TOPOGRAPHY OF BOLIVIA. 



387 



and for the reduction of the ores. In the neighbourhood of Potosi are some 

 mineral waters. 



Sucre, which at the beginning of 1892 was still the official capital of Bolivia, 

 lies like Potosi in the upper Pilcomayo basin, but on the opposite slope and at a 

 much lower elevation (8,850 feet). It was owing to this relatively moderate 

 altitude that it owed its importance during the flourishing days of Potosi, whose 

 wealthy inhabitants had made it a health resort and place of rest. At that time 

 it bore the Quichua name of Chuquichaca {Chuquisaca), that is, " Golden Bridge," 

 a name suggestive of the boundless mineral treasures of this region. It also bore 



Fig. 146. — Potosi and Sucre. 

 Scale 1 : 2,000,000. 









20' 



65 



Gold. Silver. 



as Miles. 



the name of La Plata {Chuquisaca de la Plata), while it received its present official 

 title in honour of Marshal Sucre, who gained the decisive battle of Ayacucho. 



Sucre stands on a sloping terrace at the foot of the mountains, where it is 

 surrounded by deep gorges in the centre of a superb amphitheatre of lofty 

 summits. Its university and colleges earned for it the perhaps somewhat 

 ambitious title of the "Athens of Peru," at a time when it still belonged to that 

 region. Sucre is at present an important agricultural centre for the cereals and 

 other produce of the temperate lands. Its potters prepare little vases of an 

 argillaceous earth, which are sucked like chocolate, and the moderate use of this 

 clay does not seem to be injurious. As at La Paz, "clay dumplings" are eaten 

 with potatoes (Weddell). 



