17 



BOLIVIA. 



BOLIVIA. 



13 



of tropical as well as extra-tropical productions. Many persons have 

 considered these valleys as the most fertile, and the most beautiful 

 parts of South America. Here the slopes of the mountains are 

 generally covered with flue trees to a great height. South of 20 

 however the valleys are narrower, and the ranges which inclose them 

 are without wood, and nearly without vegetation. 



Hy<l Xo part of America has a greater abundance of 



water than the region east of the Andes. The rivers which descend 

 from the eastern declivities are very numerous and contain a 

 volume of water which cannot be exhausted by irrigation. These 



lire atnon; the most distant heads of the Amazonas and La Plata 

 rivers. The Cordillera Real contains the sources of the greatest of 

 the tributaries of the Amazonas the Rio Madeira. This large 

 river is formed by the junction of two considerable streams, the Rio 

 Beni and the Rio Mamore, both of which descend from the Cordillera 

 Real and unite thnir waters between 10 and 11 S. lat. The upper 

 branches of the K:o Beni are the Rio Caca, the Rio Chuqueapo, and 

 th>- Rio Quetoto. The Rio Quetoto, the most southern of them, rises 

 where the Sierra de Santa Cruz detaches itself from the Eastern 



lera, and taking a north-east and north course enters the 

 plain, where it soon meets the Chuqueapo, which has its origin in 

 the valley of the Desaguadero to the north-west of the Nevado de 

 Illiraaai. The Chuqueapo, which is only prevented by a low ridge 

 from entering that river, after having passed the town of La Paz, 

 traverse* the great chain (16 55') through an enormous chasm. It 

 then runs for nearly 100 miles through a fine valley and joins the 

 Quetoto on entering the plain. After this junction the river con- 

 tinues its northern course, dividing the mountainous country from 

 the eastern plains till it meets the Rio Caca. The Caca, under the 

 name of Mapiri, rises likewise in the valley of the Desaguadero, at 

 no great distance from the Nevado de Sorata towards the west, and" 

 running first north and then east, traverses by a deep chasm the 

 CordilK-ra Real north of the Nevado de Yani, a high snow-capped 

 peak. During a very tortuous course the Mapiri is joined by a great 

 number of streams which descend from the eastern declivity of the 

 same Cordillera, and by their union the Rio Caca ia formed. This 

 stream joins the united rivers Quetoto and Chuqueapo about 13 30', 

 and the river formed by their junction is called Beni, which name 

 it preserves in its northern and north-north-eastern course to its 

 junction with the Mamore. Thus the Beni brings to the Madeira 

 all the water* from the eastern and from a portion of the western 

 declivities of the Cordillera R?al, as well as a portion of those from 

 the Sierra de Santa Cruz. 



The other great branch of the Madeira, the Mamore, rises under 

 the name of Cochabamba in the western extremity of the valley 

 which bears the same name, and is distinguished by its cultivation 

 and its numerous products. It first runs east by south and after- 

 wards due east, when being swelled by many small rivers it assumes 

 th name of Rio Grande. It afterwards makes a very large semi- 

 circular sweep, by which it arrives at the town of Santa Cruz de la 

 Sierra, whence it runs north-west, and after uniting with the Chapare' 

 at about 16 30" receives the name of Mamore, and by degrees changes 

 its north-west course into a north one. The Chapard is formed by 

 four or five streams descending from the northern declivity of the 

 Sierra de Santa Crtfz. Before the Mamore unites with the Itanez, 

 a large river which rises in the western parts of Brazil, it receives 

 tin: waters of the Yacuma, whose source is at no great distance from 



inks of the Rio Beni, and which runs through an extremely 

 flat country. The Itanez [BRAZIL] is increased before its junction 

 with the Mamore by the river Ubahy, which rises in a lake called 

 Laguna Grande, in the country of the Chiquitos, and is therefore 

 also called Rio de Chiqnitos. After the junction of the Mamore with 

 the Itimez, the river continues its northern course till it meets the 



near the north-eastern angle of Bolivia, from which point the 

 river has the name of Madeira. 



The waters which descend from the eastern declivity of the Andes 

 south of 1 S ' S. Lit. go to the Pilcomayo, one of the principal branches 

 of the La Plata River. The Pilcomayo rises on the southern 

 declivity of the mountain knot called Cordillera de los Lipez, and 

 running generally due east, ia soon increased by numerous other 

 streams, some of which are considerable, as the Sail Juan, which rises 

 22 30', and falls into the Pilcomayo from the south; the 

 liich rises in the neighbourhood of Potosi on the southern 

 ICastern Cordillera and soon becomes navigable ; and 

 which rises not far from the source of the Cocha- 

 1 traverses the beautiful and well-cultivated valley of 

 After the junction with the Cachymayo, the Pilcomayo 

 continues iU eastern course for about 100 miles, when turning sud- 

 denly to the south it enters the desert called Grande Chaco, and 

 leaven the territories of Bolivia. 



