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Show OTnANOC LAKES IN PERU, tail or siiImi wntwu Thoy litre Ma.Utreao That Nwellew rieeta. From Crucere Alto, the highest town In the world, the Southern railroad of 1'eru drops Into the Lagunlltaa, or lake region of the Cordilleras, where, 11,250 feet above the sea, la a group of large lakes of very cold, pure water, without with-out Inlet or outlet They receive the drainage of the surrounding hills and conceal It somewhere, but there Is no visible means of Its escape. A fringe of Jre forms around the edges of the lake every night the year round; yet they contain an excellent variety of fish, called the pejerray, which la caught near the shore, and told at Pu-na Pu-na and In other neighboring towns. The two largest lakes, Baracocha and Cachlpascana, with several smaller ones In the same neighborhood are owned by the family of Mr. Itomana of Arcqulpa, who has Just been elected president of Peru. He owns Immense tracts of land In this locality, with thousands of sheep, cattle, llamas, alpacas al-pacas and vicunas, which are herded upon It A curious phenomenon about the lakes Is that they keep at the same level all the time, regardless of the dry and rainy aeasons. No amount of rain will make any difference differ-ence with their depth, which, however. how-ever. In the center la unknown. And thla adds to the awe and mystery with which they are regarded by the Indiana. In-diana. There are no boats upon th lakes, except a few small balaa, or rafts, made of bundles of straw, which keep very close to the shore, for fear of being drawn Into whirlpools that are aald to exist In the center. There la some foundation for this fear, for only two or three yeara ago a balsa containing five men disappeared In the darkness and was never heard of again. Of course It may havo tipped over and Its occupants have been paralysed para-lysed by the cold water In nn ordinary way; but their bodies never were discovered dis-covered nor did the balsa ever float to shore. Therefore the people think the wholo party waa lured Into a maelstrom mael-strom and swallowed up by the mysterious mys-terious waters. Tho whirlpool near the center of Like l'opo which rccelvea the waters of Like Tltlcaca la well known, and hundreds of men have lost their Uvea by venturing too near It floats that are drawn Into tho current nro whirled swiftly around a few timet and then disappear. For the protection protec-tion of navigators the government of Ilollvla has anchored n lot of buoys In Itko Popo, and boatmen who observe them nre In no danger. Thero Is supposed sup-posed to be an underground outflow from all of these lakes. It Is claimed that articles which have been thrown Into their waters havo afterward been picked up on the seacoast near Africa, and careful observers say that on tho beach In that locality are other debris which do not grow on the coast, but are found In grcnlTtbundance: among the Interior lakes. Chicago ltecord. |
