IRLF 32 SEE GIFT OF PAP E R S FROM THE NOTES OF AN ENGINEER BY FKEDEKICK GLEASON COKJNING, M.E. DIPLOMIST ROYAL MINING ACADEMY, FREIBERG, SAXONY. MEMBER AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF MINING ENGINEERS, ETC. NEW YORK SCIENTIFIC PUBLISHING COMPANY 27 PARK PLACE 1889 CONTENTS. PAGE I. THE PANAMA CANAL, . . ... . . .5 II. THE LAKE OF TITICACA, BOLIVIA, S. A., . . . .22 III. A SKETCH OF THE BOLIVIAN REPUBLIC, SOUTH AMERICA, 31 IV. THE GOLD MINES OF THE TIPUANI RIVER, BOLIVIA, S. A., . 49 V. THE GOLD QUARTZ MINES OF GRASS VALLEY, NEVADA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA, . 64 VI. THE MILL OF THE NORTH STAR GOLD MINE, GRASS VALLEY, CALIFORNIA, .77 VII. THE CONCENTRATION OF ORES THE CORNING CONCEN- TRATOR, 85 VIII. UNPROFESSIONAL OFFICE AND LABORATORY MINING REPORTS, 92 IX. THE CHOICE AND LEGITIMATE OPERATION OF MINES, . 95 451637 I. THE PANAMA CANAL.* REVIEW OF THE FRENCH COMPANY, THE WORK ACCOMPLISHED, AND FUTURE PROSPECTS OF THIS GIGANTIC UNDERTAKING. THE names of De Lesseps, Suez, and Panama, whatever may prove to be the issue of the latter venture, will always remain great among the chapters in the progress of civilization. To review the career of F. De Lesseps and fully appreciate the vast- ness of his projects is to become forcibly impressed with the man's extraordinary genius as the projector of startling under- takings and his unsurpassed ability as a successful promoter. A broad view of his achievements inspires a degree of admiration for this magnetic character only comparable with the intense in- terest felt throughout civilized countries regarding the success of his globe-remodeling projects and their important bearing on the interests of commerce and navigation. More minutely scru- tinized, however passing, as it were, from the poetic to the prosaic side of this talented Frenchman's schemes we meet with some disappointment regarding the execution in detail and probable fate of his last great engineering and speculative un- dertaking at Panama. This concern for the future of the canal and for the prestige so long enjoyed by De Lesseps grows out of an impartial attitude toward the undertaking, in which the present condition of things on the Isthmus is contrasted with the original promises officially advertised by De Lesseps and his company. In the United States it has become almost fashionable to cry down the Panama enterprise, and ridicule the efforts of the * From The Scientific American, New York, Oct. 8, 1887. 6 PAPERS FROM THE NOTES OF AN ENGINEER. French company. It is hoped, however, that this small contri- bution to the already voluminous literature on the subject will not be taken as a blind indorsement of the many malicious ad- verse opinions heretofore rendered. It is only intended to be a compilation of the more important data affecting the success of the canal and a synopsis of the company's policy and manage- ment as observed on the isthmus and in Paris. In spite of the indifference shown by Americans regarding the success of this special company, the interoceanic canal problem has nevertheless long been a subject of deep interest in the United States. For, although we have not as yet, to any great extent, actively participated in the construction of a canal, yet it is still fresh in the minds of the people that our government at one time expended a very considerable sum of money in recon- naissance surveys and preliminary work with a view to deter- mining from an engineering, geographical, and economical point of view the most feasible route from the Atlantic to the Pacific. And when subsequently it appeared, as the result of careful esti- mates based on these accumulated data, that a sufficient amount of shipping could be relied upon to insure a volume of business for a canal through Central America to even justify an invest- ment of at least double the amount of the cost of the Nicaragua route, the great attractions of a properly constructed canal to connect the two oceans by the most feasible line became mani- fest. At the same time our carefully and ably conducted inves- tigations pointed strongly to the Nicaragua route as practically in all respects the preferable one. In the face of all this it is not surprising that the French company's choice of the Panama line should have incited a certain degree of adverse criticism and prophecies of disaster on the part of the Americans of the North. And now after quietly and patiently watching for six years the company's progress and prospects on the isthmus, the time is at hand when the nations pecuniarily and otherwise in- terested in the operations of the " Compagnie Universelle du Canal Interoeeanique " are beginning to realize the correctness of the verdict of the United States scientists on the natural ob- stacles to the Panama route. At the same time it is becoming apparent that our exploratory engineering work, which showed the impracticability of the Colon-Panama line, was more thor- THE PANAMA CANAL. 7 oughly and intelligently executed, and the results more reliably made known to the public, than were the preliminary surveys and estimates of other countries. At the so-called " International Congress," held in Paris in 1879, nominally for the purpose of discussing and deciding upon the best of the five projected canal routes submitted at that time, the Nicaragua route, after some comparatively superficial comment, was, with other plans, hastily set aside ; and thereupon, in conformity with the wishes of Mr. De Lesseps, who substan- tially controlled the whole convention and framed its resolu- tions, it was finally decided : " That the cutting of an inter- oceanic canal at sea level was feasible ; and that in order to secure the natural conditions essential to an undertaking of this character, it would be necessary to adopt the route from the Gulf of Limon to the Bay of Panama." More particular reasons for the choice of this line were stated on this occasion to be " the length of 45 miles," that would require but " one day for the passage." Following along in this impulsive, one-man pol- icy, that may eventually culminate in serious reverses and disap- pointments to the De Lesseps following, as far as the dividend rate on the company's ultimate capital is concerned, came a long series of erratic announcements in the u Bulletin Interoceanique de Panama," the official organ of the company. Thus in the early " circulates " and "bulletins" issued the management constantly proclaimed its ability to cut and complete the entire canal for 600 million frs., including expenses of every descrip- tion and all fixed interest charges. For example, in an address by Mr. F. De Lesseps at the general meeting in January, 1881, we find, in his opinion, " the sum of 600 millions (frs.) will be required to open the Panama Canal to all classes of navigation." And in a February bulletin, 1884, by the same recognized au- thority, " The original estimate of the cost of the canal, namely, 1 milliard 70 millions (1,070,000,000 frs.), has been reduced to 850 millions ; and upon the late arrival of contractors at Panama, the total cost has been still further reduced to 600 millions. The one hundred million cubic meters to be excavated will cost 500 millions, to which 100 millions are added for the general expense account" About the same period a notice of similar import was circulated among the shareholders, by a large firm, ... - T) O a ^ tn r-i LINE a M O r- n \ < V THE PANAMA CANAL. 9 to whom had been assigned a considerable portion of the work, stating and indorsing that : " Mr. De Lesseps announces that eight years will be sufficient for the completion of the work, and that the estimate of 512 millions is considerably in excess of the real cost." Following these concise, business-like, official an- nouncements, there appeared, about one year and a half later, in the bulletin of August, 1885, a report of the general meeting held in July, 1885, with the following extraordinary piece of incon- gruous news : " Contracts having been entered into providing for the completion of the canal to the bottom, we are now ena- bled to compute the further cost of finishing the same at 480 millions (frs.). This sum, added to the amount already spent, namely, 220 millions, gives 700 millions as the total cost of the canal on the opening day. To this figure must be added the expenses of administration and interest charges, to make up the total estimate of 1 milliard and 70 millions (frs.)." The continued outpouring of dispatches of this character, proving the company's calculations and official reports to be in- excusably inaccurate, could not but give rise to much unfavora- ble criticism on the part of the United States, which the French attribute to jealousy. Already about 900 millions (frs.) have been sunk (realized from the marketing of various classes of securities whose aggregate face value is almost doubly as great), and, it may be said, without accomplishing much more than fairly starting the great work, now at the best not over one- fourth completed. Up to the end of December, 1885, the so- called general expense account ^ above referred to, amounted to something like 350,000,000 (frs.), and at this date cannot be far from the alarming sum of 500,000,000 (frs.). Furthermore, it is evident that should the company's operations continue for six or eight years longer, which would seem to be the least time re- quired to finish the canal, these general expenses will swell to a sum closely approximating 1 milliard (1,000,000,000 frs.) ; be- cause already they have reached the enormous sum of over 80 millions (frs.) annually and must continue to increase propor- tionately with the increase in the loan account, the limit of which is not yet in sight. Some of the round sums of money which contribute yearly to swell this "general expense account" are interesting in the sig- 10 PAPERS FROM THE NOTES OF AN ENGINEER. nificance they bear to the ultimate outcome of this system of financiering in the event of either a suspension of operations or a continuance of the actual work of construction beyond a certain limited number of years. They have been given to the public at various intervals through bulletins and annual reports, approx- imately as follows : Interest on 250,000 bonds (5 per cent.) 6,235,000 frs. Interest on 477,387 bonds (4 per cent.) 9,547,740 frs. Interest on 600,000 shares of stock (6 per cent.) 18,000,000 frs. Interest on 600,000 bonds (3 per cent.) 9,000,000 frs. Interest on 458,302 bonds (6 per cent.) 13,764,000 frs. Annual cost for services and miscellaneous acts 9,000,000 frs. Central administ ration 1,500,000 frs. Minimum local administration, Panama, (1,100 salaried employes in June, 1886) 10,000,000 frs. For inspectors, engineers, opening new roads, repairs, hospitals, etc 3,000,000 frs. General expense account 80,046,740 frs. After the next loan or two shall have been placed, it is quite probable that the above general expenses will run closely to 100 millions yearly. Added to this account, it must be remembered, are the actual expenses of the machinery and the canal work proper the excavations now under contract which latter, to- gether with the general expense account, make up the entire yearly outlay. The total material to be removed in cutting the canal appeared in July, 1885, to be finally estimated at 128,000,000 cubic meters. By persons more familiar with the topography and surveys of the line than would be possible for one who has only paid four visits to the isthmus, it is claimed that this volume of 128 mill- ions of cubic meters is a very considerable underestimate ; and that in this figure, as in most others, a serious increase will eventually be met with. But however this may prove, the sad fact remains that, up to May 1, 1887, there had been excavated only a little over 36,000,000 cubic meters of the grand total Yet in the face of all these hard facts, which would appear to unavoidably retard the progress of the work, that sooner or later must come to the surface, it would appear that the company's policy has been to foster self-deception regarding the real state of affairs on the isthmus. In this connection we find in a Sep- tember bulletin, 1886 : " The work done per man per day now THE PANAMA CANAL. 