Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 4.djvu/22

12 rivers flowing to the great mediterranean navigation sys tem of the Amazons in the north, or to the llio de la Plata. More than forty years ago the importance of opening up a river highway from eastern Bolivia to the llio Paraguay had impressed itself strongly on the Government, and large Brants and privileges were offered in encouragement of this object, the rivers Otuquis, Tucabaca, and Latirequiqui, flowing to the Paraguay about the 20th parallel, being looked to as probably affording the desired navigable way. As yet, however, though this plan has been frequently revived, no definite progress has been made in this direction. An expedition sent down the llio Pilcomayo in 1844 reported it innavigable. On the side of the Amazons, the rapids of the River Madeira, 18 in number, and extending over a distance of 230 miles, form a great natural barrier ; to overcome this and to connect the navigable upper tributaries in Bolivia with the navigation of the lower Madeira, a company was recently formed for the construc tion of a railroad along the interrupted portion of the course of the Madeira : this scheme also is for the present in abeyance. It seems probable, however, that the recent opening of regular navigation on the Rio Vermejo from the Paraguay to the upper Argentine province of Jujuy on the southern frontier of Bolivia may to some extent afford an outlet, and tend to develop the resources of that part of the country.

Bolivia lies, as has been noticed, for the most part within the tropical zone ; but from its peculiar formation, its climate and productions are dependent rather upon the elevation of different parts of the land than upon its geographical situation. In descending from the highest region of snow and ice to the low plains of rich tropical vegetation several zones or stages are distinguished. The name Puna brava is given to the uppermost mountain regions which rise above 12,500 feet to the snow limit : these arc scarcely inhabited by man, and are characterized by mosses and hardier grasses, the animal kingdom being represented by the vicuna, guanaco, llama, alpaca, viscacha, chinchilla, besides the condor and other birds of prey. The region be tween an elevation of 11,000 feet and the lower Puna brava is termed the Puna ; less cold than the former, it is suited for the growth of potatoes, barley, and rush-like grasses, upon which sheep, llamas, vicunas, &c., may feed. This division embraces the whole of the high plains of Bolivia, which are but scantily peopled or cultivated. Several species of cactus are found in these elevated regions, and especially the Cactus peruvianus, which sometimes grows to a height of from 20 to 30 or even 40 feet, and is serviceable for many purposes. Under the general name Cabezera de Voile are grouped the heads of the valleys descending to the lower lands, between 9500 and 11,000 feet in elevation, where the climate is temperate. These cultivable districts produce wheat, maize, and the ordinary vegetables. The Valle or Medio Yunga is the general name of the deeper portions of the valleys, between 0500 and 5000 feet, with warm climate, affording field and garden fruits in abundance. The Yunga, lastly, is the low tropical region, comprising all beneath 5000 feet, and producing all kinds of tropical fruits and vegetation. In the punas the air is always dry and perceptibly cold, though the temperature may rise high in the sun, and cold, cutting blasts of air from the mountains are of frequent occurrence. In the Valle and upper Yunga a perpetual spring seems to reign, and night frosts are rare. The western side of the Andes is completely rainless, all moisture-bearing clouds rolling up from the ocean being quickly evaporated, or condensed in the higher mountain regions in snow or hail ; but the whole of the remaining eastern region of Bolivia has a rainfall. In the lowlands this is irregular in season ; but in the upper regions of the Puna and the Cabezera de Valle, a rainy season generally begins in the middle of November and concludes in the beginning of March, often accompanied by furious thunder storms, with hail and snow in the higher regions. The climate of Potosi, at an elevation of 13,300 to 13,600 feet, is so various that in one day it frequently exhibits the vicissitudes of the four seasons of the year. Thus, during the night and the early part of the morning it is piercingly cold ; in the forenoon it resembles our fine weather in March ; in the afternoon the rays of the sun in so pure and attenuated an atmosphere are very powerful and scorchingly hot ; while towards evening the air usually becomes mild and serene. Strangers on first arriving in these higher plains are usually affected with difficulty of breathing, owing to the extreme rarity of the atmosphere ; they are likewise sufferers from dysentery, which, however, for the most part soon disappears, and in general the highlands are by no means unhealthy. Travellers in the higher regions are exposed to great danger and hardships owing to the storms which occasionally prevail, especially snow storms, which frequently produce the surumpi, or snow blindness, an affection which has proved fatal to some travellers. An infectious fever called &quot; fiebre ainarilla &quot; sometimes breaks out in the Indian villages of the Puna, causing great loss of life ; coughs and lung diseases are prevalent among the children in the punas, and do much injury among grown people in the Valle and Yungas. In descending through the eastern provinces towards the plains of Mojos and Chiquitos, all the gradations of climate are experienced down to that w hich characterizes the equinoctial regions of America, where intermittent &quot; terciana &quot; or cold fevers, dysenteries, and other diseases peculiar to warm climates prevail.

The animals which distinguish the more elevated parts of Bolivia are the guanaco, the llama, the alpaca (the first supposed to be the original from which the second and third varieties have been domesticated), and the vicuna. These animals, in their structure and habits, are all closely allied to the camel of Africa. Thus, an examination of the structure of the stomach shows that they are capable of existing during a considerable time without any supply of water, and in fact they are seldom seen to drink from the streams of their native mountains. The camel seems peculiarly well calculated to live in the arid and burning deserts of the Old World, and the form of its feet is singularly adapted for traversing rapidly these extensive plains ; whilst, on the other hand, the guanaco and the llama have their feet so constructed as to enable them with facility to ascend and descend the abrupt declivities, and to traverse the rugged and uneven passes which abound in these mountains. They seem likewise to frequent particularly those parts of the Cordillera of the Andes which are the most dry and arid, and which arc least clothed with forests and shrubbery. Thus, in the Cordil lera which separates the Argentine Republic from Chili, the guanacos are found in great numbers on the summits and eastern declivities, which are exceedingly arid and bare when compared with the western or Chili side, where the Andes in their whole extent are clothed to a certain elevation with a broad belt of forest trees arid evergreens, and where, at certain seasons of the year, there are heavy and continued rains. On this side guanacos are of comparatively rare occurrence. Their flesh is savoury when young, but not very palatable when full grown ; their wool, however, is very valuable to the Indians, who manu facture it into hats and various kinds of woollen stuffs ; and their skins, when tanned, are useful in making shoes and harness, The number of these animals in the country is estimated at not less than three millions about a third part of them, the full-grown males, are employed as 