assengers have to be "slung" on to the landing stage in
baskets made for the purpose. Like most of the South American coast from
Valparaiso northwards there is little or no vegetation, and the scenery
is not of the kind generally associated with tropical climes, of which
one reads so much. Sand dunes and waste meet the eye on all sides, and
the traveller for the interior is generally glad when the railway
journey commences.

Of the country through which the railway takes one there is not much to
be said, but the attention of the traveller is at once called to the
marvellous ingenuity of the famous engineer Meiggs, who built the
railway. Gradually rising as the coast recedes, the train reaches
Arequipa, at an elevation of 7,500 feet, and distant from Mollendo about
200 miles. Arequipa has about 45,000 inhabitants, and, while rather
prettily situated in a small valley surrounded by high volcanoes, it
does not have anything of particular interest to attract one. Moreover,
it suffers frequently from earthquakes, which does not surprise one when
you look at the giant volcano "El Misti," towering up to 18,000 feet, at
no great distance off. The houses are all built with "vaulted"
foundations, the better to resist the "earth-tremblings," but on this
occasion I did not experience any shocks.

Leaving Arequipa behind, the ascent continues until the highest point is
reached at Crucero Alto, where a notice board indicates that we are now
14,666 feet above sea level. It is before reaching this altitude that
the wonderful enterprise of the engineer shows up. The line goes on
winding and climbing, twisting back again but always ascending, for
hours, until a point is reached where passengers, looking down from the
carriage windows, may see right below them, only a few feet down, the
actual railway track over which they have passed an hour before. At one
place there are actually _three tracks visible,_ one right below the
other, just like steps and stairs, and I believe there is nothing quite
like it in Argentina. Leaving Crucero Alto the descent is very gradual
until Puno is reached, on the shore of Lake Titicaca, but still at an
altitude of 12,000 feet or more. I did not actually see the town, which
is a short distance from the station, but went straight on board the
"Coya," the steamer which was to ferry us across to Chililaya or Puerto
Perez, on the Bolivian side of the immense lake.[F] The distance in this
direction is about 110