11 exceeds 5 cubic meters." Then again, in a January bulletin, 1887 : " The army of 12,000 to 15,000 laborers on the isthmus has the co-operation of machines representing an effective power equivalent to nearly 600,000 men." It is surprising, in view of the transparency of these absurdly exaggerated dispatches, that their object of sustaining the com- pany's credit should have been at all attained. The unsuspect- ing shareholder naturally concludes from such glowing accounts that the canal work is being vigorously pushed forward in ac- cordance with the original assurances of the promoters, and quietly subscribes to new loans as fast as the opportunities are presented. His enthusiasm is too great and his mathematics too limited to reflect that, with " six hundred thousand men " hand- ling " five cubic meters per man per day," the entire canal could be cut in less than two months. Again, the return to Paris of the Messrs. De Lesseps from Panama was the signal for some further authoritative utterances : and about this time we find an extract from one of Mr. De Lesseps' announcements published in the bulletins as follows : u After having exhaustively studied all technical questions and examined every foot of ground along the line, I consider it within the bounds of truth to say that in 1887 the scale of the work as well as the amount accomplished will be three times as great (that is, more than 3,000,000 cubic meters per month)." As near as can be ascertained, however, this year's records do not show an average of much over 1,000,000 cubic meters per month. The rapidity of the work, generally speaking, is regulated by the labor supply and the ability of the local management, or the contractors, to gradually increase the working force, or at any rate to keep the same constant when once an adequate number of men has been secured. But their power to do this is in turn almost entirely dependent upon the ups and downs, the periods of relative salubrity and insalubrity, of the climate. The latter, without doubt, if not the greatest, is one of the most serious factors militating against the satisfactory, uniform progress of the work. With reference to this subject, about two years ago Mr. De Lesseps, with a promoter's enthusiasm, was published in the bulletin as stating : " The mortality is lower than in any 12 PAPERS FROM THE NOTES OF AN ENGINEER. other excavations, not even excepting Europe." Notwithstand- ing, however, the opinion of one in a position to be familiar with the local climatic conditions, the incontestable fact remains that the canal happens to follow along one of the most unhealthy zones known on the planet, as proved by all statistics, personal observation, and in fact by the actual experiences of the com- pany. Indeed, it is fully established that one of the first and greatest disappointments in the company's original calculations was the rapid doubling of the price of labor in consequence of the extra risks involved in living on the isthmus, particularly adjacent to the line workings ; and now it has become so difficult to draw labor from Jamaica even at the advanced prices that it seems almost impossible to secure the adequate force for the rapid advancement of the work. In the rainy season the inter- ruptions are incessant, while night work is hardly entertained. This climatic feature has proved a drawback to the Panama route, as far as the rapidity and cost of construction are con- cerned, little calculated upon originally ; but already it has en- tered into the account, directly and indirectly, to the extent of many millions of pounds sterling. This same fatal peculiarity of the narrow isthmus section in Colombia renders it difficult to see wherein lies the immense value of the company's land grant, already amounting to 500,000 hectares, gratuitously secured from the Colombian government in pursuance of a provision in the aot of concession. Here again, in a May bulletin of this year, the vice-president, Mr. Charles. De Lesseps, refers discreetly to the prospective value of the land, stating : u In addition to the; revenue accruing from traffic, there are five hundred thousand hectares of land gratui- tously granted by the Colombian government. How much these lands are worth I cannot determine ; but what I do know is, that the lands at Port Said and Suez are worth from 100 to 120 frs. per meter." The Suez valuation here hinted at, applied to the Panama land grant, would lend a value to the latter of some 600,000,000,000 (600 milliard frs.). Even were this absurd comparison at all permissible, it would not indicate much of an asset, for it is plainly set forth in the Suez reports that the lands sold at Suez and Port Said in 1885 and 1886 collectively real- ized only about 670,000 frs. ($134,000). THE PANAMA CANAL. 13 But the threatening complications of the Panama company do not end with a diminution in the value of its land assets. Of far greater gravity are the old difficulties involved in the com- plicated Chagres River diversions, the Garriboa regulating dam, and the great Culebra mountain cut. On account of the numer- ous windings of the erratic Chagres across the path of the canal, as also owing to the heavy double drainage of the country on either side toward the river (the latter following with the canal practically the same synclinal axis), it has become necessary to provide two separate diversions for the respective river bends, together with the corresponding tributaries on either side of the canal. By this means it is expected to prevent the Chagres from running along the canal bed for long distances or from emptying into and repeatedly crossing the same back and forth. Thus in numerous places the work amounts to almost as much as three parallel canals, doubling, if not trebling, the cost of con- struction ; and with all the occasional disturbances incident to the sudden freshets and rises so characteristic of this tropical region will probably not be fully eliminated. Probably no division of this immense work of altering and regulating the natural drainage system of the isthmus remained longer obscured in uncertainty than the Gatnboa dam, its feasi- bility, cost, and exact requirements. As early as November, 1883, it was announced through the bulletins in Paris that " the dam was very simple, and would cost eight millions." But in 1886, after some three years of pondering over its simplicity, less favorable reports began to appear ; and, in a May bulletin of that year, the dam was announced to be " the greatest tech- nical difficulty yet encountered." About this time, according to the company's annals, the estimates of the cost of this piece of work jumped from eight to forty, and then to one hundred mill- ions (frs.). But now the plan is to control the drainage by the more extended system of Chagres diversions in process of exca- vation, which will materially reduce the enormous scale and cost of the dam as originally designed. Hence this piece of work and the Culebra cut are now looked upon as the most serious and costly divisions of the canal. With reference to the latter, at the general meeting in August, 1885, the Culebra mountain was qualified as " the culminating point and most knotty prob- THE PANAMA CANAL. 15 lem." But it was officially reported that notwithstanding the cut involved the removal of twenty-five millions of cubic meters, the contractors were " tinder agreement to finish the canal through Culebra mountain and open the same to all navigation by July 1, 1889." The February bulletin of 1887, however, showed plainly that of the twenty-five millions of cubic meters in the Culebra not much over two millions had been removed, leaving, according to the company's own statements, something like twenty-three millions yet to be handled in this job alone. These and similar exaggerations directly from the management have inspired the frequent accusations of bad faith that have been made against the company. But notwithstanding the am- biguity and unwarranted favorable character of many official re- ports, it does not necessarily follow that the whole enterprise is a " barefaced swindle," as many have unjustly claimed. These sanguine reports are rather to be construed as an effort on the part of the directors to keep lip the shareholders' spirits and sus- tain the company's credit. Having once embarked in so formid- able an undertaking, and subsequently discovered that much larger sums of money would be required than originally antici- pated, it is easily understood how difficult would be the task of protecting the shareholders' interests and floating new loans un- aided by the infusion of a sanguine tone into reports from the seat of operations. The work yet to be done may be roughly classified in the fol- lowing six subdivisions: 1. The canal excavation proper ; a minimum of say 90,000,000 cubic meters (in all probability greater), including something like 20,000,000 cubic meters falling to the Culebra section. 2. The completion of the Chagres diversions. 3. The Gamboa dam (on reduced scale). 4. The deviation of the Panama Railroad. 5. The turning out or passing basins. (5. The Atlantic and Pacific approaches and the canal en- trances. 7. Numerous miscellaneous improvements, of secondary mo- ment in point of cost as compared with the foregoing. The magnitude of the Panama undertaking is so great, and the unforeseen contingencies arising to complicate and retard 16 PAPEES FROM THE NOTES OF AN ENGINEER. the work have proven so numerous, with the probability in the future of at least a temporary suspension of the company's oper- ations, owing to the difficulty in placing new loans, that it seems futile to presume to set a date for the inauguration of the canal. With the immense mechanical equipment and permanent im- provements already paid for and in operation (valued at over 147,000,000 frs.), it would follow, theoretically, that in the future the work must progress more rapidly than in the first years of preparatory work. But this is the very point that has lately proved so delusive, for reasons already stated, although since the completion arid working of the plant in all its branches along the line divisions, the work of excavation has become noticeably accelerated, though far from what had been expected. With reference to the guesswork of determining the number of years that will still be required to finish the work, one formula is about as good as another under the existing circumstances. Perhaps as simple and safe a method as any (assuming the com- pany's credit to hold out) is to reason that if in five years forty million cubic meters have been dug, it will take, on a basis of 90,000,000 cubic meters remaining to be cut, / 90, 000, 000 \ 1 40,000,000 J Xg yearS ' l6SS 4 Per C6nt The latter for the possible acceleration and increased efficiency of the work in the future over the past ratio. This would give about seven years more. A similar reasoning applied to ascer- tain the probable cost of the work gives something near 2,325,- 000,000 frs. as the total minimum cash cost and 3,750,000,000 frs. in various forms of securities as the total ultimate capitaliza- tion (capital stock plus bonded debt) of the concern. Up to 1887 the securities issued by the company represented a nominal value of 1,500,000,000 frs. (1J milliard), that were marketed at rates which brought the treasury in cash about 930,000,000 frs. It may be interesting here to recall the company's old figures, that show how far short were the most liberal calculations as to the amount of capital required. Canal estimated to cost 1,070,000,000 The Panama Railroad purchase, about _ 94,000,000 1,164,000,000 Now practically spent 930,000,000 Balance margin Frs. 234,000,000 THE PANAMA CANAL. 