UNFINISHED ANDEAN RAILWAY. 65 



through underground channels, leaving legitimate 

 demands unprovided for. The stipulated instalments 

 due to Mr. Meiggs, the great contractor, remained 

 unpaid, and, in the midst of the difficulties in which 

 he was thus involved, his death put a final stoppage 

 to the works. The line had been completed and 

 opened for a distance of about eighty miles from 

 Lima, as far as the village of Chicla, 12,220 feet above 

 the sea. From that time forward Mr. Meiggs devoted 

 his energies to the boring of the tunnel at the summit, 

 probably under the impression that if that were once 

 finished the Peruvian Government could scarcely fail 

 to provide the funds necessary to complete the line 

 on either side. 



I had found it impossible to ascertain before leaving 

 England what had been the fate of these magnificent 

 works since the ravages of war had devastated the 

 region through which they are carried. Various quite 

 inconsistent stories had reached me through the pas- 

 sengers from Panama, Guayaquil, and Payta. Traffic, 

 said some, continued on both lines just as before the 

 war ; traffic, said others, had been completely stopped 

 by order of the Chilian authorities ; others, finally, 

 asserted that the Oroya line had been so damaged 

 by either belligerent as to be rendered permanently 

 useless. 



Before I had been many hours on shore, I was able 

 to get authentic information which relieved my mind 

 from further anxiety. The southern line, from Mollendo 

 to Puno, was open ; but Arequipa, the chief place on 

 the way, was still in possession of the Peruvians, 

 who occupied it in some force. With permits, to be 



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