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National Geographic : 1950 Oct
Contents
Primitive Square Sails ofIndian Ferries Zip Across Lake Titicaca Could Mount Fuji, Japan's highest peak, bemoved across the Pacific, itscone would look up more than 100feettothis12.500 foot lake intheclouds. Titicaca's 3,200 square miles make ithalf thesizeofLake Ontario. Inplaces itistoodeep foranchors. Itissocold that "4'native Indians, likeArctic Eski mos, rarely learn toswim. This lake's waters, likethe Dead Sea's, donotreach the ocean. Flowing into bitter Lake Poop6, they disappear insalt marshes. Nowhere elseissteam naviga tion carried onatsogreat a height. Little steamers regularly carry passengers andfreight be tween railroad terminals inPeru and Bolivia. Built inScotland, they were transported insections across theAndes and assembled onthelake. Before trains arrived todothejob, oneancient steamer went up themountains piece bypiece onmuleback. Atitswidest thelake stretches some 50miles, but here theStrait ofTiquina narrows ittoabout amile, making aconvenient ferry crossing. Indians plythese craft between thepeninsula ofCopacabana (opposite page) and Tiquina (shore ahead). Sails aresoclumsy that ferrymen reach their goals only bydint ofskill and toil. Often toward evening they are plagued byfierce winds. )National (Geograpihic Society KOldahrone by ('arl S.Bell
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