17 Should in reality at the expiration of five years (1892) the canal not be finished, as indicated by the facts here stated, seri- ous legal, if not political, complications may arise with the Co- lombian government, involving the forfeiture of the company's grant and property. The act granting the concession provides that " The canal must be finished and thrown open for public service within 12 years from the date of the formation of the company that shall have as object the construction of the canal. But the executive power is authorized to grant an extension of six years in case of exigencies beyond human foresight." As the shares of capital stock were issued in 1880, the work should be finished in or before 1892, or, with the extension, if secured, in or before 1898 at the outside. After either of these dates the Colombian government will have the right to force the law and declare the concession and the canal forfeited without indemnity, however near completion the work may be, to either finish it themselves or dispose of it to another company. In the event of such a fatal issue, the millions lost to France would fall most heavily on the small investors. It is principally this thrifty class of the great French public that has with unparalleled loyal- ty backed Mr. De Lesseps in his Panama scheme ; and it is diffi- cult to conceive how deep-seated and long of duration would be the depression and mistrust in new undertakings that would fol- low so sad a failure of the present canal company. Should, how- ever, at such a crisis, the French people show the same admirable perseverance and fortitude that have characterized their liberal investments thus far, notwithstanding the increase in the amount of money required, it is quite possible, and sincerely to be hoped, that, after a scaling down of the capital and obligations of the old company, a liberal extension of time may be secured, and the government step in and complete the work of connecting the two oceans on a financial basis that will at least bring a fail- return to a portion of the nation's good money. This consideration suggests the all-important question of the earning power or incoming value of the canal and the equivalent average interest on the invested capital that may be looked for when the work shall have been completed and the highway opened to the world. The point of momentous interest in financial circles is : Will the traffic be sufficiently large at the 2 18 PAPERS FROM THE NOTES OF AN ENGINEER. proposed tariff rate (15 frs. per ton) to yield a revenue that, after deduction of the expenses of maintenance and preserva- tion (presumably unusually heavy, owing to the peculiarities of the climate), will still leave a fair interest on the total nominal capital ? Officials in high standing at Panama speak confidently of an annual traffic of 10,000,000 tons, at 15 frs. per ton. And this appears to be the accepted basis for the argument that even if the capital swells eventually to 4,000,000,000 frs. (4 milliards), the gross income will amount to 150,000,000 frs. or 3| per cent, (without allowance for running expenses, to be deducted here- from). The more exact figures are embodied in one of the re- cent official reports of Senor Nicolas Tanco Armero, canal com- missioner for the Colombian government, as follows: "The committee on statistics of the International Congress calculates the tonnage that will pass the canal in 1889 ( ! ! ) at something less than 7,000,000 tons. But in my later calculations, taking into account the growth of commerce, the sum total comes nearer 9,000,000 than 7,000,000 tons, as is evident from the following abstract from the official statistical table published in England : From Europe to American Pacific ports : England 1,426,852 France 573,922 Germany 360,000 From other European countries to American Pacific ports 210,000 Total Tons 2,570,774 European trade with Australia, Oceanica, Philip- pines, etc., that will pass the Panama Canal 2,696,754 United States trade, excepting- from San Francisco, with the same places, and also India, China, and Japan 1,619,440 From the United States, Western coast, with the Eastern section, for Europe and Eastern American States 1,500,000 Actual traffic per R.R. from Colon to Panama and vice versa 262,497 Total tonnage ready for canal first year 8,649,465 " Moreover, a few years hence, when the canal shall be opened to commerce, the available annual tonnage will have reached 12,000,000 to 15,000,000 tons." ( ! ! ) The bulletin of the com- THE PANAMA CANAL. 19 pany attempts to give more accurate figures regarding certain divisions of the traffic when it states that the trade from Ant- werp that would have passed the canal in 1886, had the same been finished, may be taken at : Peru 46,635 tons. Bolivia 5,919 " Chili 42,046 " Australia 58,046 " 152,646 Furthermore, in the same year the trade between Antwerp and the United States rose to 1,029,037 tons, of which 100,000 tons fell to American Pacific ports. Hence 250,000 tons are a more accurate estimate of this particular line ot traffic, included in the foregoing large and more general estimate of Mr. ~N. T. Armero. By the very complicated nature of the subtile changes in the relations of navigation and commerce bound to be called into existence by the shorter lines of transportation that will follow the opening of the canal, the element of conjecture must neces- sarily enter largely into all attempts to solve mathematically this all-important traffic problem. But, to say the least in op- position to the canal company's figures, it is difficult to conceive how so high a rate as 15 frs. per ton can be consistently main- tained at Panama, if the canal intends to monopolize the Aus- tralian trade, while at Suez the average rate is now about 10 frs. per ton. Then, too, in the matter of tonnage, everything indi- cates that a considerable reduction in the foregoing figures will, in all probability, be met with ; for it should be remembered that the traffic at Suez after some fifteen years grew only to 5,767,656 tons in 1886, notwithstanding all brilliant predictions of a much larger volume of business. The Suez report for 1886 records 3,100 vessels, 5,767,656 tons, from which the receipts were 54,771,076 frs. Added to this are receipts from passenger traffic amounting to 1,714,115 frs., and revenue from miscellane- ous sources of 313,093 frs., making the total gross income 56,- 798,285 frs. for 1886. The economy in the principal lines of transportation to be afforded by the canal, expressed in "milles marins" of 1,852 meters, is compiled from official sources as follows : 20 PAPEES FKOM THE NOTES OF AN ENGINEER. Via Cape Horn. Via the Canal. Economy of Distance. London to San Francisco 13 795 8 135 5 660 London to Honolulu 13 915 9 556 4 359 Liverpool to San Francisco. 13 678 7 897 5 781 Le Havre to San Francisco 13 627 7 949 5 678 Bordeaux to Valparaiso 8 675 7 239 1 436 New York to Valparaiso 8,550 4 574 3 976 New York to Panama 11,057 1 966 9 091 New York to Callao 9 791 2 333 6 488 New York to Guayaquil 10 441 2 808 7 633 New York to San Francisco 13 334 5 257 8 077 A not over-conservative weighing of the available statistics bearing on these points, leaving out of account a probable com- petition at Nicaragua in the near future, would indicate that in any event the Panama traffic at the start will fall considerably below present anticipations; while the 15 f rs. rate appears too exor- bitant to command the anticipated volume of business. Is it not more probable that the traffic will be about 5 million tons at say 10 frs. a ton, making 50,000,000 frs. as the revenue for the first year ; i. e., about 1 per cent, on the probable cost of the canal ? Notwithstanding all rumors to the contrary, the work of ex- cavation is being prosecuted at more points and with a larger working force than has generally been acknowledged in the United States. As the work is now almost entirely under con- tract, it is extremely difficult to ascertain accurately the number of men actually employed. The management claim between 15,000 and 18,000 men, while special contractors do not esti- mate less than 10,000. Under the efficient management of Mr. Pioch the company is learning at last to conduct its operations with economy ; and the sums of money now spent are accom- plishing relatively more than ever before. Setbacks are still caused occasionally by land slips, particularly in the rainy sea- son. But the Culebra mountain is not " traveling into the ca- nal on a bed of quicksand." N"or is the bottom of the canal, through some unheard-of tropical phenomenon, rising up even with the old surface of the ground. The conclusion is, therefore, that while the canal can be built and operated with sufficient money, as far as overcoming all en- gineering difficulties is concerned, yet in the hands of the pres- THE PANAMA CANAL. 21 ent corporation, and owing mainly to the impracticability of the route, the enterprise has become handicapped in its infancy with an ever-increasing financial load, already of such formidable pro- portions as to threaten its credit and foreshadow a failure from a business point of view. ~Not the least interesting in a detailed criticism of the com- pany's internal affairs would be the unraveling of the contracts, sub-contracts, promoters' and others' commission interests that have swallowed up the large sums of money at Panama and in Paris. But this information is, of course, inaccessible to outsiders. Indeed, much of the complicated network of letting, subletting, check- ing, and settling of contracts on the line will probably never be generally known, even to the insiders. It is said that according to the original agreements, the promoters are to be allowed 15 per cent, of the net profits of the canal. For the convenience of allotment and transactions among the numerous participants in this promoting commission, the interest was split into 9,000 shares ; and these shares are reported to have sold once as high as 10,000 frs. apiece, and were quoted as late as May, 1887, at 8,000 frs. The latter price values the entire interest at 27,000,000 frs., while at 10,000 frs. a share (the highest price) the valuation was 90,000,000 frs. May the Panama Canal, contrary to all present indications, and the general opinion in the United States, turn out to be a happy disappointment and an unexpected bonanza to the French people. May its credit be preserved, may it be finished with less money and in less time, and may the undertaking bring in greater returns to the original investors, than now appears prob- able, thus once more defeating the skeptical and scoring an- other victory at Panama for De Lesseps only second to his well- earned triumph at Suez. No ultimate result less auspicious will gratify the well-wishes of all who appreciate the vastness of the undertaking. II. THE LAKE OF TITICACA, SOUTH AMEKICA.* A journal of South American travel would hardly be com- plete without a chapter on the famous Lake of Titicaca, which is spread out over widely extended table-lands, at a great eleva- tion in the heart of the Andes. At this latitude, the boundary line between Bolivia and Peru, the Andes are divided into the Eastern and the Western Cordil- lera, between which ranges the great plateaux are expanded to the enormous width of about two hundred miles. This depres- sion, hanging gracefully between the two Cordilleras, has an oval shape, and with an average width of one hundred miles, its area is about 15,000 square miles, forming one of the most remarka- ble terrestrial basins in the world. It appears to be of volcanic origin ; blocks of lava are scattered along the shores of the lake, while igneous rocks are noticeable traversing the sedimentary strata. The marvelous picturesqueness of the region, together with the signs of cultivation, furrowed plains, terraced hill-sides, and the numerous ancient relics of an historic civilization that are met with around the lake, upon arrival at Ptino on its western shore, are refreshing in contrast with the dreary railroad journey of over two hundred miles from Arequipa, Peru, through a deso- late, silent, barren, ashy waste, where the tired traveler pants for breath in chilly altitudes, rising from 8,000 to 15,000 feet above the Pacific Ocean, in full view of the gray volcanic domes of Misti, Urvinas, and Chichani. Titicaca is an Ayrnara word, and by some historians is trans- lated catrock ; according to other writers, Titi signifies lead, and caca a chain of mountains. The exact elevation of the lake * From The Engineering and Mining Journal, New York, Oct. 9, 1886. THE LAKE OF TITICACA, SOUTH AMERICA. 