i62 



BOLIVIA. 



8. Face of the Country. The surface of Bolivia is unequal, now rising into cruins of stu- 

 pendous mountains, now stretching into immense plains. It is generally elevated. 



POLITICAL GEOGRAPHY 



1. Divisions. Bolivia is divided into 7 departments, viz : Chuquisaca, Oruro, Cochabam" 

 ba, Santa Cruz de la Sierra, La Paz, Tarija, and Potosi. 



2. Towns. Chuquisaca is the capital of the State. It is also called La Plata, and was 

 formerly the capital of Charcas, an extensive province comprehending all the southeastern part 

 of Peru. It is a neat, cheerful, and respectable place, though not very populous. Potosi, 

 once the most populous and extensive of all the cities of South America, is situated at the 

 base of the celebrated mountain from which it takes its name. With its suburbs it once cover- 

 ed a vast'exlent of ground ; but these suburbs are now in ruins, and the whole population is 

 reduced to 12,000. It stands in a bleak, barren, and very mountainous district of the eastern 

 chain of the Andes, in a glen watered by a branch of the Pilcomayo. The country around is 

 barren beyond description, but the abundance of metallic produce in the vicinity amply com- 

 pensates for the poverty of the soil. Provisions of all kinds are brought from a distance on 

 mules and asses, to supply the wants of the population. 



The climate of Potosi is very variable. Early in tlie morning it is cold and piercing ; from 

 noon to 3 o'clock the sun is exceedingly hot, while in the shade it is very cold ; the evenings 

 are serene, and sometimes of a summer mildness. In the opinion of Temple and other travel- 

 ers, the climate is fine, wholesome, and bracing. For 5 days out of 6, Potosi enjoys a fine, 

 brilliant, unclouded atmosphere, a spotless canopy of the deepest and purest azure ; and so dry 

 is the atmosphere, that, in pulling off a flannel waistcoat or worsted stockings in the dark, sparks 

 are distinctly seen. Snow and thunder storms are frequent, and the latter are sublime and 

 terrific. As this city may be said literally to be above the clouds, the blue lightnings dart 

 round in ten thousand dazzling flashes, and lose themselves in the ground ; whilst the thunders 

 roll from mountain to mountain in long continued peals, absolutely stunning to the senses, and 

 baffling the powers of description. Dark clouds of the blackest hue, with brilliant mixtures 

 of blue and gieen, beautify the scene of awful magnificence, whilst the storm rages and blazes 

 in the valley beneath. The mountain itself rises above the town like a colossal sugar-loaf, of 

 a reddish-brown color, to the height of 2,370 feet. Though half an hour's walk distant, it 

 seems so near that, were it to fall over, to all appearance it would overwhelm the city. 



Potosi at first sight appears very clean and handsome, as the outsides of all the houses are 

 whitewashed. This, however, is mere deception, for with a few exceptions, their interior is 

 very filthy. The Indians are well called swinish, and their superiors are not much better. 

 The churches, once exceedingly rich, are now plundered, dismantled, and deserted. The 

 Mint, an uncouth pile erected in 1562, at the expense of 2,000,000 of dollars, still remains. 

 On one side of the Plaza Mayor, or great square, is the government house, a long, low range 

 of buildings, and on the other stands a prodigious mass of gray granite, intended for the cathe- 

 dral, but not yet finished. In the middle is a pile which Temple supposed to be a shot-manu- 

 factory, but which proved to be a national monument in honor of Bolivar. At the distance of 



dollars. After 1006, the produce gradually diminished, 

 especially since 1694. From IBflC to 1()88, its annn:il pro- 

 duce was never below 350,000 marks, or 3,015,000 dol- 

 lars. During the latter half of the 16th century, if gener- 

 ally supplied from 300,000 to 400,000 marks; a yearly 

 produce this, too considerable to allow us to advance, with 

 Robertson, that these mines are no longer worth working. 

 They are not, indeed, the first in the known world, but 

 they may still be ranked immediately after those of Gua- 

 na.xuato, in Mexico. That they do not yield so much as 

 formeily, is not at all owing to their exhaustion, but to 

 the ignorance of the Spanish miners, by whose unskilful 

 management most of the pits are allowed to remain full 

 of water. Steam engines, the powers of which are so 

 well undi^r-stood in tliis country, are here wholly unknown. 

 In the opinion of Helms, the mines of Potosi might easily 

 be made, with moderate skill and management, to yield 

 20,000,000, or evon 30.000,000 dollars annvially. In ad- 

 dition to 2,000 Indians employed as miners, there are 

 15,000 glamas, and 15,000 mules, employed in carrying 

 the ore from the mountain of Potosi to the amalffamation 



works. The following table will show the produce, reg- 

 istered and unregistered, of the mines of Potosi, down to 

 1803: 



Years. Marlis. Dollars. 



From 1545 to 15.5() - - 15,000,000 127,500,000 

 " 1550 to 1578 - - 5,705,827 49,009,530 

 " 1578 to 1736 - - 71,818,686 010,458,835 

 " 1736 to 17S9 - - 15,074,044 128,129,374 

 " 1789 to 1803 - - 5,411,704 46,000,000 



961,097,739 



Total in 258 years - - 113,070,321 

 Allowance of the value of the 



piaster before 1600 - - 20,351,765 220,000,000 

 Add one fourth of the above 



total registered produce for 



contraband - - - 34,738,110 295,274,435 



Total of registered and unre- 

 gistered produce extracted 

 from the mines of Potosi, 



from 1545 to 1803 - 174,160,196 1,470,372,174." 



— Bell 



