, this country, which has been
most difficult of access up to the present time, will become the great
central highway for South American traffic, increasing in commercial
importance as its own trade with other nations is developed with
greater facility.
[Illustration: SCENE ON THE GUAQUI AND LA PAZ RAILWAY.]
The formal inauguration of the new railway system took place in Oruro
on July 4, 1906, when the supreme government went in a body to Oruro
to initiate the work of construction from that point. It was an
occasion of general rejoicing, all patriotic Bolivians recognizing
the important significance of the ceremony, which was brilliant and
imposing. The programme of the day was worthy of so memorable an
occasion, being distinguished by impressive solemnity. The ceremonies
began with the celebration of the _Te Deum_ in the cathedral at
nine o’clock. His Grace Archbishop Pifferi officiated, assisted by high
dignitaries of the church. The president of the republic, accompanied
by his ministers of state and the foreign diplomatic corps, attended
the service, at which were present important government authorities
from every city of Bolivia. The learned archbishop of La Plata, in
pronouncing a benediction upon the great work, alluded in gracious
terms to “the coöperation of the generous inhabitants of North America”
in the new enterprise, and paid a high tribute to the progressive
spirit manifested by President Montes and his ministers, to whom its
successful inauguration was due, praying that the earthly blessings
to be derived from its material benefits “may serve as a motive and
stimulus to elevate the thoughts to the incomparable, unlimited, and
eternal riches of the Kingdom of Heaven.” After the benediction,
President Montes received at the hands of Señor Francisco Lopez
Chavez, the Bolivian representative of the construction company, a
handsome silver shovel, which was presented to his excellency with
an appropriate address. In a firm voice, which thrilled the vast
audience by its magnetic eloquence, President Montes made the address
of inauguration, which was characterized throughout by sentiments of
practical patriotism, expressed in such sentences as: “The greatness
and strength of nations is not proved by declaiming ideals and
aspirations which they have neither the knowledge nor the energy to
realize, but by the degree of effective force which is exercised
in a practical way in the civilization and exaltation of mankind.”
In closing, his excellency applied to the present act the famous
prophecy of Pedro Domingo Murillo, with a slight variation: “The
initial step made to-day toward the resurrection of Bolivia shall
never be detained.” The Act of Inauguration was signed with a gold
pen, presented to the president by Dr. Isaac Aranibar, ex-prefect of
Cochabamba, in the name of “La Patria.” The president turned the first
shovelful of earth with the significant words: _Que el arma del
caudillaje sea reemplazada con el arma del trabajo_--“May the arms
of war be replaced by the arms of labor.” At the official banquet which
closed the programme of the day, the American minister, Hon. Wm. B.
Sorsby, in an eloquent response to a toast in honor of his country’s
anniversary, referred to “the singularly appropriate coincidence
that Bolivia should solemnize the inauguration of her industrial
independence on the same day as that which commemorates the political
and industrial independence of the first American republic.” It was,
indeed, peculiarly fitting that a date which is celebrated the world
over as the anniversary of the first Declaration of Independence in the
New World should have been chosen to commemorate an event which sets
the seal of commercial freedom upon a country that has struggled for
nearly a century against the oppression of limited trade facilities.
The Fourth of July will henceforth signify to the Bolivian patriot the
inauguration of a new era in the life of his country, an era not less
glorious in its history than that which was established in the land of
his North American cousin on July 4, 1776. For political independence
can do little toward bringing about national greatness without its
practical counterpart, commercial independence; and national liberty
finds its highest development in the friendly intercourse of countries
bound together by ties of mutual interest. It commemorates the victory
of a patriotic people determined to reap the full reward of national
independence; and it marks the last struggle against conditions that
belong to centuries gone by, and which have been forever overcome by
the spirit of modern enterprise.
[Illustration: DAM AT ACHACHALLA.]
[Illustration: TRAIN ARRIVING IN GUAQUI FROM LA PAZ.]
Until the new railway system is completed and put in operation, Bolivia
will continue to depend upon the present means of transportation,
which, with the exception of the two railways previously mentioned, is
altogether by wagons, muleback, or river navigation. The Cordillera
Real, or Royal range, of the Andes has always proved an effective
barrier to easy communication between the Bolivian plateau and the
great eastern plains, with their wealth of natural production awaiting
development, and the few mountain passes through which wagon roads and
bridle paths have been opened represent herculean efforts to overcome
natural conditions with limited resources at command. Public highways
are either national or municipal property, the former being built and
maintained by the government from appropriations granted by Congress,
while the latter are made and controlled by the municipalities. The
national highroads connect the principal cities and mining centres of
the republic. With the exception of the main roads, which unite the
department capitals, and are used for passenger as well as freight
service, these highways chiefly abound in the higher sections of
the Andean range, where the valuable mining properties are located,
and they are nearly all narrow, precipitous, winding paths, which
have been built up by Indian labor and are maintained at great cost.