23 above the Paciiic Ocean is given at 12,516 feet, according to railroad surveys made from Mollendo, on the coast, to Funo. With an area approximated at 4,000 square miles, it is about 100 miles long, and averages 25 miles in width. During the rainy season, from December to April, the lake rises about live feet ; and during the dry season, when it sinks to the lowest level, the principal influx of water comes from the ranges of perpetual snow on the eastern shore. Of more than twenty different streams that flow into the basin, the main feed- ers are the Azangaro, the Maravillas, and the Eamis the latter rising near the source of a tributary to the Ucayali. The 'Titicaca is partially drained by the Rio Desaguadero, which is the only known outlet ; and after pursuing a southerly course for, more or less, seventy-flve leagues, the river spreads over the marshy flats of Pampas Aullagas, where the waters dis- appear through absorption and evaporation, there being no flow either toward the Atlantic or the Pacific Ocean. The Indians believe the lake to be in subterranean connection, under the cor- dillera, with the Pacific Ocean, because of the finding on the coast near Cobija of a certain kind of lake-rush peculiar to Titi- caca, differing essentially from salt-water weeds. Although the basin is gradually tilling up from the masses of soil and sediment, which are washed down its steep, barren banks, void of vegetation, tending to raise the water-line, never- theless the surface of the lake is slowly but surely sinking. The meteorological conditions are such that the evaporation during the dry season and the precipitation throughout the rainy months are no longer equipoised, and the area of the lake is, in conse- quence, steadily shrinking. As far back as three centuries, the sparkling waters of Titicaca dashed against the ancient monu- ments of Tiahuanaco, standing to-day twelve miles away from the shore, and at an elevation of 130 feet above the surface of the water. But still it is by far the largest lake in South Amer- ica, being about half the size of Lake Ontario, and the largest on the globe at so great an altitude. The scenery is not of that miniature type characteristic, for example, of the Koenig's See in Europe or of the Red Fish Lakes in Idaho ; but the attractions of Titicaca consist in its vast expanse and magnificent Andean scale of nature's produc- 24 PAPERS FROM THE NOTES OF AN ENGINEER. tlons, combined with the poetry of prehistoric art. Looking across its crystal-clear waters over into Bolivia to the east, the snow-capped mountains of the Cordillera Real are seen rolling across the horizon like a succession of foamy waves the loftiest mountains on the 'American continent. Here rise in majestic splendor the Nevado de Sorata and the Illimani, two groups of serrated snow peaks, fringed with glaciers, towering up to heights closely approaching 22,000 feet. A scattering of beautiful islands is among the charms of this interesting sheet of fresh water. Of these, the island of Titicaca is full of historic associations and the home of many an Indian tradition. The narrow, winding passages formed by the islands and the mainland, where the blue water is deep and transparent, together with the monolithic monuments and ruins sprinkled over this classic soil of the Incas, lend a fairylike fascination to the scene. The shores are dotted with the dingy, dusty huts of the Aymaras, whose past history is far more interesting than their present. Attired in sombre garb, with a silent, sullen disposi- tion, reflecting nature's condition at this altitude and latitude, this strange tribe move about as if mourning their deterioration and fall from ancestral glories. They are indolent and poor ; their occupation consisting in the cultivation of rice, potatoes, and barley. Along the shores of the shoaly coves, the Indians gather the lake-rush, which they suck the juice from or make into salad. This rush, which grows about seven feet high, in places so thick as to appear like a meadow, is known as totora. In this bleak, mountainous region, where timber is unknown, its stalk takes the place of iron, wood, and canvas. Besides being used to make boats (balsas), mats, sails, houses, and beds, this bayonet-shaped rush, it is said, was formerly woven into bridges by the Incas and Aymaras, over which whole armies were passed. But now the Aymaras spend their time chiefly in attending the numerous feasts and religious exercises, a national characteristic, amid the jingling of church-bells from dilapidated cathedral towers and the wild din of Indian music. The dances on these occasions are unique in their grotesqueness. To witness the droll reels at an Aymara^sta, after suddenly awakening from meditations upon the grandeur of South American landscape, is 26 PAPERS FROM THE NOTES OF AN ENGINEER. to fall from the sublime to the ridiculous. On these carnival days, the Indians wear the most fantastic costumes, showing, however, a decided preference for bright colors. In appearance they might be compared to a high order of scarecrows ; and to see a procession of them rushing out of the church in wild con- fusion and rallying, with an image of their patron saint, for a grand finale, after a day of intoxicating revelry, is to be forcibly reminded of an insane asylum let loose. The favorite sport con- sists of a kind of tournament, in imitation of a Spanish bull- fight, that is carried on for hours at a time in all possible phases. They equip themselves with the heads, horns, and hides of cows, which are to be had at Puno, and, after drying them in the sun, they are suspended by their belts, and then, probably for pro- priety's sake, the animal is clad in skirts that hang modestly to the ground. Some play the toros, while others impersonate the toreros and matador es, and the whole population turns out on the plaza, to pay homage to the celebration. Throughout the greater part of these exercises, the Indians, old and young, are very grave and serious. A funereal solemnity reigns supreme, and no revelry is indulged in until they become too intoxicated to follow the leading chief in proper order. The dress, manners, and general appearance of the Aymaras are about the same as those of the Quichua tribe. The women, however, are more thickly set, better looking, and apparently in a more cheerful frame of mind than the Quichuas. Altogether, the lake region is healthy, and there appears to be but very little sickness. As night draws on, the cool winds sweep rapidly through the gorges and ravines of the great moun- tain ranges, oftentimes with the speed of a whirlwind, running the dust up into columns of immense height, and drawing up the water from the surface of the white-capped lake in spouts almost equally high. At Puno, a Peruvian city of 5,000 inhabitants, the nights are often bitterly cold ; and as llama-dung and tola, a variety of moss, are the only fuels in the land, the luxury of warm hearths is unknown. Early in the evening, the people wrap themselves in shawls and cloaks, or go to bed for comfort. The region adja- cent to Titicaca supports a population of more than one million. Puno, the largest town, is mostly inhabited by Aymaras, although THE LAKE OF TITICACA, SOUTH AMERICA. 27 there are a few Quichuas who form a set by themselves. The city owes its origin to the silver mines of Cancharani. in the neighboring hills, which are now comparatively abandoned, al- though claimed by some not to be exhausted. All the dwelling- houses are built of adobe, and are very low and uncomfortable ; but the city boasts of a cathedral that dates back to 1757, a uni- versity (so-called), and several schools. It is the central point MONOLITHIC GATEWAY AT TIAHUANACO. for the alpaca industry ; cocoa is also largely traded in, while sheep's wool and vicuna robes are among the chief exports. The lake, which is the natural highway between Peru and Bolivia, is navigated by two small 100-ton steamers, which were transported from the coast over the mountains in sections, under great difficulties and at an expense far exceeding their cost. Steam is got up with llama-dung as the sole fuel, and the trip across to Chililaya, in Bolivia, is made in about twenty hours. Among the intermediate places X)f exceptional interest, at 28 PAPERS FROM THE NOTES OF AN ENGINEER. which the steamer touches during this memorable passage, the church of Copacabana deserves especial notice. This quaint old church of semi-cathedral, semi- monastic appearance, is to this section of South America in reputation and ecclesiastical import- ance, what Notre Dame is to France. It contains the famous milagrosisima virgencita, or little miraculous virgin, and, al- though the edifice has no definite style of architecture, but in detail is a combination of Doric, Corinthian, and Spanish Re- naissance, it is nevertheless graceful and most picturesquely situ- ated. Its high walls inclose a rare collection of precious jewels and choice gifts, valued at many millions, which have been offered up as grateful tributes to the supernatural powers and astounding miracles of the Virgin. At stated periods, great multitudes come from all parts of Bolivia, and assemble before the sacred shrines of Capacabana, to supplicate spiritual and not unlikely material blessings. It is a fact strange, but none the less true, that the most acceptable and favored prayers are said to be those of the women imploring deliverance from sterility ; for it is well known that in these elevated barren regions and in this rarefied atmosphere of the Andes, people do not multiply in anything like the same proportion as the population of the deep, fertile valleys, surrounded by a greater amount of vegetable life and a more normal atmospheric pressure. And it is the ability to happily reverse this natural law that is claimed as the immac- ulate accomplishment of the milagrosisima virgencita. It has been irreverently suggested, however, by modern scientists of deep penetration, that the credit of effectually alleviating this affection is possibly more justly due to the altogether terrestrial supplications of the priesthood of Capacabana than to the more celestial influences of the viryencita! The environs of this romantic and religious spot are strewn with the art relics of imperial Inca glories. These architectural and sculptural relics on the borders of Lake Titicaca are fre- quently cited by scholars as representative examples of what is called prehistoric art, by which we understand all art forms, irrespective of chronological order, that show human faculty at its best in this domain, before it has been touched by civiliza- tion. The extinct tribes that once inhabited this wild region have left to the world a museum of most interesting relics in 30 PAPERS FROM THE NOTES OF AN ENGINEER. this important field of knowledge, whose lights are few and dim. Indeed, according to Humboldt and others, these innumerable abandoned towns, gigantic monuments, remnants of public works, and scattered cemeteries indicate that the basin of Titi- caca was once the seat of probably the highest and most ancient civilization on the South American continent, whose vast popu- lation, forming an empire greater than that of Charlemagne, swarmed over the laud and has left behind in these stone re- mains of hoariest antiquity, the evidences of superior power and skill. According to tradition, the region of Titicaca was not only the home of the Inca race, but also of the great Peruvian law-giver, Manco-Capac, who diffused his influence throughout the land. An appreciation of the remoteness of this era may be had when it is remembered that the ancient Peruvians had only the vaguest ideas concerning the ruined edifices of Titicaca ; and further- more, that the eminence supporting the ruins of Tiahuanaco, to- day twelve miles from the lake and considerably over 100 feet above its surface, was formerly a beautiful island in the midst of deep water. This fact, coming so nearly within the histor- ical period, and on that account of unusual geological interest, warrants the belief that the art-relics of Titicaca antedate all others known on the American continent. Authorities hold that the ruins of this desert island bear the same relation to the aboriginal monuments of South America as do those of Palenque to the old remains of the Central and North American continent. They indicate a much higher order of artistic attainment than existed anywhere in South America at the time of the Spanish conquests. They tell us the story of brave races of men, strug- gling after higher conditions ; and their weird forms stand in the wilderness like the skeletons of prophets who looked far down the track of the centuries and foretold a better time. They are indeed achievements of intellect worthy to be com- memorated in history. III. A SKETCH OF THE BOLIVIAN EEPUBLIC, SOUTH AMERICA.* THE republic of Bolivia came into existence in 1825, the year of the Declaration of Independence of the region formerly known as Upper Peru. With an area of 450,000 square miles, about twice the size of Germany, more than double that of Cali- fornia, and more than four times the area of Colorado, the re- public comprises the lofty plateaux of the Andes, including half of the basin of Lake Titicaca, 12,505 feet in altitude, the old province of Charcas, and a vast Amazonian region. These sections of country lie mainly to the east of the Andes, where Bolivia's greatest length is 1,000 miles near the 68th meridian, and her greatest breadth about YOO miles. The climate, in general, is healthy, and, with the exception of terciana, the much-dreaded fevers prevalent on the Isthmus of Panama, in Venezuela, Eucador, and Peru are unknown. For although nearly the whole of the republic is situated within the tropics, not more than two-thirds of her surface possess a trop- ical climate. The remaining area is occupied by high mountain ranges and valleys, table-lands of great elevation, and widely extended slopes, where it is cold and dry, with a clear atmos- phere, similar to the higher portions of Colorado or North Ger- many in the autumn ; while beyond the Cordillera, in the lower regions of the interior, it is disagreeably warm in the daytime and cool at night, in which localities malarial fevers are common during the rainy season. The aggregate population numbers about 2,000,000, and is composed largely of the Quichua and Aymara Indians, the * From The Engineering and Mining Journal, New York, Sept. 25 and Oct. 2, 1886. 