Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 4.djvu/20

10 did not conceal their conviction that a stronger and more permanent form of government was essential to the public welfare. The latter view seems to have prevailed. In virtue of a decree, dated Bogota, the 27th August 1828, Bolivar assumed the supreme power in Colombia, and continued to exercise it until his death, which took place at San Pedro, near Santa Martha, on the 17th December 1830.

In the career of this remarkable man, which was often embittered and was perhaps shortened by the suspicions and slanders of his colleagues in the work of liberation, certain circumstances, apparently well established, stand out, which deserve particular mention. He expended nine-tenths of a splendid patrimony in the service of his country; and although he had for a considerable period unlimited control over the revenues of three countries, Colombia, Peru, and Bolivia,- he died without a shilling of the public money in his possession. He conquered the independence of three states, and called forth a spirit in the southern portion of the New World which can never be extinguished. He purified the administration of justice; he encouraged the arts and sciences; he fostered national interests; and he induced other countries to recognize that independence which was in a great measure the fruit of his own exertions. Bolivar's remains were removed in 1842 to Caracas, where a monument was erected to his memory; and in 1858 the Peruvians followed the example by erecting an equestrian statue of the liberator in Lima.



HIS name was given in honour of Bolivar (see last article) to a state in South America, formed in 1825 from the provinces of Upper Peru which formerly constituted part of the vice-royalty of Buenos Ayres. The bulk of the country extends from 10° to 23° S. lat., and from 58° to 71° W. long., and it is bounded on the N. by Peru and Brazil, on the E. by Brazil and Paraguay, on the S. by the Argentine Republic and Chili, and on the W. by the Pacific Ocean and Peru. The greater part of Bolivia is a mountainous and elevated country, more particularly at its western and central parts; but towards the east it becomes much less so, and at length terminates in extensive plains, which are bounded on the east by Brazil. From the Pacific coast the southern boundary of Bolivia runs along the 24th parallel of latitude (the limit decided by treaty with Chili in August 1866), to as far as the crest of the Andes; turning S. it follows the line of the mountains to 26° S. lat., in which parallel it crosses the plateau to the inner Cordillera, along which it lies N.N.E. to the 22d parallel. This line of latitude forms the boundary of territory which is certainly Bolivian, as far as the River Paraguay; but Bolivia, in common with the Argentine Republic and Paraguay, has claims on the unexplored territory of the Gran Chaco, which lies south of this line, and between the rivers Pilcomayo and Paraguay. From 22° on the River Paraguay, the frontier with Brazil was decided, by treaty of March 1867, to be a line following that river northward to the Bahia Negra in, along the Negra to its termination, and thence through the midst of the lagoons of Caceres, Mandioré, Gaiba, and Uberaba (lying immediately west of the Paraguay River), to Corixa Grande; thence in a straight line to Boa Vista and the source of the Verde; down that river to the Guapore, and along the latter to where the Beni joins it in S.; thence in a straight line towards the source of the River Javary (in 7° S.) The present Government of Bolivia appears inclined, however, to repudiate this treaty, and to return to the older frontier, which included the tributaries of the Amazons as far as  S. On the Peruvian or western frontier the boundary follows a more or less northerly direction from the mouth of the River Loa in Atacama, along the Cordillera, crossing Lake Titicaca, and passing north thence to the line running from the Beni to the Javary.

Before the formation of the republic, Bolivia, or the former province of Charcas, consisted of four great districts or "intendencias," which were under the rule of the viceroy of Rio de la Plata. These were—

1. Santa Cruz, formed of the districts of its bishopric—Mojos, Chiquitos, Santa Cruz, Valle Grande, Misque, and the special jurisdiction of its capital Cochabamba;

2. La Paz, consisting of the dioceses of its bishopric;

3. Potosi, comprising Tarija, Chichas, Lipez, Atacama, Porco, and Chayanta;

4. The province of La Plata, which embraced all remaining portions of the archbishopric.

At the present time the republic is divided politically into departments, provinces, and cantons. The departments, which are named La Paz de Ayacucho, Cochabamba, Potosí, Chuquisaca, Oruro, Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Tarija, Beni, and Atacama, have each one or two capital towns; the provinces and cantons have also each its chief place. Each department has a governor, who stands in direct communication with the Government; the subdivisions have their corregidors and alcaldes, who are subject to the governor.

The westerly departments of La Paz, Oruro, and Potosi are situated in the highest regions of the plateau of Bolivia, and are more valuable on account of their mineral riches than for their vegetable products, of which a coarse grass is characteristic. The first consists of a series of high ranges and deep valleys, in which the climate and production vary with the elevation; the second lies also in the high table-land or Puna region; both are rich in veins of gold, silver, and tin, but the mining of these has not yet been fully developed. The third, Potosi, belongs entirely to the highest regions of Bolivia, and is bare and dry, with a cold and rude but healthy climate; this is the greatest mining region of the country.

The central departments of Cochabamba, Chuquisaca, and Tarija lie partly on the high plateau, partly on the lower slopes and plains eastward, and pass thus through the whole series of changing climates and zones of production, from the bare high land to the tropical regions of the low lands. The first is eminently the granary of Bolivia and southern Peru, excelling in the cultivation of wheat; the industries of woollen and cotton manufactures are also most highly developed in the department, but its mines are networked. Chuquisaca, of which only a third part lies in the high land, is also a vegetable growing region, in which wheat, barley, rice, peas, vines, and all sorts of vegetables are cultivated; cattle and horses are also numerous. The forests of this department and of Tarija. which slope down to the wooded and pastoral plains of the tributaries of the Paraguay, afford many species of valuable timber.

The departments of Beni (or Veni) and Santa Cruz de la Sierra lie altogether in the low lands of the east, stretching to the Rio Maderia and the Paraguay. The former is as yet little explored, but is a land of tropical forests, rivers, and swamps, with an unhealthy climate. Santa Cruz is also characterized by a hot, damp atmosphere, but produces garden and field fruits in astonishing richness,—coffee, cocoa, vanilla, sugar-cane, maize, and cotton. The forests of both of these departments afford an infinity of valuable