Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
patria
, a thing the better class and rich white
patriotas
, excepting those who are officers,
would scorn to do. It is a-well-known fact, and I have it from good authority, that these sturdy
mountaineers do not resist the hot climate of the lowland, and malaria, tuberculosis and other
dread diseases claim many victims among them.
I am certain that the horses enjoyed their stay in Huancayo as much as I did, and I was
sorry when I had to take them out of their alfalfa field. It would not take us long now to cross
the last mountain range.
Recentlandslidesagainforcedmetomakealargedetour,butluckilyafairtrailledtowards
Tarma, a charming little town in a beautiful fertile valley where the climate is one of eternal
spring. A very good road connects Tarma with Oroya where the Cerro de Pasco Mining Cor-
poration has its smelting plant. I followed this winding road for a few miles, and then took a
short cut over a mountain to save time and distance.
The mining corporation has a very good hotel in Oroya, and the officials did everything to
make me comfortable. Near the smelter the Americans have even made a golf links, and the
'Inca Club' has an up-to-date clubhouse where every comfort exists, including an excellent
dance floor, library, music rooms, and the inevitable American bowling alleys. Not far from
Oroya are the Cerro de Pasco mines, where some of the employees have founded a Mason-
ic lodge, and as the place is some 17,000 feet above sea level they have very appropriately
named this lodge 'The Roof of the World'.
I visited the smelters, and next day continued over the mountains to another American-op-
eratedmine,whereIwasagaintreatedwithgreatkindness.Thefollowingdaywecrossedover
theTiclio,thehighestpointwereachedinthethirdAndeanrange,some16,500feetabovethe
sea. The highest railroad in the world passes near to this peak. I was happy and proud when
we came to the top of the last climb, for from there on travelling would all be on a steep down
grade until we reached Lima, the capital of Peru. Owing to the atmospheric pressure we had
tomarchverycautiously,fortheslightesteffortinsuchaltitudesexhaustsone,althoughifone
happens to go downhill it is unnoticeable.
Between two gigantic walls of rock, towering on both sides of us, we stumbled down a
steep and rocky trail towards Lima. Up these formidable canyons and over giddy chasms puff
the trains and the more I looked at this stretch of the Central Peruvian Railway, the more did
I admire this wonderful and daring piece of engineering, an outstanding example of what hu-
man brain, energy, and initiative can accomplish.