32 PAPERS FKOM THE NOTES OF AN ENGINEER. former being direct descendants of the Incas. Their propor- tionate division Quichuas 50 per cent. Aymaras 25 Cholos (a Spanish and Indian mixture) 18 " Whites and half-castes 7 Those constituting the Indian element are of medium size, massive build, thick-set and broad-shouldered, with the body relatively long, the legs short, the feet small, and the face beard- less, with features frequently quite good. Their aliment is almost entirely vegetarian, consisting of chuno (frozen, soaked, and dried potatoes), corn (either boiled or roasted), and chalona (dried mutton). In addition to these articles of food, the better-to-do families consume, occasionally and in small quantities, rice, boiled plantains, coffee, cocoa, and pork a diet that would hardly sustain any other race under similar climatic conditions and occupations. The Bolivian Indian is a remarkable pedestrian, with legs and lungs of unusual strength and extraordinary powers of endur- ance. He will walk for weeks at the rate of 10 leagues or 30 miles per day, playing a reed fife and carrying on his back a weight of 100 pounds, consisting of a carga of from 75 to 80 pounds, and from 20 to 25 pounds of coca leaves, corn, and blankets, for his personal requirements en route. He endures surprising fatigue, nourished solely by small quantities of parched corn and coca leaves. In fact, by chewing the latter alone, the Indians are able to travel for days together dispensing with food and sleep, as the coca leaf is not merely a strong stimulant but also nutritious. For instance, the mail-carrier leaves La Paz on Thursday, and arrives in Sorata, ninety miles distant, on Saturday in time for distribution the same evening ; and pro- pios, or messengers, make the round trip of 180 miles in four days, receiving therefor wages at the rate of one boliviano (73 cents United States currency) a day. When resting during these long tramps, they have a habit of elevating their feet above their heads, the only national progressiveness I noticed that compares with Yankee invention. * The character, temperament, and habits of life of the Boliv- ian tribes are among the most interesting subjects for close A SKETCH OF THE BOLIVIAN REPUBLIC. 37 study in South American travel. They are strong, bold, stub- born, serious, and reserved, yet harmless, submissive, generous, suspicious, and intensely superstitious. With a contented, un- ambitious disposition, they have few wants, a love for strong, intoxicating drinks being the only general vice. And, notwith- standing a large fraction of the year is spent in grotesque, carni- val-like fiestas, none of which is without religious import, they wear a silent, sad, serious expression, everything about their ap- parel arid manners having the same melancholy cast. The Roman Catholic faith is professed, but in reality their religion is the old form of Inca worship, somewhat modified by the worst kind of Romanism. Not the least interesting of their peculiar ceremonies is the sad but none the less festive funeral a procession composed of loud-lamenting, drunken mourners, headed by sprinklers of holy water, continuing a coarse revelry long after the corpse is laid away, as a sympathetic tribute to the departed spirit. Travel in Bolivia is comparatively safe ; for the Indians are not dangerous, and although the last trace of maliciousness toward the Spanish race has not entirely disappeared, they are grave and deferential to caballeros. A warm-hearted polite- ness, sincerity, and hospitality are among the national traits; and while there is dishonesty in small things, merchandise, money, and bullion are safely carried all over the country by unarmed, reliable muleteers, without heavy expenses for inade- quate security. This strange and interesting race lives in villages called comu- nidades, under a governor or alcalde, who is one of their num- ber. They pay a tribute of from four to ten Bolivian dollars a year, those of age who can read and write, however, being ex- empt from payment and admitted to the ballot. On the 25th of May, 1826, the first Bolivian Congress was installed at Chuquisaca. The constitution framed was by Boli- var, and, in conformity therewith, General Sucre was elected as first president of the republic. During the intervening years, she has had her share of tyrannical presidents, who have traded upon their official power for private gain and left behind the records of deceitful, jobbing careers. But fortunately there have been numerous exceptions, and among the men of talent 3 38 PAPEKS FROM THE NOTES OF AN ENGINEER. and education whose administrations have been marked with in- tegrity and patriotic aims may be mentioned, besides General Sucre, Santa Cruz, Dr. Linares, Dr. Frias, Adolpho Ballivian, Senor Campero, and the present President, Gregorio Pacheco, whose recent election is regarded with general satisfaction, the feeling prevailing that the prosperity of the country cannot but increase, governed by so able and honorable a man. The complications attending the late war between Peru and Chili have deprived Bolivia of coast and sea-ports, and likewise the great wealth of saltpetre and guano in the districts of Cobija and Tarapaca has been forfeited to the growing power of Chili. The exact course of a portion of her southern limit, separating the Bolivian from the Argentine Republic, has likewise been for some time in question. Hence, the main outlets for Bo- livian trade are through Chilian, Peruvian, and Argentine terri- tory. The most accessible port of the former is Arica, which involves a long and tedious land transit of two hundred and forty miles from La Paz to Tacna, which is in railroad connec- tion with Arica a distance of 40 miles. The traffic over this route, however, has of late years become reduced to the trans- portation of a portion of the mining products from the De- partment of Oruro, and to the mule-post from La Paz to Tacna, regularly performed in five days, while the great bulk of trade from the La Paz District is by steamer across Lake Titicaca, and through Peru via the Puno-Arequipa Railroad to Mollendo. The third and longer route is southwesterly through the Ar- gentine Republic to Buenos Ayres, and in pursuance of an ex- isting treaty, whereby Bolivia reduces the import duty 50 per cent, on goods coming from the Atlantic, against the Argentine Republic, granting gratuitous right of egress through her terri- tory, the larger part of the productions of the departments of Potosi, Chuquisaca, and Tarija, consisting almost entirely of minerals and metals, is drained through the Argentine in pref- erence to Chili. This shifting of trade from the Pacific to the Atlantic Ocean, and the consequent decrease of business on the former coast, promoted in a large measure by political spite, has been felt so keenly that a new impetus is imparted to the project of putting La Paz in railroad connection with the coast, the line running A SKETCH OF THE BOLIVIAN REPUBLIC. 39 through Oruro to Tacna, thereby recovering and controlling the entire trade from the Pacific side. Besides La Paz and Oruro, Bolivia's leading cities and towns are Cochabamba, Sucre (the capital), Potosi, Tupiza, Santa Cruz, Trinidad, Tarija, Sorata, Corocoro, Belechuco, and Apolo the copper of Corocoro, the silver of Potosi, and the gold of Tipuani being among her famous diversity of mineral deposits. The republic contains toward the centre vast tropical forests of prolific vegetation, watered almost to an excess of fertility by a wide system of navigable rivers. The head-water tributaries to the Caca, Bern", and Madeira rivers, belonging to this system, have their sources in the extensive watershed lying on the east- ern declivity of the Cordillera. These narrow, rapid rivers carry down the gold from the eastern spurs and foot-hills of the Andes, of which the Rio de Tipuani is the most celebrated for its placer mines. This section of country is most picturesque and romantic. Looking into a clear blue sky above the cool shady gorges, where high precipitous walls pass over into steep mountain slopes, the floral boughs draped with fragrant orchids, ferns, tillandcias, and cactuses are seen drooping together from opposite sides, forming hanging -gardens in a natural Gothic arcade of ideal beauty. The hills and valleys are lined with forests of the great- est exuberance and variety of vegetation, whose tropical drapery droops into the rivers amid a brilliant profusion of feathery, fanlike foliage, the branches being often so closely interwoven and vailed with twiners that they appear like green walls shut- ting in the streams. These comparatively unexplored virgin lands, shaded by a be- wildering diversity of grand and beautiful trees, draped, fes- tooned, and ribboned with an endless variety of creeping and climbing plants, yield, besides the most delicious fruits, the best coffee and chocolate in the world, of which hundreds of tons decay on the bushes every year, only a small amount being gathered for export. Amid luxuriant flora, of which the broad- leaved palms, bananas, and ferns form the most striking feature, more than sixty kinds of rare cabinet wood stand untouched in these immense forests. Also sugar-canes, cotton, and gomales (rubber trees) grow in abundance, but as yet only the latter two 40 PAPERS FEOM THE NOTES OF AN ENGINEER. have been turned to profit. While farther toward the interior, the plains extending over into Brazil to the east are covered with vast herds of cattle, millions of sheep, alpacas, llamas, and vicunas roam over the high lands and lofty ranges in the western section of the republic. The most important pursuit in the tropical or lowland dis- tricts, which has developed into a permanent industry, is the cutting and exportation of cinchona or calisaya bark, notably the richest in quinine, producing the purest and most efficacious fever antidote in the world, But of late years, the most acces- sible trees having become exhausted, the bark is no longer de- rived from the forests, and the business has merged into a sys- tematic, scientific cultivation in plantation form. The credit of bringing this nursery culture to a very high degree of perfection is largely due to Mr. Otto Richter, who, besides being otherwise largely interested in Bolivia, is the leading bark merchant, his .four haciendas or quinales in the Mapiri District, namely, Ja- randillani, Bella Vista, San Agustin, and Santa Rosa, having grown already over 2,000,000 trees. The bark business, however, has become very much depressed of late years, on account of the exceedingly low price to which quinine has steadily fallen. Not of less importance are the coca plantations, from the leaves of which plants the mysterious cocaine is extracted. The great progress made in modern medicine in the use of this drug, not only in various medicinal forms, but also as an anaes- thetic in severe surgical operations (concerning which subject there is probably no greater authority than Dr. J. Leonard Corning, of New York City, whose recent experiments, dis- coveries, and writings are well known to the medical profession), has created a demand for coca leaves that has lent no small im- petus to the South American coca industry. The plant only flourishes in moist climates, and is seldom found in the deep valleys of the Andes. It is cultivated in rows like maize ; and after two years' growth, the bush attains its full height of from five to six feet, bearing green leaves about two inches long, with white blossoms and red berries. The leaves are gathered several times a year, and dried in the sun with great care before being packed for exportation. The bushes A SKETCH OF THE BOLIVIAN REPUBLIC. 