AREQUIPA 
with fluted sides. Great mounds of blackened volcanic 
sand were quite frequent, the railway winding its way 
around immense basins formed by depressions in the land. 
Then we entered a beautiful green narrow valley along 
a streamlet intersecting the plateau. 
From Mollendo the railway gradually rose to an ele¬ 
vation of 2,301 metres (7,549 feet) at Arequipa, where 1 
remained for the night. 
Arequipa was an interesting city with its picturesque 
arcades, its magnificent church of Spanish architecture 
with marvellous ancient wood carvings, and its prettily 
laid-out gardens. I visited the astronomical observatory 
of Harvard College, a few miles from the town, where 
excellent work is being done in star photography from 
that eminently suitable spot for the study of the sky. 
The observatory was situated at an elevation of 8,060 
feet. It worked in conjunction with the Harvard ob¬ 
servatory in North America. By having thus one station 
north and another south of the equator, the observations 
made by that institution included the stars in all parts of 
the sky from the North to the South Pole. A 24-inch 
Bruce photographic telescope, a 13-inch Boy den telescope, 
an 8-inch Bache telescope, and a 4-inch meridian photo¬ 
meter were the principal instruments used at the Arequipa 
station. 
I left Arequipa on the morning of February ninth, 
going through country of volcanic tufa and red sand, with 
immense furrows quite devoid of vegetation. Occasion¬ 
ally we came upon great masses of boulders cast by some 
volcanic force upon the surface of tufa and sand. Then 
the railway gracefully climbed in great curves over a 
plateau nearly 14,000 feet high, where tufts of grass could 
be seen, giving a greenish appearance to the landscape. 
We travelled along that great table-land, occasion¬ 
ally seeing a herd of llamas stampede at the approach 
of the train, now and then observing circular stone 
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