Along these trails the most valuable freight is taken on the backs of
mules, donkeys, and llamas, without danger even to the most costly and
delicate ware, so careful are the Indians of their charge. Exquisite
French mirrors, rare bric-à-brac, and the finest crystal and porcelains
for the palatial administration houses, are carried across a country
which is everywhere broken by ravines, and over a pathway often covered
by an avalanche of rocks from the mountain sides after a heavy rain,
yet a long month’s journey will be concluded without the record of a
single breakage, so marvellous is the Indian’s skill in this humble
task. The government provides _postas_, or sheltered places,
at intervals of from eight to fifteen leagues, where travellers may
rest and purchase forage for their animals. The _posta_ is in
charge of a government employé, who is paid a reasonable salary to
take care of the place, to keep forage on hand for sale, and animals
for hire, as well as to provide bed and meals at a fair price, and a
_postillón_ if required as guide. No charge is made for the use
of this shelter. It is the custom of well-to-do travellers in this
country to carry their own beds and provisions, except on the coach
roads. Mules can be hired from _posta_ to _posta_ at twenty
centavos, about nine cents in gold, for each mule per league, and ten
centavos per league for the _postillón_ who accompanies them. The
house in which shelter is provided is usually a low solid structure of
adobe, built around a courtyard, or _patio_, and having from five
to ten or more rooms, each with a door opening on the courtyard and
banks of adobe built out from the wall, to serve as beds. It has no
windows. Along the coach roads the houses of the _postas_ are more
like hotels, and the traveller may journey without carrying either food
or provisions, as both are furnished at the various stopping places.
The coach roads are open to traffic only during the winter months, as
in the rainy season it is impossible to keep them repaired without
even greater expense than it costs to build a railroad, and with more
uncertain results. The most important coach roads are: from La Paz
to Oruro, one hundred and sixty-five miles; from La Paz to Corocoro,
seventy miles; from La Paz north to Achacachi, sixty-six miles; from
Oruro to Cochabamba, one hundred and forty miles; from Challapata, on
the Antofagasta Railway, to Sucre, two hundred miles; from Sucre to
Potosí, one hundred miles; and from Uyuni to Potosí, one hundred and
ten miles. There are excellent bridle paths, or, as they are called,
_caminos de herradura_, from Cochabamba to Sucre, three hundred
miles; from Potosí to Tarija two hundred and forty miles, to Tupiza
one hundred and eighty miles, and to Challapata one hundred and twenty
miles; from Cochabamba to Santa Cruz, three hundred and eighty miles;
and from La Paz to the various towns of the Yungas. As the statements
vary regarding distances, according to the humor and endurance of
the traveller, and the exact measurement has only been made in a few
instances, it is impossible to do more than give an approximately
correct idea of the locality of the more important cities as regards
their distance from one another.
[Illustration: CARAVAN OF FREIGHT ON THE ROAD FROM LA PAZ TO
ORURO.]
Travel in eastern and northeastern Bolivia is best undertaken at the
season of the year when the waterways are navigable, as nearly all
routes connecting with the towns of the Beni and Santa Cruz necessitate
navigation through a great part of the distance. On the western plateau
the traveller arranges his journey for the winter months, to avoid
the rainy season, but in eastern Bolivia the summer months are most
desirable for the trip because then the rivers are high, and navigation
is an easy problem, whereas in winter the delays are sometimes very
tedious on account of there being little or no water in the upper
streams of the great river systems. All the branches of the Amazon
River are navigable, some of them, as the Acre, Purús, Madre de Dios,
Beni, Mamoré, and Guaporé, admitting steam launches and other vessels
of from five to six feet draft. In the southeast, the Paraguay and the
Pilcomayo Rivers are navigable for vessels of two hundred tons. Lake
Titicaca and Lake Poopo, on the Altaplanicie, are both navigable. Lake
Titicaca carries steamers of heavy tonnage, but Lake Poopo, and the
Desaguadero River, which connects it with Lake Titicaca, are navigable
only for lighter vessels. The Desaguadero River, which is one hundred
and eighty miles long, is navigable for steamers of five hundred tons
over part of its length, and carries good-sized vessels from Lake
Titicaca to Lake Poopo. Communication is better established, both by
land and water, in this part of Bolivia than in any other section.
