THE WONDERS OF BOLIVIA.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLVI, Issue 13948, 2 January 1909, Page 5 (Supplement)

THE WONDERS OF BOLIVIA.

A LAND OF CHARM AND MYSTERY. The Hon. H. Dundas, His Majesty's Consul at La Paz, in his annual report to the Foreign Office, gives some interesting details with regard to the topography, climate, and people of Bolivia. Dealing with the Grand Plateau, or Altiplanicie Occidental, he says: This immense lofty tableland, at an altitude of 12,600 ft, surrounded by a series of snow-capped mountains, stretches from Isdeg. to 22deg. S. lat., and lies between the Andes Occidentals and the Cordillera Real. The area of the Altiplanicie measures 6500 square miles, its extremelength being 519 miles and its mean breadth 80 miles. Thus Grand Plateau is cut into two portions by the Llica and Tahua or Salinas ridge, the upper or northera portion of the plateau containing Lako Titicaca (the highest body of soft water in the world), measuring over 3200 square miles; Lake Poopo, over 386 square miles; and the Coipasa Marsh, 120 square miles in extent, besides severel rivers of portable water.

Tho lower or southern portion of the plateau is characterised by a lack of streams, j by the saline nature of the soil, and a solid deposit of salt, measuring 290 square miles, floating in a subterranean lake. Tho general features of this plateau lead to the belief that it was originally an inland sea, the enormous horizontal salt layers and deposit* and tho large lakes, having no visible outlet and considerable depth, seeming to confirm this view. This system of highlands is composed of many smaller tablelands called pampas or plains, the principal being the Huasco and Chacarilla Plains. ' The soil in the greater part of these plains is covered by a thin layer of sodium or magnesium salts, the- territory being partly arid, although enormously rich by reason of its mineral deposits. • MOUNTAIN' PASSES. The several mountain chains of the Bolivian system form natural passes or gorges, most of them at an imposing height, affording access from one section of the country to the other. In the Cordillera Occidental the lowest and most frequently used of these passes to descend from the Altiplanicie or Grand Plateau to the coast are the Sajama Pass, leading to either Tacna or Arica; the Collpa Pass, leading to Camina or the port, of Piragua ; and the lluba, at an altitude of 15,500 ft, leading, to Tarapaca and other ports in the same province. On the Cordillera Oriental the principal passes are the Catantica, 15,500 ft high, leading from tho Altiplanicie to the plains on the north-west; the Llachisani, 15,500 ft high, leading to the deep valleys of the north and thence to the Amazon; the Unduavi or La Paz, 14,600 ft in altitude; the Challa, 13,900 ft high; the Livichuco, the Guasaco and the Santa Fe at elevations of 15,500, 15,500, and 15,800 feet, respectively. A.V IMPOSING SPECTACLE. Owing to the peculiar topographical formation of the country, electric and other phenomena are of constant occurrence, the principal zone where such disturbances take place being the Altiplanicie or Grand Plateau. As the atmosphere is heavily charged with electricity, both in summer and winter, dry or electric storms are of frequent occurrence both on the plateau and in the valleys. Before the rainy season sets in, electrical accumulation becomes considerable on the plateau region, its most violent manifestations taking place toward the eastern section of the tablelands. An electrical storm in these regions is always a, most imposing spectacle, as the tremendous force of the wind, almost equal to a hurricane, and the heavy electrical accumulation ill the clouds produce terrible atmospheric explosions and violent detonations, while the surface of the ground sparkles and crackles. During this season in Bolivia, when there have been no electrical storms for several days, large masses of clouds hang over the cordillera, covering it almost to its base, rising or descending according to the variation of the temperature of the lower atmospheric strata. In such case the accumulated clouds become luminous at night, shedding a tremulous bright halo, accompanied by intermittent flashes of most vivid light, until every mass of clouds becomes a powerful centre of incessant detonations, producing a constant low rumbling sound. : Sometimes this phenomenon takes place at a single point, as in 1878, when the Illampu peak, near the town of Sorata, suddenly became brilliantly lighted, while its surroundings were in total darkness. Besides these phenomena, mirage is also remarkable, especially on the Oruro Plains, toward the Atacama Desert, and in the Upper Chaco, especially during the winter. ANCIENT MONUMENTS. Of the ancient inhabitants nothing remains but legends and monuments, the hieroglyphics on which defy the modern scientist. Sufficient to say, that the ruins of Tiahuanaco point to very capable and skilful sculptors who flourished perhaps when Baalbec and Luxor were new and before King Solomon had built' his temple. By many it is believed that the Tiahuanaco, as seen to-day, is built on the site of a city 10,000 years old. The town as now beheld must have been deserted suddenly, for it is in an unfinished state.