XIII.-Report of a Journey across the Andes, between Cochabamba and Chimoré, to the Westward of the Traders' Route, with Remarks on the Proposed Communication between Bolivia and the Atlantic, viâ the Amazon. By J. A. LLOYD, Esq., F.R.G.S., H.B.M. Chargé d'Affaires in Bolivia.

Communicated through the FOREIGN-OFFICE.

Read April 10, 1854.

IN giving the following account of my tour into the province of Moxos to examine some of the upper branches of the Madera, an affluent of the Amazon, it may be as well to state that my object in desiring to make this fatiguing journey during the height of the rainy season, was to satisfy myself as to the real advantages to Bolivian and European commerce of an overland communication from the plains to the eastward of the Andes, and thence by the tributaries supplying the Amazon down that river to the Atlantic.

Since the departure of Lieutenants Herndon and Gibbon, of the United States navy, from Bolivia, to descend the Amazon and its tributaries, and rumours of the mission of Sir Charles Hotham and Chevalier St. George to the La Plata, much excitement has arisen in Bolivia with regard to its importance and the anxious desire of European nations to open up trade with this republic.

From all the western parts of Bolivia, almost to the gates of the thriving city of Cochabamba, there is but one vast tract of mountain, valley, and great ravines, generally without a sign of useful vegetation, except in a few isolated spots or villages near the river beds.

From Cochabamba eastward, on the contrary, after passing a most dangerous mountain, called the Cuesta de Paltacueva,' or cavern of snow-storms'—and within some twenty leagues of Cochabamba-the entire pass being strewed with the bones of both men and beasts who have perished there on the way to the far interior, another high ridge of mountains is encountered. This ridge is perfectly bare and arid on the Cochabamba side, but is covered to the very summit, on the eastern, with the finest verdure and timber, which extends, increasing in intensity from thence to the country of the Yuracarees, and with hardly an interval away to the Brazilian Empire and the Atlantic Ocean.

It is remarkable to observe so perfectly defined a line of rich vegetation, of the deepest green, on one side of a mountain ridge, the other side of which displays nothing but total aridity. The atmosphere is still more curious. In the western heavens a bright glaring sun from an intensely blue sky parches everything; while,

standing on the eastern side of these mountains towards Brazils, from the zenith to the horizon is one dense dark mass of clouds.

The trade winds blowing with considerable force from the east, bring up large masses of clouds against the scarps of the wooded side of the mountains. They are seen absolutely to rebound and return back in an under current, almost at right angles. The few clouds that do succeed in passing this barrier almost immediately melt into fleecy scud, and a few hundred feet lower disappear altogether against the dry earth. In proportion as the forests increase in intensity and in the immense size of their stately trees, so the rivers increase and the healthiness of the climate rapidly alters.

Westward, excepting the malady called the Soroche, which is a most distressing and often dangerous oppression on the lungs, caused by the extreme rarefaction of the atmosphere in these great altitudes, hardly a disease, except catarrh and dropsy, is known; whereas but three or four days' journey in the forests from Cochabamba, tertian and complicated fevers become prevalent. At Espíritu Santo, at the junction of the river of that name with the river Paracti, on an estate where I had slept, named Bella Vista, the entire property and its vicinity had been abandoned in 1847 and 1848, on account of the mortality amongst the residents. Forty-two families residing on Bella Vista were nearly annihilated by tertian, and many estates were abandoned.

Espíritu Santo is enclosed on all sides by stupendous mountains clothed with the finest timber and palm trees of extraordinary height and symmetry. The inclinations on either side the rivers and innumerable streams have been cleared and planted with coca, a shrub resembling the tea plant, the leaf of which is chewed to an inordinate extent, combined with lime or an aluminous earth, by the Peruvian Indians and the Cholos. This isolated and pestilent district produces about 10,000 arrobas or 220 tons of this poisonous narcotic, on which is levied a duty of 2s. per quintal for repairing roads, where there is not a path but those trodden by mules or wild beasts.

The deadly pallor and unearthly appearance of the inhabitants of these regions evinces the extreme unhealthiness of the country. The diseases become more aggravated in proportion as the shores of the Amazon are approached.

From Espíritu Santo the last vestiges of civilized human life disappear. The track then lies alternately through swamps, violent torrents, and deep and rapid rivers, fringed to the very edge with almost impenetrable forest, or over the most rugged and precipitous mountain passes. The only passage through these is by a constant ascent and descent. In many places there

is a treacherous soil or silt over which the trembling mules can

hardly be urged to advance; although it is only a peculiar class of these animals that can withstand the fatigue and maintain their footing, but few travellers pass without losing some of their beasts, by falling over the precipitous banks of these passes. They are too well marked by the skeletons of those victims who have been destroyed and arrested in their descent by some sharp rock or tree.

Such is the description of route along or near the banks of the Paracti for three days, encamping at night in the forests. At this interval in the rainy season the abandoned Mission of San Antonio is reached on the banks of the San Mateo, a dangerous river about the size of the Thames at Hammersmith, but filled with rapids and whirlpools. Its waters abound with the finest fish, and its banks are infested by the anta or tapir, a few tigers, herds of peccari, or wild hog, and a species of small black bears. On the western side is a small settlement of the Yuracaree Indians, a fine and noble-looking race, of a light copper colour, remarkable for their unswerving honesty, but unhappily renowned for their cruelty to their female offspring, many of whom they destroy at their birth by burying them alive. These people, clothed only in a bark shirt, and simply armed with bows and arrows, exist entirely on fish, roots, and unripe plantains; bread or grain of any description being unknown amongst them. Venomous insects, the large black ant, more than an inch in length, whose bite is almost as serious as that of a scorpion, immense mosquitos, sancudos, and rinchutas, an animal like a weevil, but with a long poisonous lance, and myriads of sand flies, keep these poor beings in a constant state of agony, scratching and tearing their flesh till the blood flows. Both men and women are scarred from head to feet. They are almost amphibious, remaining for hours in the water their expertness in swimming and diving may be judged, when during the most violent torrents they fearlessly embark with a small piece of pithy wood, called a caballito, between their legs, and cross the stream through the most violent torrents and cataracts. This is the road to the province of Moxos and its capital, Trinidad, and to the point of embarkation, Chimoré. There is no other transport across this broad river for the traveller or his baggage but the unstable canoe made of the rind of a tree, or the more safe expedient of a Macintosh belt to the swimmer. Everything of baggage is spoiled. The mules are made to swim and take the chance of landing a mile or more below, from whence they are brought up to the traveller by a path only known to the Indians.

To avoid this perilous passage the native traders bound to Trinidad pass many days' journey to the East to Santa Cruz de la Sierra, and then descend the rivers Guapay or Zara into the Marmoré. Lieutenant Gibbon was detained 14 days on the