Closely connected with the various systems of transportation are the
telegraph lines of the country, which constitute an important feature
of intercommunication by serving as the means of determining the
condition of roads in various sections, thus making it possible to keep
them in repair and to promote the interests of traffic generally. The
director-general of telegraphs, Señor Don Carlos Torrico, has made a
careful study of the telegraph system, and several reforms have been
inaugurated under his administration. Señor Torrico has served his
government in many important capacities, having been Prefect of Potosí
prior to accepting his present office. Under his able direction the
telegraph system has not only been improved, but important new lines
have been put in operation with perfect satisfaction. The system now
covers an extent of three thousand miles, of which eight hundred miles
are under private ownership, and the annual receipts have increased
from eighty-three thousand bolivianos in 1904 to one hundred thousand
bolivianos in 1905, with an equal average, about one hundred and fifty
thousand each, of despatches sent and received from the various offices
of the republic. These offices are established in all the chief cities
and along the principal highways, a long-distance telephone system
operating in connection with the telegraph; so that more remote towns
have communication with the main line. An appropriation has been
asked of Congress for the sum of one hundred and forty-four thousand
bolivianos, with which to reorganize and repair the entire system and
to place it on a more efficient basis. The international telegraph
service has been recently improved by the extension of a line from
Uyuni to Ollagüe, in Chile, and by the reconstruction of the existing
line between Tupiza and La Quiaca, in Argentina. Communication with
Peru is established by a telegraph line through Guaqui, controlled by
the Peruvian Corporation. Connection with Europe is made by way of
Argentina, and with the Pacific and North American ports through Guaqui
or by Ollagüe and Antofagasta.
A new era has dawned for Bolivia. It comes in answer to the abounding
faith and unfailing confidence of Bolivians in the possibilities of
their country and in their persistent determination and indefatigable
efforts to overcome all obstacles in its development. To the world at
large, ignorant of the real conditions which have combined to militate
against progress and prosperity in this country of unlimited natural
wealth, the retarded growth in industrial and commercial importance
which statistics seem to prove can hardly be fairly considered. It is
necessary to gain accurate knowledge by a visit to the country and
a study from actual observation, as well as from information to be
secured only in the country itself.
Bolivia is not so far away, either from Europe or North America,
as many people imagine. A very pleasant trip may be arranged to
Bolivia, starting from European ports or from New York, on one of
the commodious steamers of the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company or the
Hamburg-American Line, and direct from New York by a steamer of the
Panamá Railroad Steamship Company, all of which make the trip in six
days to Colón. The rapid increase in the earnings of these lines to
the Isthmus of Panamá shows the growth of interest in this part of
the world, and a tendency of travel to turn elsewhere than to Europe
and Japan, as formerly, especially in the case of tourist trade.
According to the latest report which the board of directors of the
Panamá Railroad Company made to the Isthmian Commission,--the United
States government now being sole owner of the capital stock of the
company,--this route is rapidly becoming an important ocean highway
between North and South America, destined to increase the social as
well as political relations between countries hitherto more widely
separated than those of any other continents. The balmy climate of the
southern waters makes a trip from New York to Panamá an additional
pleasure, and every year marks an increase of travel over this popular
route.
[Illustration: MOTORING IN THE SUBURBS OF LA PAZ.]
After a six days’ trip, including many charming features, the traveller
may spend a few days in Colón and Panamá, enjoying their tropical
scenes and the atmosphere of industrial activity which has become so
marked since the inauguration of the canal construction, or he may
proceed at once southward on one of the steamers of the Pacific Steam
Navigation Company, or of the South American Steamship Company, both
of which lines have comfortable and well-appointed steamers, from
Panamá to Guayaquil, Callao, Mollendo, Arica, Iquique, Antofagasta,
Coquimbo, Valparaiso, and other South American ports. The Pacific Steam
Navigation Company has its head offices in London, with its chief
South American office in Valparaiso, under the direction of Mr. J. W.