41 produce for many years, when finally the planting of a fresh crop becomes necessary to preserve the good quality of the leaf. Besides its local use by the Indians, who masticate it with or without slacked lime, a tea is made from the plant, and the miners also chew the leaf constantly for the soothing effect it produces. These sources of home consumption in themselves sustain many extensive plantation enterprises. The development of Bolivia's mineral resources may well be claimed to be the most important of her national industries; for included in her prodigious mineral wealth, which numerous doc- uments in European libraries prove to have influenced the polit- ical and monetary history riot only of Spain, but of the entire commercial world, there are many gold, silver, copper, and tin ores, whose extraordinary richness gives a large profit margin, in spite of the excessive freight costs. The name and fabulous riches of Potosi are familiar to every one. Its discovery in 1544 is among the oldest mineral records, and the products up to 1572 amounted to $250,000,000 ; from 1572 to 1627, $340,000,000 ; from the middle of the seventeenth to the eighteenth century, the records of Potosi show an annual average production of from $2,500,000 to $3,500,000 ; and, ac- cording to data contained in letters written to the king of Spain in 1627, the compilations of Friar Joseph G-. De Acosta, and the Annals of Potosi, the Cerro Eico de Potosi or Rich Silver Moun- tain, has produced up to the present time upward of 400,000,000 sterling of silver. Prior to 1825, the industry was erratic, and mining operations were frequently paralyzed by political troubles. Among the earliest interferences was the civil war in Spain in 1623, which extended to Potosi, causing abandonment and ruin. The war of independence in 1809, ending with the peace declaration of 1825, caused another suspension in mining and a general impov- erishment of the country. Since the independence of the re- public, however, mining enterprises have never been disturbed through political causes, and the irregularities 'occasioned by revolutionary movements have not extended to the mining re- gions or caused injury to corporations. On the contrary, the production of precious metals has never ceased to be encouraged and fostered ; and while miners are not required to pay taxes, 42 PAPERS FROM THE NOTES OF AN ENGINEER. the export duty of silver is only one peso or eight reals per mark (58 cents per 0.5065 pound avoirdupois), gold being free, and machinery imported for exploitation entirely exempt from taxation. The largest producing mines appear to be concentrated par excellence in the southern part of the republic, namely, in the departments of Potosi, Tarija, Chuquisaca, and Oruro. The former includes, besides the mines of Potosi, the ILuanchaca and Quolquechaca groups, of which the controlling interests are owned by Seiiores Pacheco, Arce, and Ramirez, the bonanza kings of South American mining, who are reported to receive annually in the neighborhood of $3,000,000 as their share in the combined dividends of these properties. The growth of Bolivia's leading industry, however, is seriously retarded for want of more roads, proximity to accessible seaports, timber, and a better fuel than taquia and yareta (llama-dung and moss) in the silver lode districts. But these disadvantages under which mining has labored until within late years, of which the difficulty attending the transportation of machinery has been perhaps the greatest, have become somewhat diminished ; for, by means of the Mollendo-Arequipa-Puno Railroad, connecting with the steam navigation on Lake Titicaca, and the stage-roads from Chililaya (or Puerto Perez) to La Paz, and from thence to Corocoro and Oruro, an extensive mineral territory is made easier of access ; while the steady advance of the railroad system now extending westward in the Argentine Republic toward Southern Bolivia, is greatly facilitating the reopening of the Potosi Mining District that has lately been undertaken by a strong English-Bolivian company. The gold of Bolivia is chiefly derived from placer mines along the rivers coursing through the section of country embracing the eastern slopes and foot-hills of La Paz Cordillera. At the pres- ent time, gold mining operations are carried on in a primitive way by the natives, who wash the richer gravel deposits in the batea. The "batea is a circular, shallow wooden dish or bowl eighteen inches in diameter, for separating, through continuous use of water, the grains of gold from the dirt, sand, pyritic mat- ter, magnetic iron, etc., and is to the South Americans what the pan is to the California miner. It produces the most accurate A SKETCH OF THE BOLIVIAN REPUBLIC 1 . 43 and prompt separation, manipulated in experienced hands, and on many accounts is preferable to the North American pan. The gravity of the gold resists the centrifugal power of the water, and remains near the bottom of the vessel, forming the extreme point of a sector, while the lighter particles move for- ward toward the periphery, arranging themselves according to their specific weights, and spreading over successively greater areas in the sector. Where flat gold predominates (as in Tipu- ani), the batea is far superior to the pan, as the fibres of the SECTION OF A BOLIVIAN BATEA. LARGE SIZE BOLIVIAN BATEA wood exert a maximum friction in contact with the smooth, flat gold surfaces, working against the escape of the metallic particles that adhere tenaciously to the sides arid bottom of the wooden pan. The government records show that the exports consist largely of the precious metals. For example, during 1883, for which year most accurate statistics appear to have been kept, they amounted to $21,988,729, of which $20,970,883.78 fell to the mineral production, $9,086,647 of which product was shipped 44 PAPERS FKOM THE NOTES OF AN ENGINEER. via the Argentine Republic to Buenos Ayres, the remainder passing over the mountains to Arica. At one of the late national conventions, the mining laws were carefully revised, and the new Spanish Code substantially adopt- ed, thus materially simplifying the tenor and title of property, with the view of favoring the development of the industry and inviting the investment of foreign capital. Among its funda- mental provisions are : 1. On lands belonging to the public domain, and also on uri- fenced private property, minerals and mines may be sought, applied for, granted, and worked. Within fenced ground, the proprietor's permission or judicial license must be first obtained. 2. All individuals possessed of civil rights may apply for and obtain one or more pertenencias (one pertenencia = 100 m. square = 1 hectarea) in one concession, not, however, to exceed 30 pertenencias (or 30 hectareas). 100 m. 100 m. = 10,000 square meters = 1 pertenencia = 1 hectarea. The pertenencias constituting one concession may not be scat- tered, but must border on one another (having common side- lines), forming a right-angular polygon. A concession of 10 pertenencias may be : or 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 or 7 8 9 10 8 7 6 9 10 etc. 3. Priority of application (" presentacion de la solicitud de concession") has the preference, however slight the difference in time. A SKETCH OF THE BOLIVIAN REPUBLIC. 45 4. Gold or tin deposits or other metallic minerals occurring in rivers, placers, pockets, irregular deposits, or bedded veins, on public or private lands, are subject to the same law applicable to all mineral concessions. 5. The claimant is owner of, and may work to an unlimited depth, all the ground, veins, deposits, and mineral occurrences within his surface claim and within the vertical planes passed through all the surface boundary lines of such claim. His title and working privilege do not extend, however, to deposits and such portions of deposits, either in direction of strike or dip, or in any other direction, that are situated outside of or have departed from the ground inclosed within such .vertical plane limits. 6. Parties exploiting in or into such adjoining ground, having passed the surface lines and vertical plane limits of their own claim, are compelled to return the minerals or an equivalent thereto to the party whose claim they have trespassed upon. And in the event of it being proved that such trespassing was carried on knowingly or with malicious intent, the offense be- comes criminal, and the party committing the same is punished accordingly. 7. The concessions are perpetual in duration as long as the yearly patente of 5 bolivianos (5 Bolivian dollars) per heetarea is regularly paid. 8. The patente must be paid in half-yearly installments in ad- vance. It may, however, be paid several years ahead if pre- ferred. 9. In case of failure to pay the patente for a period of one year, the claimant forfeits his right, title, and interest in and to the claim ; and his property is sold out at auction to the highest bidder, when the claimant receives the surplus, after the amount of his indebtedness, plus costs and plus 10 per cent, of the entire amount for which the property was sold are deducted from such amount realized by sale. And in case no bidder appears, the land is returned to and becomes part of the public domain, and is reopened to location and exploitation. With all the natural resources, however, that should combine to make Bolivia an extraordinarily rich and prosperous country, it must be acknowledged that, with exception of the calisaya 46 PAPERS FROM THE NOTES OF AN ENGINEER. bark and coca plantations and the operations of a few of the better regulated mining enterprises, everything is in a surprising state of backwardness. And at first sight, one marvels at this condition of things in the midst of such boundless riches. Each new administration has begun with strong endeavors to pursue a policy conducive to business activity and to the eleva- tion of the country from its dull, torpid industrial condition to the rank of a thriving progressive state, commensurate with the variety and exceptional richness of her resources. Liberal and numerous concessions have been granted for roads and other public improvements ; yet, for the greater part, nothing but trails connect the cities, traveled by mules, llamas, and Indians, the beasts of burden of the republic. It is true there are navigable rivers to the east, and although there have been ably projected plans for their utilization, still their conversion into efficient fluvial highways remains unac- complished. For instance, in 1868 a navigation company was formed with a large concession from the government, having as its object the opening up of a route down the rivers Mamore and Madeira to the Atlantic. The scheme was promising, and would have given easy access to half a million square miles of valuable land in Bolivia and Brazil, traversed by immense rivers, forming a natural canal system possessed by no other country in the world. But up to the present time there have been no act- ive steps taken toward the realization of these designs, and the traffic in that direction, confined almost exclusively to the ex- portation of rubber and hides, is expensive and tedious, not to speak of danger from the more savage Indian tribes attending the back passage, up the rivers of the interior of Brazil. Another project is now discussed, to continue the navigation of Lake Titicaca through Rio Desanguadero to Lake Poopo, and by means of a new railroad line from Chililaya to La Paz, in substitution for the present stage-road, and the navigation of other subordinate rivers farther south, to connect La Paz, Coro- coro, Barca, Oruro, Cochabamba, Colquechaca, Sucre, liuanchaca, etc., with the view of diverting the Argentine-Atlantic and La Paz-Chilian trade northwestward through Bolivia and Peru to Mollendo. But, according to the writer's views, there are obsta- cles in the way of this scheme, to overcome which would involve A SKETCH OF THE BOLIVIAN REPUBLIC. 