DOWN THE COAST OF PERU 269 



The top of the divide is fourteen thousand five hundred 

 feet above sea-level. As we approached it numbers of 

 passengers became violently ill of soroche, or mountain- 

 sickness. They acted very much like people aboard a 

 steamship on a stormy voyage, although this illness seemed 

 far worse than any seasickness I had ever seen. Several of 

 the stricken ones rolled about on the floor and tried to tear 

 off their clothing; a feeling of suffocation accompanies the 

 nausea, and occasionally some one dies. 



Beyond the ridge the country is level or gently rolling 

 and there are numerous clear blue lakes some of consid- 

 erable size. Immense flocks of doves make this upland 

 region their home, and ducks, gulls, and herons teemed 

 about the water. 



Just after dark we reached Puno, and a few minutes later 

 embarked on the Coya for the trip across Lake Titicaca. 

 The night was so cold and stormy that it was impossible to 

 spend much time on the upper deck, and the cabins were 

 so crowded that sleeping in comfort was impossible. The 

 ship was small and overcrowded with people of many colors 

 and nationalities; most of them spent the night in the din- 

 ing-saloon drinking and gaming. 



Dawn came at last, and shortly afterward the Coya 

 slowly wended her way through the reed-grown marshes 

 bordering the lake and tied up at the pier at Guaqui, on 

 the Bolivian side. Indians in reed rafts with sails made 

 of rushes dashed past and disappeared among the cattails, 

 and water-fowl of several species mostly ducks, coots, and 

 grebes paddled out into the ruffled water left in the wake 

 of the boat. 



It is unfortunate that this passage of the lake is made 

 at night. Nearly every one visiting the vast body of 

 water for the first time is eager to see as much of it as pos- 

 sible, both on account of its being the highest great lake in 

 the world (twelve thousand five hundred feet above sea- 

 level) and by reason of its associations with the nation of 

 the Incas. 



