342 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1924 



hours one ascends from near sea level to nearly 16,000 feet, a great 

 strain on the bodily organs, and many people are attacked by soroche 

 or mountain sickness. The tunnel at the summit is 3,859 feet long 

 and the place is surrounded by high snow-capped peaks and ridges 

 rising 1,000 to 2,000 feet higher. The vegetation here appeared to go 

 up to almost 17,000 feet. Some idea of the remarkable railroad 

 may be obtained from the fact that on the road, including the 

 branch to Huancayo, there are 65 tunnels, 10 of them being more 

 than 500 feet in length, 21 switchbacks or zigzags, and 61 bridges. 

 The scenery is indescribably grand. 



Through the courtesy of the Cerro de Pasco Copper Co., I was 

 able to stop at the company's hotel and also later at Cerro de Pasco. 

 From Oroya I went by auto to Tarma and then to La Merced, 

 descending to about 3,000 feet. The next morning I went on horse- 

 back to Colonia Perene, a large coffee plantation on the Perene River 

 at about 2,000 feet altitude, in the Amazon Valley. I presented 

 my letter of introduction from the Peruvian Corporation in Lima 

 and Avas cordially entertained during my stay by the manager, Senor 

 Valle-Riestre. On the plantation are 1,600,000 coffee trees. 



On the return from the Perene Colony I went to Junin, on the 

 road to Cerro de Pasco, where I was met by an agent of the Atoc- 

 saico Ranch who conducted me to the ranch about 12 miles to the 

 west. Here I was kindly looked after by Mr. McKenzie, the man- 

 ager of the ranch, to whom I had a letter from Seiior Rizo- Patron. 

 Atocsaico is a sheep ranch at about 13,000 feet altitude, containing 

 11,000 acres. The sheep graze the year around and there is plenty 

 of water. The equipment is modern and in good condition. The 

 annual production of wool is about 60 tons. I was surprised to 

 learn that one of tlie pests against which they are constantly fight- 

 ing is the condor. I saw a huge pile of wings which represented 

 dead condors for which a bonus had been paid. There are no trees 

 on the ranch as the altitude is too great for their growth. The fuel 

 is dried turf. It was interesting to note that they make their own 

 lime from native limestone using sheep manure for fuel. 



The next stopping place was Cerro de Pasco, a cold bleak min- 

 ing town at an altitude of 14,300 feet. The road from Oroya to 

 Cerro de Pasco lies over a great plateau or plain several miles wide 

 at about 13,000 feet. Mr. Philpott, the superintendent, was very 

 courteous to me and made arrangements for a visit to Goyllarisquisca. 

 Fortunately, I was not at all affected by soroche or I should have 

 been much inconvenienced by work at high altitudes. Mr. Philpott 

 stated that 7 out of 10 people suffer when they first come but 75 per 

 cent of these recover in a few days. Others must descend to lower 

 altitudes at once or serious results may follow. The high altitude 

 had a noticeable effect in that my lungs did not get sufficient air 