47 the solution of engineering problems at a cost entirely dispro- portioned to the advantages gained. To an American traveling in Bolivia, the question naturally suggests itself : Why this backwardness and general stagnation ? SKETCH SHOWING METHOD OF SLUICE WASHING PRACTICED AT TIPUANI. From a careful geographico-topographical study of the stupen- dous Andes chain, which has broken up and elevated to great altitudes the western part of the republic, forming a colossal barrier against the coast, it is evident that a peculiarly isolated, inaccessible position and great difficulty in building good roads 48 PAPERS FROM THE NOTES OF AN ENGINEER. are the main causes that have operated in preserving the coun- try's primitiveness. Added to this, it must be remembered that the development of the country has been in the hands of a peo- ple of whom by far the great majority are remnants of a nation doubly fallen. For even before the advent of the Spaniards over three centuries ago, during which time the Quichuas and Ayma- ras had been enslaved, persecuted, and forced into degeneracy, history tells us that the imperial glories of the Incas were but the last gleams of a civilization of a thousand years' standing, whose massive monolithic monuments, innumerable forsaken towns, ruined public works, terraced mountains, and crowded cemeteries, in the historic ground bordering the mysterious Titi- caca, bear witness to a much higher scale of culture. And after a continued decline and free mixture with the Spanish invaders for more than three hundred years, it is hardly a matter for sur- prise that the resulting Cholos and half-castes should show little or no ambition for advancement, and the white constituency have absorbed in a high degree the phlegmatic, depressed dispo- sition of the controlling Indian element, whose ignorance, utter want of purpose and life, and low standard of comfort, constitute the real secret of the characteristic stagnation not only in Boli- via, but in other South American States. In a word, the consideration of the country's situation from a politico-economic point of view leads to the conclusion that, of the five factors that Lord Bacon and Bishop Hall have well said go to make a nation great and prosperous, namely, a fertile soil, busy workshops, easy conve} T ance for men and commodities, knowledge, and freedom, only the first and last are at all repre- sented up to the present time in this beautiful and interesting republic, so appropriately called the Switzerland of South America. IV. THE GOLD DEPOSITS OF THE TIPUANI RIVER, BOLIVIA, S. A.* THE growing interest that is being manifested in the mineral resources of South America, and the importance attached to the revival of the mining industry in Peru and Bolivia, may justify the recording of some data concerning one of the historic gold regions of that portion of the continent. During the past few years, the successful reopening of old Spanish mines and the discovery of several remarkable bonanza silver deposits in the Cordillera have developed an active but legitimate local boom, backed in its incipient stages almost en- tirely by Bolivian and Chilian resources. As a general characteristic of the results attending these ven- tures, it may be said, in contradistinction to many similar enter- prises in Mexico, that, in almost every instance where a lode mining enterprise has been provided with the necessary capital, expended under proper management, its efforts have been re- warded with profitable results; and this, too, in the face of such disadvantages as high altitude (from 13,000 to 14,000 feet above sea level), inaccessibility, scarcity of fuel and labor. Among the more prominent of the permanently established paying silver properties may be noted the Huanchaca and Quol- quechaca mines. Of these, the Huanchaca is at once the most celebrated and important enterprise in Bolivia, having already produced about $5,000,000 in silver bullion the final outcome of a deep tunnel development scheme, nearly 3,000 feet in length, and requiring some ten years to complete. At the time of my visit to the republic, the company was paying 2 per cent, monthly dividends on a subscribed capital of $6,000,000, besides * From The Engineering and Mining Journal, New York, July 24, 1886. 50 PAPERS FROM THE NOTES OF AN ENGINEER. adding monthly installments to a surplus fund that is now close on to $2,000,000. But in point of historical magnitude, as also in respect to con- tinuous ore-bodies actually remaining exposed to view, according to the mining reports of competent, reliable authorities, the mines of the Cerro de Potosi, Bolivia, are undoubtedly among the most phenomenal silver lodes, not only of South America, but of the world. Of the estimated total silver production of Bolivia, which, according to the Auditor of the Potosi Mint, is given at over $5,000,000,000, the Cerro de Potosi alone is cred- ited with over $2,500,000,000. The resumption of operations in these mines, on a large scale, with all modern appliances, has recently been undertaken by a strong English company, whose shares are also largely held in South America. Judging by the conservative policy of the company and its efficient management, it would seem that a successful issue may be anticipated from the exploitation, on modern principles, of these vast bonanzas. In Peru, a parallel scheme, having as object the extensive working of the Cerro de Pasco silver deposits, is at present en- tertained by prominent bankers in Lima and New York. Such projects as these, not to speak of the regularly announced dividends from the noted El Callao gold mine in Venezuela, which aggregate to date about $9,000,000, have combined to enhance the enthusiasm for South American properties and for their possibilities upon more extensive development under im- proved systems of operation. Although silver is the staple metal of Bolivia, gold has been found in considerable quantities. In lodes, it occurs in admix- ture with silver, in sulphurous, antimonial, and arsenical ores; but almost the entire amount is obtained from lavaderos or the washings of alluvial deposits in the beds and along the banks of streams and rivers ; that is, from superficial, shallow, or modern placers of fluviatile origin. According to Alexander von Humboldt and Professor Soet- beer, the gold production of Bolivia for 381 years, namely, from 1545 to 1875 inclusive, amounted to 41,013,000, which is about equivalent to the yield of the California placers after the first six years' work. 52 PAPERS FROM THE NOTES OF AN ENGINEER. The Andes, which skirt the bleak shores of Southern Chili, formerly Patagonia, rising higher and higher till they culminate in the gigantic porphyritic peak Aconcagua, and thence continu- ing through to the boundary-line of Bolivia in an undivided nar- row sierra, depart from their meridional direction, and fork into two great longitudinal ranges, running nearly parallel, and known respectively as the Eastern and the Western Cordillera. They inclose the far-reaching table-lands of the Desaguadero and the mysterious Lago de Titicaca, which is at once the largest lake in South America and the highest in the world covering an area of 4,600 square miles, with a surface lying level with the tops of lofty mountains at an altitude of 12,505 feet. The eastern chain, locally termed La Paz Cordillera or Cor- dillera Real, separates from the Potosi mountain knot to the north of the Alturas de los Lipez, and includes, in latitude 16 10' S., and longitude 68 47' W., the Sorata or Illampu, a group of serrated snow peaks fringed with glaciers, rising in majestic splendor to a height of over 22,000 feet. The entire range shows a succession of sharp, jagged ridges with fiercely contorted strata, in contrast with the conical summits of the coast cordillera. It is built up of an extensive system of Silurian rocks (grouped by Forbes), running almost continuously for TOO miles, of which the principal lithological constituents are clay-slates, grauwacke, micaceous and talcose schists, broken, elevated, and metamor- phosed by intruding igneous rocks, among which granites and porphyries prevail. The whole of this geological formation is highly mineral- bearing, and the Sorata region of La Paz or Cordillera Real is eminently auriferous, containing everywhere and at great alti- tudes veins of gold quartz, generally associated with iron pyrites. And it is this section of country, especially on the eastern de- clivity of La Paz Cordillera, where an extensive development of Silurian slates and sandstones faces the Madeira Valley, that has contributed and continues to produce almost all the gold ex- ported from Bolivia. It is everywhere met with on both sides of the mountain chain, although the accumulations on the north- eastern slope are far richer, both in quality and quantity. The waters collected between the lateral ridges and high ranges of the Cordillera flowing to the northwest, swell the ^ Exhibit N?5 MAP OF THE X RIO TIPUANI with itt Principal Placer Basins to accomany thrRr/tcrt of' 54 PAPERS FROM THE NOTES OF AN ENGINEER. ITcayali, while the streams flowing eastward and northeastward descend to the foot-hills and plains traversed by the Beni and Madeira and their upper branches. The uncommonly powerful erosion caused by the avenidas or floods during the rainy season, to which the mountain sides and outcrops of auriferous quartz veins are subjected, disintegrates, transports, and deposits in the deep ravines and rivers flowing eastward enormous volumes of detrital material, through which are disseminated the liberated particles of gold. And although all the waters descending from this range that fall into the Beni carry down the precious metal, the Quebrada or Rio de Tipuani, which empties into the Mapiri, situated in the province of Larecaja, department of La Paz, is notably the most productive. The Tipuani is best approached from the town of Sorata, which has an altitude of about 8,000 feet, and is 18 leagues (54 miles) distant from Chililaya and 9 leagues from Achacashe on the Lago de Titicaca. The journey from Sorata to Mapiri, a distance of 32 leagues, is made in three days, namely, the first day, the summit of the main Cordillera spur called Llachisani, from 15,000 to 16,000 feet above sea level, is reached in five hours. At this eleva- tion, the view is grand over a vast expanse of country, and one forms some slight conception of the huge scale on which nature has framed her productions in South America " a sublime as- semblage of mountains, plains, forests, and rivers, unparalleled and without rival in the works of creation." The air is so ex- tremely rarefied that those who have not already become accli- mated are likely to be attacked with soroche. The first symp- toms make themselves manifest in the form of rapid breathing and dizziness, followed by palpitations of the heart and a general weakness and faintness the least bodily effort causing complete exhaustion. Then sets in a stinging, smarting sensation about the eyes and forehead, which develops into sick-headache and, if the patient is fortunate enough, ends in violent vomiting, which is the only permanent relief. The general feeling is one of seasick misery, and is only slightly relieved by the smelling of ammonia. The barren mountains once passed, the remaining 11 leagues to Mapiri are through the shady woods of the quinales, along THE GOLD DEPOSITS OF THE TIPUANI RIVER. 55 the crest of the hills sloping toward the Mapiri River. And here one meets with a novel feature in South American travel, namely, the balsa navigation of the narrow, rapid rivers tributary to the wide system flowing through the plains of the interior. Twelve hours after departure from Mapiri, gliding and wind- ing continuously over crystal-clear water, through 24 leagues of the most romantic country, lined with forests of the greatest ex- uberance and variety of vegetation, shut in by steep hills whose tropical drapery hangs into the very river, amid a brilliant pro- fusion of feathery, fanlike foliage, Guanay is reached at the junction of the Mapiri and Tipuani rivers. The source of the Tipuani River is at an elevation of 17,000 feet on the northeast side of the Cordillera Real, about five leagues to the northwest of the Sorata or Illampu, and ten leagues in a northerly direction from the town of Sorata. It pursues a northeasterly course for thirty-five leagues, more or less, meas- ured along its winding path, and empties, ten leagues below the village of Tipuani, into the Mapiri River at Guanay. From the latter town, the combined waters flowing to the east as the con- tinuation of the Mapiri, are known as Rio Caca, which farther down participates in the formation of the Beni River, a tributary to the Madeira. The first five leagues of the Tipuani's development are through barren, desolate regions above the snow-line. Lower down, in the vicinity of Tipuani, and continuing to the mouth of the river at Guanay, it forms a tortuous chain of deep, delicious, trans- parent pools, from 200 to TOO -feet in length, and with varying widths of from 30 to 70 feet, linked together by foaming rapids, alternately running between steep hills and through high canons (angosturas), or becoming shallow and opening out into basin- shaped swells in the valley. The latter are the receptacles or re- positories in which the transported placer-forming substances are sifted, spread, arrested from farther travel, condensed and built up in layers, accompanied with a partial bed-rock concentration of the heavier ingredients, and finally carved out into the playas as seen to-day. These benches or terraces of auriferous gravel the placers proper are from five to fifteen feet high, and run with the river for distances of from 200 to 2,000 feet, with width ranging from 100 to 700 feet, extending back toward the slopes 56 PAPERS FROM THE NOTES OF AN ENGINEER. of the side-hills. Soil -mixed, with GrwcljifragTnertts Exhibit N? 6 Scattered along the banks irregularly and in groves are pine-apple, rice and coffee plants, orange, lemon, coca, cascarilla, rubber, cotton, cane, banana, and divers nut-trees. The predominating country- rock throughout the river is hard, non-fossiliferous, slightly ferru- ginous blue clay-slate, the same as observed at great altitudes on the northeast slope of the Cordillera in violently upheaved beds hun- dreds of feet thick. Lower down in the foot-hills, they are over- laid with friable red shales or weathered mica-schist, on which are superimposed conglomerates, red clay, and thick deposits of brown soil of reddish hue. And although this order of superin- cumbent strata, which, collect- ively taken, is the gold-contain- ing formation, is only noticeable in places, along the river, the slates appear often reaching prom- inently above the water. Here the formation is exposed to view in the canons and narrow pas- sages, where the contorted strata are abruptly elevated, presenting perfect stratification and the most varied structural forms. The 'aLRock Deposits beds maintain either a nearly ver- tical position, or incline with heavy dip toward the north and northeast, constituting with their upturned edges the bed-rock of the auriferous alluvial Gold Stratum, "GtngcML " Conglomerate. Bed Rock . And this country formation is>ot.only traversed by gold quartz THE GOLD DEPOSITS OF THE TIPUANI KIVER.