PACKING AND SHIPPING 313 
part of the world are the only routes to these 
inland cities. As a rule they are hardly wide 
enough for two mules or pack animals to pass, 
except at certain localities. On one side they 
are bounded by the walls of snow-tipped 
mountains, which raise their majestic heads 
into the clouds, while on the other yawning 
abysses, hundreds, sometimes thousands of feet 
deep, open their gaping mouths, along the bot- 
ton of which winding watercourses wend their 
way to the sea. 
Many of the ports of Latin America are 
open roadsteads, such for instance as Mol- 
lendo, Peru, one of the gateways to the interior 
of that country and Bolivia as well. At cer 
tain seasons of the year it is almost impossible 
for one to land and I have known of vessels to 
wait as long as six weeks before getting their 
cargoes discharged into the rolling, tossing 
lighters which continually thump and smash 
against the side of the ship. After the light 
ers are loaded, they in turn have to wait days, 
weeks and often months before a favorable 
opportunity arrives for getting their contents