270 IN THE WILDS OF SOUTH AMERICA 



Guaqui is a garrison town. There were numerous sol- 

 diers in evidence on the streets, and a troop of lancers, 

 under the command of a German officer, were giving a 

 skilful display of their prowess on the lake front. Their 

 mounts were not much to look at and the uniforms of the 

 men were rather shabby, but both were well drilled. 



The train for La Paz left at noon. It moved at a good 

 rate of speed across the high, level upland. The scenery is 

 impressive. We were always in sight of snow-covered 

 peaks, although there was little snow on the plateau itself. 

 Indian huts built of stone, some very ancient, are scattered 

 about abundantly, but it requires some experience in locat- 

 ing them before they can be readily distinguished from 

 their immediate surroundings. There were numerous fields 

 of wheat and oats, and llamas without number nibbled 

 the scant vegetation on the slope. In a few isolated spots 

 small herds of cattle, horses, and pigs were visible. Indians 

 came to the coach-windows to sell fruits when the train 

 stopped; they were doubtless brought from the deep, shel- 

 tered fissures that have been cut into the range by snow- 

 water from high peaks. 



Within a short time we had reached the ruins of an enor- 

 mous city called Tiahuanaco, which is said to date back 

 many centuries before the Incan era. When discovered it 

 was buried in the sand level with the surface of the pla- 

 teau, but archaeologists have excavated many of the larger 

 buildings and brought to light ancient treasures of rare 

 beauty. Later, in La Paz, we met a man named Poznaski 

 who had done a great deal of work in this region. He had 

 a remarkable collection of hundreds of skulls, pieces of pot- 

 tery, gold ornaments, and well-preserved cloth. Among 

 the ceramics was a "death's head" of exquisite work- 

 manship, life size, and painted in gorgeous colors. He 

 considered it the finest bit of pottery ever discovered in 

 Bolivia and stated that a North American museum was 

 negotiating for its purchase at a price that ran into five 

 figures. This, however, did not seem probable. As we 