Pearson, who has made the company’s line to Panamá as commodious and
desirable a means of travel as an ocean voyage can be under the most
favorable conditions. Even nervous passengers find little to disturb
the pleasure of a trip from Panamá to the South American ports as far
as Valparaiso, for the sea is nearly always as smooth as glass and the
weather superb. From four to five days are required to make the voyage
from Panamá to Guayaquil, and the same time is taken from Guayaquil
to Callao, the port of Lima, Peru, as many stops are made along the
route, though direct, fast steamers could easily make the trip from
Panamá to Callao in four or five days. From Callao to Mollendo requires
from three to four days, according to the delays in intermediate
ports. To the traveller making his first trip along this route it is
particularly interesting to watch the loading and unloading of fruits
and other products of this tropical region. Everything is brought out
to the steamer in _lanchas_, or lighters, and sometimes the harbor
swarms with purveyors of merchandise. Disembarking at Mollendo to go
to Bolivia by what constitutes the shortest route, at least until
the Arica and La Paz Railway is completed, the traveller is conveyed
by train over the Peruvian Southern Railway to Arequipa, a charming
old city situated at the base of the famous volcano Misti, where the
University of Harvard has a meteorological observatory. Everyone spends
a day or two in Arequipa before proceeding to Puno, the terminus
of the road, on the Peruvian border of Lake Titicaca. The director
of the company, Mr. George Clarke, has spared no effort to improve
the railway facilities of this line and to provide every possible
comfort for those who take the trip. People having cardiac troubles
may suffer a disagreeable experience for a short time while crossing
the greatest altitude, nearly fifteen thousand feet above sea level.
But the recompense is great, the scenery being imposing in grandeur.
From Puno a steamer transfers passengers to Guaqui on the Bolivian
side of Lake Titicaca, and the trip, whether made at night or in the
daytime is, under favorable circumstances, the most charming experience
imaginable. The new steamers, appropriately named the _Inca_ and
_Coya_ are of five hundred or more tons, the older ships, of which
the _Yavary_ is one of the best, being much smaller. Sometimes
the lake is rough, and no sea is more irritating to those who suffer
from _mal de mer_ than this beautiful lake when the surface loses
its mirror-like calm. The rough seas of the English Channel, the Bay
of Biscay, and the Caribbean do not disturb one’s comfort half so much
as the staccato movement of this mysterious body of water, which seems
to be unsettled as often from subterranean as from atmospheric causes.
If the steamer makes a day trip the passengers land at Guaqui at about
nine o’clock in the evening, and if a night trip, a little later than
that hour in the morning. The remainder of the journey, as elsewhere
described, takes one to the city of La Paz, from which various
interesting journeys may be made to the other cities.
[Illustration: ROAD LEADING TO MINES NEAR ORURO.]
If preferred, the traveller wishing to visit Bolivia need not go
ashore at Mollendo, but, continuing down the Pacific coast as far as
Antofagasta, may take a train from that port to Oruro, finishing the
journey to La Paz by diligence, or may choose one of the numerous
routes by diligence or muleback leading from Oruro, Challapata, and
Uyuni, the principal stations of the railway, to the interior cities
of Cochabamba, Sucre, and Potosí. A delightful trip, which includes
visits to all the South American countries, may be made by the
Pacific Steam Navigation Company’s line from Liverpool, which has a
fortnightly service between Liverpool and Valparaiso, with connecting
steamers from Valparaiso up the west coast to Panamá. All these
steamers are elegantly fitted up for the passenger service, and carry
a band of musicians for the entertainment of those on board. They
are large twin-screw steamers, four of the transatlantic line being
of ten thousand five hundred tons, while those of the Pacific coast
service are of six thousand tons. The steamers from Liverpool call at
Brazilian, Uruguayan, and Argentine ports on their way to Valparaiso.
At least a dozen different steamship lines connect Europe and North
America with South American ports, the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company
and the Hamburg-American Line having handsomely appointed ships to
Brazil and Argentina; while the Lamport and Holt steamers from New York
to Brazil and Argentina are commodious, and the service provided on
board is constantly improving in character. All these lines permit of
the passengers making connections at Buenos Aires to continue the trip
to Bolivia, either by railway over the Argentine Northern Central to
Tupiza, and thence to Potosí on muleback, a novel treat in these days
of universal rapid transit, or from Buenos Aires across the Andes,
also by railway, to Valparaiso and thence to Antofagasta and Oruro; it
is possible to take an all sea route, by the Pacific Steam Navigation
Company’s line from Buenos Aires through the Straits of Magellan as
far as Antofagasta, or Mollendo. By whatever itinerary, the journey
is worth while, and aside from the novel features it presents, it is
sure to prove more restful than the average summer outing to popular
European resorts. As a means of escaping the vigorous northern winters
it is as desirable as for a relief from the excessive heat of the
summers, the South American winter corresponding to our summer, which
makes the trip a particularly pleasant change, especially in Bolivia
where the winters are comparatively mild. The best seasons in which to
visit Bolivia are spring and autumn, when the weather is modified from
the extremes of either winter cold or summer heat.
[Illustration: STONE BRIDGES ON COACH ROAD BETWEEN POTOSÍ AND
CHALLAPATA.]
[Illustration: LAKE OF SAN PEDRO, DEPARTMENT OF LA PAZ.]