- 57 veins in the Cordillera watershed of the Tipuani, but must likewise be ribbed and seamed with auriferous lodes throughout that por- tion forming the side-hills ; for, besides the actual river deposits, there are accumulations of gold-bearing alluvium in the side val- leys of the main quebrada, and also high up in gullies and on Chuchiplaya Iscasivi EXHIBIT NO. 7. IDEAL SECTION THROUGH " CHUCHIPLAYA. Auriferous 1, Top soil. 2, Soil and fragments covering gravel. 3, Playa and top gravels. 4, Aurife blue clay stratum on slate bed-rock. 5, Reacbed by working-pit at depth of 36 feet. shoulders of the bordering mountains, folders whose genesis is quite independent of the riverine agency below. Owing to this probable occurrence of gold in place in the immediate vicinity, the source of the Tipuani play as is not alone to be looked for in the region of its headwaters, but also in the country adjacent to the deposits. Vast quantities of soil from these steep slopes have EXHIBIT NO. 10. IDEAL CUT THROUGH " ANCOTA. 1, Top soil. 2, Soil and gravel. 3, Falder gravel. 4, Top gravels proper. 5, Gold bed-rock concentrations. 6, Slate bed-rock. been emptied into the river through land-slides along the valley, as well as by torrents entering through cross-ravines. And at such points of combined gold contribution, some of the richest ground is found. The periods of greatest geological activity at the present time re during the rainy seasons, from November 15th to March 58 PAPERS FROM THE NOTES OF AN ENGINEER. 15th, when rushing waters and a succession of powerful floods tear their way through the lode-incasing formations, gathering material from a wide area, conveying and subjecting it to the influence of the swollen river. The ancient bed of the Tipuani lies from 20 to 60 feet below the present waters, and has been filled either gradually, or more probably spasmodically, by sudden flood-installments, as indi- cated by the strati tications of the ancient gravels, which appear to record different periods of deposition. And on the other hand, there is the strongest possible evidence, in the form of " pot-holes," as high as ten feet above the surface of the water, that the river has operated at higher levels with great power for long periods of time. During and subsequent to the process of formation, the free- ing of the gold, by attrition and disintegration of the auriferous vein-rock in transportation, has been succeeded by a sinking and concentration of the precious metal in the vicinity of the bed- rock or plan, as it is locally termed, in which zone the richest ground has always been found. Resting on the slate plan or true bed, called in Tipuani pena, there is in many places a layer of "cement gravel," a hard con- glomerate cemented with oxide of iron, termed cangaUi, which forms apparently a new bed or false bottom. Deposited on the latter, is a rich pay stratum of gold sands and gravel, varying from one to four feet in thickness, and containing in places from one-eighth to one ounce of gold to the Itatea (two-thirds of a California pan). The value and thickness of the cangalli stratum are not defi- nitely known, as the records of workings that have sunk through to actual bed-rock are contradictory. It is highly probable, how- ever, judging from the character of similar deposits, that not only the "cement" itself is pay material, never having been turned to profit for want of mining, crushing, and amalgamating machinery, but that below it, lying on the slate, there are de- posits as rich as, if not richer than, the cangalli pay-streak. Imbedded in the partially stratified top-gravels, lying in depths of from 20 to 60 feet over the cangalli plan, are found inter- mediate " false beds" of impure chalk or marl, which, like the cement gravel, are overlaid with thin strata of rich gold soil. THE GOLD DEPOSITS OF THE TIPTJANI EIVER. 59 A section through the river formations shows the following geological order : Dark and red surface soil from 3 to 5 feet. Soil mixed with broken fragments and gravel from 1 to 2 feet. Playa or auriferous gravel above river level from 5 to 15 feet. Continuation of playa-gravel with partial stratifica- tion, extending below river-bed, and inclosing rich streaks from 20 to 60 feet. Gold stratum (bed-rock pay-seam) from 1 to 4 feet. Cangalli bed or cement ? / fi f f T- i i 1 1 j. f) f o iee t Bed-rock gold stratum I j Besting on slate bed-rock (or pena.) The detrital accumulations below the river-bed, and also com- posing the adjacent playas, consist of slate, syenitic granite with plain hornblende crystals, fine-grained granite, white quartz, and rusted cellular vein-quartz containing partially decomposed pyr- ites which occur in irregular fragments, but principally in lense and oval-shaped stones and small boulders. And the minera- logical constituency dispersed through this debris in small gravel, sand, and finer particles, consists of quartz, feldspar, hornblende, mica, hematite, titanite, magnetite, gold, and occasional grains of platinum. The precious metal is diffused through the mass largely in the form of coarse flat scales, thin lenses, and oval-shaped leaves and angular plates of deep yellow color, which is the general character of Tipuani gold. Accompanied by magnetic and ti- tanic sands, it also appears in small grains, fine particles, and dust. The coarse pieces are always flat, except the gold from the folders, or hill-slope deposits, which is more granular in ap- pearance. Nuggets and wire gold are rarely met with. It is remarkably pure and constant in fineness, running not less than 22J and generally 23| carats, or about 980 fine. It is bought in La Paz at the rate of 27 pesos (21-60 Bolivianos, or $15.12 United States) per onza. Besides the cangalli occurrence, the gold is distributed in rich and poor patches throughout the upper gravels, in accordance with the interruption of the current of the stream by diminu- tion in its fall, by the entrance of tributaries, or by bars, reefs, eddies, etc. Thus the gold deposits of the Tipuaui may be divided into the following classes : 60 PAPERS FROM THE NOTES OF AN ENGINEER. 1st. Congolli bed-rock, ancient or deep deposits. 2d. Kiver-bed deposits, occupying the present wet and dry channels, and extending below to the rich pay-streak. 3d. Playas or placer benches above the water level in point of origin the same as the latter. 4th. Folders or hillside deposits, which occur (a) in more or less well-defined auriferous strata ; and (b) in thick hilly masses of alluvium, through which the metal is irregularly dispersed. A long-continued, extensive system of batea sampling result- ed in finding that the river-beds and upper gravels of the Tipu- ani formation may be counted to contain about 50 cents per cubic yard ; while the bed-rock deposits, ranging from 25 to 40 feet below the river level, contain the precious metal in a much higher degree of concentration. This pay-seam varies in thick- ness from 3 inches to 3 feet, and is also variable in gold contents. But it has been made the basis of remunerative mining, in a small way as compared with the California scale of operations, under disadvantageous conditions in point of climate, location, and working methods. The records of Tipuani gold washings date back as far as 1533, and in those remote days thousands of Inca Indians were sent periodically to gather the gold as best they could, which was placed at the disposal of their heroes. Imbedded deep in the alluvial strata below the present river- bed, have been found gold ornaments, copper relics, hard- wood picks and hatchets of stone, bearing witness to the ancients' presence and equipment. The remnants of these historic exploitations are quite numer- ous in places. The folder, or hillside gulch deposits, were worked par excellence in those periods, probably because the richer beds below the Tipuani were either unknown or of neces- sity neglected on account of the technical difficulties attending their working. Later in the history of the country, the Spaniards, who ap- pear to have been in sole possession of the river, carried on ex- tensive workings of the hillside deposits at elevations of from 50 to 600 feet above the river level, where stone pits, basins, aqueducts, ground sluices, water-worn surfaces, excavations, and boulder dumps yet remain in comparatively perfect preservation. The system they followed, known as cochea, was a variety of THE GOLD DEPOSITS OF THE TIPUANI KIVER. 61 booming or gouging ; that is, the application of water in sudden rushes, in opposition to the use of continuous streams in ground sluices. The required quantity was conducted in an acequia from some convenient stream, and stored near the terminal point in a capacious reservoir, at a suitable height above the soil to be washed. The dam or side of the receptacle was provided with a flood-gate, through which the whole contents could be poured out in a torrent at pleasure, and the previously loosened soil carried off in the rush, while the gold remained behind in a concentrated product, arrested by the larger stones and boulders. The latter were thrown to one side, and the path of the stream successively shifted, until a large amount of ground was caved, and a certain patch washed, when a clean-up was made of the remaining gold sands, which were subsequently treated in stone sluices, and the metal finally separated after this long, laborious, wasteful pro- cess. They do not appear to have had any bed-rock floors or apparatus at the end of the flood in which to save the tailing gold, and the force of the flow must have been so sudden and powerful that more metal was carried into the river than was saved in the channels formed by this method of surface de- nudation. Many millions' worth of gold from the Tipuani region are accounted for by the numerous legends so commonly associated with the records of old Spanish mines. The most conspicuously successful of the more modern en- terprises, however, distinguished for intelligent, energetic man- agement and methodical working, plans, are the operations of the late Don Ildefonso Yillamil, who devoted himself with great perseverance to the development of Tipuani property for many years previous to his death in Sorata, some seventeen years since. The records of his estate show that over $2,000,000 were gained by his mining operations in and below the Tipuani river-bed. The system he followed was the excavation of a large open pit with sloping sides, pushed vigorously to bed-rock, where the rich gold stratum was rapidly mined and washed. In sinking, great numbers of Indians were employed, who conveyed both dirt and water to the surface by passing in leather aprons and buckets from one tier of men to the other. Although Yillamil a'nd others have already worked, with more 62 PAPEES FROM THE NOTES OF AN ENGINEER. or less thoroughness, many placers for miles along the Tipuani, there still remain relatively large playa tracts that could be mined profitably. Since the suspension of the more extensive operations, the natives alone continue the to* * ro RETURN OVERDUE. OCT 23 1932 MIA REC'D LD FEB 131962 LD 21 454637 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY ail