A LONGITUDINAL JOURNEY THROUGH CHILE 



259 



rights granted Chileans, and other legal 

 knots, seem to have blighted the scheme. 



IN THE NEW WORLD SWITZERLAND 



At Puerto Varas we left the railway 

 for a side trip, via the lake route, across 

 the southern Andes. This is one of the 

 loveliest regions I have ever visited. The 

 Chileans call it the New World Switzer- 

 land. There is a chain of four lakes, two 

 on either side of the continental divide, 

 with wooded stretches between. 



The first lake, Llanquihue (a Mapuche 

 name), is an ultra-marine sheet of water, 

 with forest - encircled shores. From 

 Puerto Varas we steamed across the lake 

 toward Mount Osorno. Osorno is one of 

 the noblest mountains in the entire An- 

 dean range — isolated, conical, snow- 

 draped, not unlike Nippon's sacred Fuji. 



The journey from Lake Llanquihue to 

 the second lake, Todos los Santos (All 

 Saints), is made by automobile during the 

 summer ; by coach when the roads are 

 very muddy. We made it in the saddle, 

 always our favorite mode of transporta- 

 tion, through enchanting woods, now rich 

 in nuts and wild berries, across grassy 

 flower-strewn fields, beside the merry 

 little Petrohue River. 



Lake Todos los Santos is just at Mount 

 Osorno's feet, emerald green, with heavily 

 wooded shores showing few habitations. 

 A second boat ride of several hours 

 brought us, at the end of the first day's 

 journey, to the Swiss inn at Peulla. 



The second day's journey is over the 

 Andean pass, here only 3,445 feet above 

 sea-level, to little Lake Frias, in Argen- 

 tina, and on to big Lake Nahuel-Huapi. 



From the town of San Carlos de Bari- 

 loche, on the shore of the last-named lake, 

 the journey can be continued by automo- 

 bile and rail to Buenos Aires. Many Ar- 

 gentines and Chileans cross the continent 

 by this route in the summer time. 



The Argentine lake region has already 

 been made a national park, and in time 

 the Chilean side will be improved with 

 metaled highways, so that automobiles 

 may be used all the year round. No other 

 transcontinental route south of Peru can 

 boast of such magnificent scenery. 



Returning to Puerto Varas, we contin- 

 ued on to Puerto Montt, on the Gulf of 

 Ancud, where the longitudinal railway 



Photograph by Harriet Chalmers Adams 



WOODEN CLOGS IN PLACE OE RUBBERS 



Southern Chile is one of the rainiest sections 

 of the world. On the muddy roads wooden 

 clogs are worn over the shoes in place of rub- 

 bers. This little fellow is selling overshoes at 

 the railroad station in Temuco. 



ends. The only Chilean railroads south 

 of this point are the line which connects 

 the towns of Ancud and Castro, on the 

 Island of Chiloe, and a privately owned 

 stretch of rail near Punta Arenas. 



ANCUD SEAT OE A SHELL-EISH INDUSTRY 



Backed by evergreen hills, facing a 

 crescent shore, lies the pretty little town 

 of Puerto Montt, a busy port of southern 

 Chile. From here steamers sail through 

 the inland passage, that maze of archi- 

 pelagoes, to the Strait of Magellan and 



