578 



The National Geographic Magazine 



and endeavoring with all of her energies 

 to develop the riches with which Provi- 

 dence has endowed her soil. 



If I have not tired your kind attention 

 I will draw a rapid sketch of the present 

 conditions of my country, her govern- 

 ment, and the work being done to make 

 productive the mineral and vegetable 

 wealth of her territory. 



THE GEOGRAPHY OF BOLIVIA 



The great geological disturbances that 

 in remote ages transformed the continent 

 of South America and produced the won- 

 derful upliftings of the Andes are very 

 marked in Bolivia. This mountain chain, 

 traversing the whole length of the conti- 

 nent, divides itself in Bolivia into two 

 principal branches — the one of the west, 

 forming a kind of wall between the sea 

 and the interior, closely follows the coast ; 

 the other, extending toward the east and 

 known as the Cordillera Real, presents a 

 series of majestic peaks eternally re- 

 splendent in crowns of snow and lifting 

 their heads to heights of more than 

 21,000 feet, as the Illimani, and the II- 

 lampu, with 21,700, and others equally 

 imposing. 



The high plateau of Bolivia occupies 

 an area of more than 66,000 square miles, 

 with a mean altitude of from 10,000 to 

 13,000 feet above sea-level. It is difficult 

 to say whether the obstacles offered by 

 the vast mountain walls to free traffic 

 and the communication of the people is 

 not more than compensated by the pro- 

 digious quantity of minerals they con- 

 tain, and that make Bolivia one of the 

 richest countries of the globe. 



The forests and vast plains extending 

 eastward, with about 7,000 miles of navi- 

 gable rivers, comprise a fertile agricul- 

 tural territory embracing more than 

 300,000 square miles. 



The total area of Bolivia is more or 

 less 709,000 square miles, and it is there- 

 fore the third nation of South America, 

 as regards size ; but unfortunately the 

 population does not yet correspond to its 

 extensive territory, amounting only to a 

 little more than 2^4 millions. 



As the Spaniards settled first in the- 

 mining regions, the section of Bolivia- 

 situated east of the Cordillera Real,- 

 which includes the extensive territories 

 watered by the tributaries of the Amazon. 

 and the Plata, is the least populated. 

 There are found the forests, filled with 

 fine woods suitable for all industrial pur- 

 poses, such as railway ties, building and. 

 cabinet-making. Some of these woods- 

 are as hard as iron. Rubber, Peruvian, 

 bark, and a multitude of useful and me- 

 dicinal plants abound in this soil, whose- 

 wonderful fertility could easily support 

 many millions of inhabitants. The cof- 

 fee and cocoa are conceded to be of the 

 finest qualit}', and fruits and all tropical 

 products are abundant. The climate is 

 generally healthful and suitable for set- 

 tlement by European races. 



The mean temperature of the lowlands 

 of the Amazon to an altitude of 2,000 feet 

 above sea-level is 74° ; to an altitude of 

 8,000, it is 66° ; and in the central plain, 

 where the altitude varies from 10,000 to 

 12,000 feet, it is 50°. It is calculated 

 that to every 181 meters of ascent in the 

 mountains there is a drop of one degree 

 in the temperature. 



It may be said that in Bolivia there are 

 only two seasons — the rainy season, which 

 corresponds to summer, and extends 

 from December to May, and the dry, or 

 winter, season, lasting from May to De- 

 cember. In the latter months it seldom 

 rains and the sky is clear and bright. 

 The rains are more copious in the east, 

 and at times the rivers overflow and rise 

 as high as ten meters above their ordi- 

 nary level. 



Almost all of the navigable rivers of 

 Bolivia flow into the Amazon, the most 

 important being the Beni, which receives 

 the Madre de Dios, the Orton, and others 

 before reaching its confluence with the 

 Mamore, vsdien it takes the name of Ma- 

 deira, one of the most powerful tribu- 

 taries of the Amazon. Unfortunately 

 the navigation of this great river is ob- 

 structed by a series of very dangerous 

 rapids. The government of Brazil has 

 agreed bv treatv to construct a railroad: 



