“ This elevated plateau region is partially barren and inhospitable, its short, cold summers permitting the production of little besides potatoes, quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa) and barley, with a little Indian corn and wheat in favoured localities. Some attention is given to the rearing of llamas, and a few cattle, sheep and mules are to be seen south of Lake Titicaca. ”

“ There is a considerable Indian population in this region, living chiefly in small hamlets on the products of their own industry. In the lower valleys of the eastern slopes, where climatic conditions range from temperate to tropical, wheat, Indian corn, oats and the fruits and vegetables of the temperate zone are cultivated. Farther down, coffee, cacao, coca, rice, sugar cane, tobacco, oranges, bananas and other tropical fruits are grown, and the forests yield cinchona bark and rubber. The mineral wealth of La Paz includes gold, silver, tin, copper and bismuth. ”

“ The railway opened in 1905 between Guaqui and La Paz (54 m.) superseded the latter of these stage lines, and a railway is planned from Viacha to Oruro to supersede the other. The capital of the department is the national capital La Paz. Corocoro, near the Desaguadero river, about 75 m. S.S.E. of Lake Titicaca and 13,353 ft. above sea-level, has an estimated population (1906) of 15,000, chiefly Aymará Indians. ”