RAILWAYS OP PERU. 



349 



incline which is a triumph of engineering skill ; but it had not yet connected the 

 capital with any important place on the plateaux. Lastly, the Pacasmayo line 

 had not yet surmounted the gorges of the Rio Jequetepeque. 



These undertakings were arrested by the war, and several lines, deprived of 

 their rolling-stock, were abandoned, and fell out of repair. After a decade of 

 inaction the work has been slowly resumed, and in 1892 the Arequipa-Puno line 



Fig. 136. — Lima-Oroya Railway; View taken at Chicla. 



completed its northern branch over the Vilcanota Pass as far as Sicuani. At 

 three points it attains an altitude of over 1^3,000 feet, rising at the Raya Pass to 

 14,180 feet. But the Oroya line crosses the cordillera at the still higher elevation 

 of 15,650 feet. 



But much remains to be done before the system can be regarded as even 

 roughly completed. Lines are especially needed to connect the Ufivigable 

 Amazonian rivers with the Pacific seaports, where the transport of goods varies 



