REPUBLIC OF BOLIVIA. 



103 



freshing himself with the juice at one end of a stalk, while his little child 

 tickled another one's nose, and made it laugh with the flower. Such is 

 the value and uses of this wild vegetable production. 



We cannot understand why the population of those mountains have 

 not cleared more lands at the base of the Andes, where their children 

 would find beautiful flowers, and the men the real sugar-stalk ; where 

 they might tickle their noses with the fragrance from rich pine-apples 

 and oranges, and where their tables might be loaded with the choicest 

 vegetable productions. At the headwaters of the Madre-de-Dios Peru 

 has a garden, but the lands in all directions seem almost a desert. 



When Pizarro came with his followers, they found the mountains filled 

 with silver ; they helped themselves, and the Indians assisted them in 

 doing so. Little or no attention was paid by the Spaniards to the culti- 

 vation of the soil, to the manufacture of wool, or the commercial re- 

 sources of the eastern country. 



As we step across the totora floating-bridge, we feel grateful for the 

 many hospitable favors the kind people of Peru have extended to 

 us as strangers. We shook hands with the old Indian governor, who 

 was polite enough to introduce us to the custom-house officers and 

 military commander in Bolivia. He laughed when told he was not a 

 good Inca, because he did not believe that the evaporation was great 

 enough to carry off all the surplus water from Titicaca, and that his 

 ancient deity drank the water from this uplifted basin, and kept it from 

 overflowing. He lit his paper cigar, and wanted to know when we were 

 coming back. 



There are only three or four government houses in sight on the Boliv- 

 ian side of the river. The military commandant was very civil ; he re- 

 quested the custom-house officer to let us off easy, saying " they came to 

 serve our country." The baggage was all taken off the backs of the 

 mules ; one or two trunks examined. The commander took great interest 

 in our instruments ; a woman in her riding dress begged permission to ex- 

 amine a needle and thread case which struck her fancy ; she seemed to 

 think it hard that a man had to do his own sewing. 



Our road, dusty, rocky, and rough, Jay along the southern shore of 

 the lake. On the right were dry, barren hills ; on the left, deep blue 

 waters ; and ahead, the heavy snow-capped range of the Andes, looked 

 as though their weight was too much for the world to bear. The noon- 

 day sun is hot, but the east wind blows in our faces from among the 

 snow peaks, which may be called the South American fan. 



The winds from the Atlantic ocean rapidly run through the ravines 

 and gorges of the great mountain range. The eternal glaciers cool the 

 tropical atmosphere. Our animals travel with ease ; as they breathe the 



