BOLIVIA

83

Bolivia,  are  a  rather  warlike  race  and  have
maintained  their  tribal  laws,  the  control  of
their  lands  and  customs,  independent  of  all  attempts ­
  to  subjugate  them.  In  fact,  the  Bolivians ­
  stand  in  awe  of  them.  There  are  about
500,000  “cholos,”  the  native  term  for  halfcastes
  or  mixed  breeds,  250,000  whites  of
Spanish  descent  and  perhaps  10,000  foreigners,—that ­
  is  Americans  and  Europeans  engaged ­
  in  business.
Bolivia  has  been  the  scene  of  a  remarkable
railway  development  encouraged  by  the  government. ­
  There  are  to-day  about  900  miles
of  road  in  actual  operation,  about  400  miles
in  the  process  of  construction  and  nearly  2,500
miles,  plans  and  estimates  for  the  completion
of  which  are  under  consideration.
These  railways  maintain  three  arteries  of
commerce  with  the  Pacific  coast  from  the  interior, ­
  and  reach  the  ocean  via  Lake  Titicaca
at  Mollendo,  Peru;  at  Antofagasta,  and  also
at  Arica  in  Chile,  the  last  named  being  the
shortest  and  most  direct  route  from  the  coast
to  the  capital  at  La  Paz,  a  distance  of  274