1000062609_037

INTERNATIONAL AMERICAN CONFERENCE.

139

cheaply provitled with pro-yisions ancl meat,

t~1e

Ut?dertaking

'~ouhl

prove to be the

most prolitahle, lliore parttcularly as the eugtneenug dtfficultte:> to be surmonnted

arenotformi!lable. No proposition has as yet been mude to the Government, the de–

cision of tbe London board having first to be heard; but it ·eems probable that the

unuMtaking will be commenced. Owing to tbe complete service on tbe coast offered

steamers, the milways constructed or projected in Pern have hada route lead.ing

from tbe ports inland, and tbís possible departure from the cnstornary plan is regarJed

witb much interest. Another proposed railway has been surveyed, nnder Govern–

ment supervisiou, frorn tbe Cerro de Paseo to Port Sah·atiou, on tbe rivet' Pichis, a

stream flowing down to the Pacbitea, one oftlw Pernvian headwaters of the Amazon.

The road, íf constructed, offers no especial difficulties, aud would forma connectiou

betweeu Cerro de Paseo, the nltimate terminus of the Oroya Railway, anda point on

tbe Pichis,

204

miles distan

ti,

where steamers urawiug

feet of water can readily

~trrive,

and tlleu proceeding down to tbe Pachitea, carry tlle valuable products of

tbat region, principally India rubber, dye-woods, fruit, etc., to markets ou theAmazon

and beyond. This road, when completed and counectiug witb the

pr~jected

prolonga–

tiou of the Oroya t.o the Cerro de Paseo, woulcl open up tbe rich Aruazoníau region

enterprise from this portio

of tbe Republic, commnnication between the two points

at present being so difficult of accornplishmeut aud so expensive as to preveut all

profitable trade.

Dnring the past year tbe Government at Lima has formed several military colonies

composecl of half-pay officers and 'eteran soldiers, which have proceedecl to the coun–

try

near the Pachitea for the pnrpose of fouudiug settlemeuts aud openlll<T up those

districts to comruerce. The informa:ion recei ved from tbese expeditions corrobonLtes

the general descriptious regarding the natural wealth of tho e sections, aud the Gov–

ernment is aiding the colonists with the limited means at its disposal.

The developmeut and prolongatiou of the great railways,

pon which such large

amounts of money bave been expended, depencl

pon the action to be taken uy Con–

gress regardiug the proposals made by the boudholders of Peru abroad, wbo:e capital

has been employed in the undertaki.ugs, to the Goverument at Lima. To tbe general

disappioutmeut, andas the clepartment was duly informed, thi propo

'al,

kuown as

tbe Grace-Aranibar contract, was not acted upon by

Con~ress

at íts last session owing

to certaiu animaclversions made ag:linst several of the c1anses uy the Goverumeut of

Cbili, and qlthough the Pre ideut at the opening of the

Cou~ress

now in session did

not refer to the contract in bis inauguratory message, bis silence is explained by the

official journals of Lima from the circnmetance that as not ouly the Cllilian but the

Briti. h Goverument has interested itself in tlle matter, the commnnication made by

tbe Executive to tbe legislature, orto be made, must be of a reserved character. On

tbe snccessfn! issue of this coutract depends, it i beheved, tbe fature progress of

Peru. Should it be ratified, the necessary capital tor the completion of the railways

would be furnished by the bondholclers, who thns eek to promote their ínterests, be–

coming the holders of the roads for

long period of time and gi ving a participation

of profits to the Government, and at the eame time giving an opportunity for labor

a.~d

assuring the industriously inclined of lucrativa occnpation. Before clo. ing this

d1 patch it may be possible to report sorne actiou ofCongress regarding the importaut

matter.

Numerously-signed petitions from different portions ofthe country llave beeu pre–

sented to the Government, nrging the adoption of this contract, but, as has been

sta:t~d,

we are in ignorance at the present moment of its prospects of succPss. Tbe

Brtttsh minister at Lima received information from his Governmeot a sbort time

sin~~

to the effect that Great Britain conld not entert:tin the conditions desired by

Ch1h whicb, it is thonght, were of a natnre seeking to introdnce sorne di positions

!egarding the territory of Arica and Tacna, held by Chili for a period of ten year ,

loto a contract purely roercantile in its character, and the English cabinet desired

Peru to be made acquainted with the favorable views it entertains re pecting the

proposed coutract,

which tbe interest of British creditors woulcl be as ured and

tJho e of Pern certainly advanced.

(Report by Uuited States Consul Brent, Callao.

une 30,

88.)

BOLIVIA.

The topograpbical features of this country are mnch tbe same as tho e of Ecuaf1or

and Peru, so far a

the platean and the ea.stern

topes of the .Andes are concerned. Tbe

Cordillera of the Andlls is clivided into two part., betwe n which líe

tbe basin of

Lake Titicaca, Lake Poopo, and their tributary streams. This ba in has an altitude

of 11,000 to 13,000 feet above the sea, and

500 or 600 miles in length and from

l50 miles in widtb.

is so surronnded by mountains that no water escapes except by

vaporation. On its sonthern edge is

~itnated

the city of Poto i, the higbe

in the