The whole eastern portion of Bolivia, from the banks of the Pilco- 



bfae frontier of Buenos Ayres to the junction of the Mamore 



and l'ni, U one extensive plain, broken only by a few isolated ranges 



of hill* which from east to west extend about 200 miles, and from 



""tl. t upwards of 700 miles. In the southern part 



"'" " ttershed between the affluent*! of the Amazonas 



i'lata, but it does not appear to rise to 



any great height above the sea. This plain is principally watered 

 '<'). DIV. VOL. n. 



by the Beni, the Mamore, and the Ubahy, which in the rainy season, 

 from October to April, inundate the country along their banks to a 

 considerable extent. In many places there are lakes, and though 

 none of them are very large, the exhalations, united with those from 

 the inundations, render the climate excessively humid. This humidity, 

 added to the heat which prevails all the year round, gives rise to 

 many dangerous diseases, and renders this plain very unhealthy, 

 especially for Europeans. This part of the republic has consequently 

 been almost abandoned by the Creoles, though its great fertility 

 would better repay the labour of the cultivator than any other 

 district of the country. Immense forests of high trees cover nearly 

 the whole of these plains, but their valuable products are neglected, 

 except that a considerable quantity of cocoa is gathered by the natives 

 and brought to the towns of San Lorenzo de la Frontera, La Paz, and 

 Cochabamba. The plantations consist commonly of mandioc and 

 maize, those of cotton and rice being rare, but all the other tropical 

 productions might be cultivated with great advantage. 



Climate, Soil, Productions. The climate of the different districts has 

 been noticed in our description of the surface. Rain never falls on 

 the coast along the Pacific. In the valley of the Desaguadero, in the 

 mountain region, and in the plains, the summer is the rainy season ; 

 but the rain is continual only in the plains. The mountains are 

 subject to tremendous hail-storms ; thunder-storms are also peculiarly 

 severe in these elevated regions. In winter the traveller is subject to a 

 temporary blindness called ' surumpi,' which is caused by the rays of the 

 sun being reflected from the snow, and rendering the smallest ray of 

 light absolutely insupportable. Earthquakes are very common along 

 the coast of the Pacific, less so in the valley of the Desaguadero and 

 the mountain region, but in the plains they have not been observed. 



The scanty productions of the valley of the Desaguadero have been 

 noticed. The few places on the coast which are cultivated produce 

 no grain but maize, excellent fruits however grow, especially figs, 

 olives, and melons, besides pomegranates, plantains, and algarrovas 

 (Protopia dulcif, Humb.), a kind of pulse, which grows to the length 

 of a foot, with its seeds enveloped in a substance like cotton, which is 

 eaten. It is of a sourish taste, but very cooling. Cotton, a little 

 sugar-cane, and the A rimdo donax, of which there are large plantations, 

 are also cultivated. 



The other portions of the republic, especially the beautiful vales 

 watered by the Cochabamba and Cachymayo, are more fertile. As 

 the levels which occur along their banks are at different elevations 

 above the sea, they abound in all the fruits, grains, and other agri- 

 cultural productions common to Europe and to tropical countries. 

 Among the spontaneous products are cocoa, sarsaparilla, different 

 species of vanilla, copaiba, balsam, and caoutchouc. The mighty 

 forests which line the rivers abound in the finest timber for all pur- 

 poses, especially for ship-building, and in trees which distil aromatic and 

 medicinal gums. The plantain is found in abundance ; and there is 

 a species of cinnamon called by the Creoles the Canela de Clavo, which 

 only differs in the greater thickness of the bark and its darker colour 

 from that of the East Indies. Cotton, rice, tobacco, indigo, sarsapa- 

 rilla, copaiba, and other medicinal drugs grow abundantly east of the 

 Throughout the valleys of the eastern slopes of the Andes, 

 below the level of 8000 feet, vast quantities of the coca (Coca eryt/i- 

 ">, are grown. The plant grows wild, but it is also largely 

 cultivated, the dried leaves being employed almost universally by the 

 Indians of Bolivia and Peru as a narcotic. According to Dr. 

 Weddell 9,600,000 Spanish pounds are annually produced in the 

 district of Yongas alone, while nearly one-twelfth of the entire 

 revenue of Bolivia is derived from the tax on coca. 



Besides the animals peculiar to the valley of the Desaguadero, there 

 are the tapir, the jaguar, the leopard, six or seven sorts of monkeys, 

 and several amphibious creatures. Of domestic animals, there are 

 horses, asses, and mules, but for sheep the climate is too warm. 

 Great herds of horned cattle find abundant pastures on the banks of 

 the rivers in the plains. 



Among the birds have been noticed many different kinds of 

 parrots, several species of turkeys, and a multitude of beautiful 

 singing birds, as the thrush, the whistler, and the maltico, remarkable 

 for its plumage and the sweetness of its note. 



All the rivers, but especially those of the plains, abound in fish. 



Gold is found in abundance in many places, but especially on the 

 eastern declivity of the Eastern Cordillera, where it is washed down 

 by rivers which run between slate mountains in narrow ravines. All 

 the waters descending from this range, which (all into the Beni or its 

 branches, carry down gold sand, but more particularly the small 

 river Tipuani, which falls into the Mapiri. The mines of Potosi have 

 long been considered as the richest in the world for their produce of 

 silver, but they are now little worked, which is also the case with 

 other silver mines. Copper is abundant : at Corucuero, a small place 

 about 70 miles from La Paz, enormous masses of native copper are 

 found crystallised in the form of perfect cubes. This ore though it 

 is said to contain seven-eighths of pure copper, is of scarcely any use, 

 being found in very high mountains and at a great distance from the 

 coast. Besides these metals there are ores of lead and tin ; and salt- 

 petre, brimstone, and salt. 



Political Divisions. The republic of Bolivia is divided into six 

 departments : 



