448 The Andes and the Amazons. 



ramos, without mines worth the working, without a sign 

 of life save now and then a condor, a few herds of Pe- 

 ruvian sheep and scattered tufts of wiry grass, cacti, and 

 compositse. The great export from Southern Peru, alpaca, 

 does not exceed 10,000 quintals a year. Surely, we say, 

 the government will not have a month's work for this road 

 in a year. But so would we misjudge our Pacific Rail- 

 road as it crosses the Great Desert. When the Oroya Rail- 

 way shall join the Pichis River, and the Arequipa shall be 

 connected with the heart of Bolivia, and thence with the 

 projected lines in the Argentine Confederation, we shall 

 look for dividends. The railroads of Peiu, as every where 

 else, will develop new life in the people and new sources 

 of wealth in the country. 



But, letting Peru look after the proceeds, let us glance 

 at these great enterprises as marvels of engineering and as 

 the creations of American genius. 



The Pacasmayo Railroad. — Situated in lat. 7° 30' S. 

 Termini, Pacasmayo and La Vina. Length (including 

 branches), 93 miles; finished. Contract taken by Mr. 

 Meiggs, at $5,800,000 cash. Starting with an iron mole, 

 half a mile long, it passes up the valley of the Rio Jequ- 

 etepeque (or " Hidden River "), through the village of San 

 Pedro, the capital of a rich agricultural region, having 

 vast plautations of sugar - cane, rice, coffee, and corn ; 

 thence over a desert, which, however, can be easily re- 

 claimed by irrigation, and ends at an altitude of 4000 

 feet, near the silver-mines of Chilete. A branch leads to 

 the busy village of Guadalupe. One can now go from 

 the coast to Cajamarca in a short day. 



The Chimbote Raileoad. — Situated in lat. 9°. Termi- 

 ni, Chimbote and Huaraz. Length, 172 miles; finished, 

 60. Contract taken by Mr. Meiggs, at $24,000,000 cash. 

 It passes up the valley of the Santa, and then southerly 



