K<H'K. 



BOLIVIA. 



69 



ho was still popular among many of the 

 !i people. 



oSSOM ROCK, THK, at the entrance 

 i Fr mcisco Harbor. It was blasted on the 

 of April, and has been so effectually 

 yed that a depth of 88 feet at low water 

 boon obtained. Extensive excavations 

 made in the rock, which was reached by 

 - of a caisson, and the central shaft was 

 ! to a depth of 25 foot from the face of 

 >ok. Nine foot from the bottom of this 

 . radiating galleries were tunnelled in all 

 directions, and altogether 40,000 tons of stone 

 removed. Twenty-three tons of powder 

 employed, placed in casks and iron tanks, 

 water-tight, and coated inside with tar. 

 The barrels were ranged close to the sides of 

 the galleries, while the tanks were deposited 

 in the central chamber. To ignite this charge 

 a piece of gas-pipe 2 feet 6 inches long was in- 

 1 in each barrel, and a piece 6 feet long 

 in each tank ; these were all filled with mealed 

 powder, and a fulminating cartridge placed at 

 the ends. Insulated electric wires connected 

 the different charges together, and were con- 

 veyed to the surface of the water through a 

 tube placed in the shaft and thence to a vessel 

 lying at anchor 1,000 feet south of the rock. 

 When all was ready for the blast the caisson 

 was removed and the water allowed to flow in 

 and fill the excavation. It was intended to 

 explode the charge from the vessel with which 

 the connections were made, but in consequence 

 of an unforeseen accident another wire had to 

 be substituted, and the charge was fired 600 

 feet from the rock. The effect of the explosion 

 was to raise a mass of water to a height of 

 some 220 feet. The column rose majestically 

 in the air, in the shape of a round or obtuse- 

 pointed, truncated cone. This column was 

 nearly 300 feet in diameter at a point some 80 

 feet above the bay. Its base was shrouded by 

 another majestic and accompanying outburst 

 of water, which rose to the height of 80 feet 

 all round the central shaft, and rolled its flood 

 outward. This base was over 500 feet in di- 

 ameter at the surface of the bay. High above 

 the upheaved mass, rocks of large size, debris 

 of the interior works, and a great quantity of 

 earthy matter, were thrown and scattered far 

 and wide. The report that there was a second 

 explosion is erroneous. Nothing of the kind 

 occurred, but there was a second upheaval of 

 a large column of water, to be accounted for 

 as follows : The instantaneous displacement of 

 so vast a body of water created an enormous 

 vacuum, and formed a huge unoccupied gulf 

 500 feet in diameter, and nearly 40 feet deep. 

 The surrounding ocean of waters plunged mad- 

 ly into this gulf, in equal volume and with 

 equal density from all sides, and, meeting in 

 the centre with terrific force, pushed upward 

 another aqueous shaft to the height of some 70 

 feet. The superior height of the central col- 

 umn was due to the fact that there was much 

 less resistance at that point, the overlying wa- 



ter being only 5 feet in depth, while the 

 or sides, were covered by from 25 to 35 feet. 



BOLIVIA, a republic in South Amtricn. 

 President and dictator, since the abolition of 

 the constitution in February, 1809, Mariano 

 Melgarejo. The ministry in 1870 was com- 

 posed as follows : M. D. Mufloz, head of the 

 Cabinet, Minister of State and of External 

 Affairs; M. do la Lastra, Minister of Finances 

 and of Industry ; M. J. Ribera, Minister of 

 Justice and of Public Worship and Instruc- 

 tion: General N. Rojas, Minister of War. Mr. 

 L. Markbreit is minister resident of the 

 United States at La Paz, and I. M. Mufioz con- 

 sul-general of Bolivia at New York. The 

 area of the republic, which was formerly esti- 

 mated at from 480,000 to 640,000 square miles, 

 has been more accurately computed in 1869 by 

 Lieutenant-Colonel J. Ondarza at 842,730 

 square miles. It is divided into eleven depart- 

 ments, as follows : 



According to a late (as yet unpublished) 

 census, the population is reported to approach 

 3,000,000. 



The standing army of Bolivia, consisting of 

 31 generals, 359 officers of higher grade, 654 

 subaltern officers, and 3,034 men, annually 

 costs the republic 2,000,000 pesos. The public 

 revenue for 1869-'70 was about $2,500,000, 

 and the public debt (all internal) amounted to 

 $7,500,000. The commerce of the country is 

 estimated at from $5,000,000 to $6,250,000 ; the 

 total imports during 1868 summed up $4,500,- 

 000, and the total exports during the same 

 period $3,750,000. The country is rich in 

 mineral productions, and the silver-mines of 

 Potosi are considered almost inexhaustible. 

 Gold is found on the Eastern Cordillera of the 

 Andes. The State mint at Potosi coins an- 

 nually about 2 million pesos in silver. Peru 

 pays to the Bolivian Government 506,250 

 pesos for duty levied at Arica on merchandise 

 going to Bolivia. Concessions have been 

 granted for two railroads, one to connect Co- 

 bija and Potosi, and the other to form a branch 

 of the Peruvian railroad from Arequipa to 

 Puno. 



On the 1st of March, 1870, President Mel- 



