316 



The National Geographic Magazine 



covered with herbage and with innumer- 

 able j^ellow flowers that give a greenish- 

 yellow tint to the pasturage that can be 

 detected from the sea. Lying at a 

 height of from 1,500 to 2,000 feet above 

 the sea, the lomas give abundant and 

 healthful food to a great part of the cat- 

 tle of the coast during the months of 

 June, July, and August. 



The scenery in the Sierra or highlands 

 is totally different from what is seen on 

 the coast. The plateaus are surrounded 

 by high mountains of rocky formation, 

 covered with snow and perpetual ice on 

 the summits. 



Besides the mineral wealth, of which 

 I shall make special mention, the follow- 

 ing products are characteristic of this 

 region: The coca shrub is one of the 

 principal crops cultivated on the Sierra. 

 It is quite a special product of the soil 

 of certain parts of the Sierra. From its 

 leaves cocaine is made, which is exported 

 to Europe. Hamburg is doubtless the 

 best market for cocaine. The market 

 price of coca leaf is 25 cents per pound. 



The cultivation of the coca plant is 

 carried on at an altitude of 5,000 to 6,000 

 feet, and also in some of the warm val- 

 leys on the eastern side of the Andes. 

 The seed is sown in January, the young 

 plants being removed in the following 

 year to specially prepared coca fields, 

 where they are planted in rows. They 

 continue to yield crops for forty years. 

 When ready the leaves are picked, then 

 sun-dried, and afterwards packed in 

 bags. The trees soon recover their fo- 

 liage. Of this plant Prescott says: "The 

 dried leaves mixed with a little lime 

 form a preparation for chewing, much 

 like the betel leaf of the East. With a 

 small supply of this coca in his pouch, 

 and a handful of roasted maize, the Pe- 

 ruvian Indian of our time performs his 

 wearisome journeys day after day, with- 

 out fatigue, or, at least, without com- 

 plaint. Even food, the more invigorat- 

 ing, is less grateful to him than his loved 

 narcotic. ' ' 



Wheat, barley, and oats are grown 

 here, and with better transportation fa- 

 cilities they will supply the whole 

 country. 



Peru is the home of the potato. It is 

 grown on the coast, but being subject to 

 frost, the Peruvians rely chiefly on the 

 crops grown in the Sierra. The best 

 crops of potatoes are raised in Huama- 

 tanga, about 66 miles from Lima, at an 

 elevation of 7,000 feet. Various pro- 

 ducts unknown in Europe, such as 

 quinua, alcacer, and others, grow freely 

 here. 



Regarding the orchids, Humboldt 

 wrote : ' ' Such is the number and va- 

 riety that the entire life of an artist 

 would be too short to delineate all the 

 magnificent Orchidea which adorn the 

 recesses of the deep valleys of the Pe- 

 ruvian Andes. ' ' A good means of living 

 could always be ensured by hunting out 

 the many varieties, which always find a 

 ready market in European countries. 



The Sierra is the center for live stock, 

 and provides meat and wool for the 

 whole country. Upon the Punas, the 

 coldest regions, live the alpaca, the 

 llama, and the vicuna, and sheep and 

 cattle are found in considerable num- 

 bers in the whole of this region. 



The alpaca lives in a domestic state. 

 It much resembles the llama, but has a 

 smaller neck, and the head is relatively 

 shorter. It is shorn every two years, 

 and furnishes a wool more than 8 inches 

 in length and weighing 6 pounds. 



The vicuna differs only from the llama 

 in the color and quality of its wool. 

 The color is a kind of ruddy yellow. 

 The wool is fine as silk and worth four 

 times as much as that of the alpaca. 

 The vicuna still lives in a wild state upon 

 the high Andes. A few rare specimens 

 have been domesticated when captured 

 young. 



During the last few years they have 

 succeeded in obtaining a cross between 

 the vicuna and alpaca, called pacovi- 

 cuna. 



