Some people amuse themselves with telling travellers exciting stories of the dizzy precipices to be passed, and advising them to go by carriage, as the slightest false step on the part of the mule would result in certain death. But, in fact, the journey over the pass is perfectly safe and easy; there is no precipice up which a boy of twelve could not easily scramble, and the mule, frequently disdaining the path, shuffles down these dangerous heights at a great pace. This pleasant break in the monotony of the journey is now to be a thing of the past. The enterprise (English) of the Buenos Aires and Pacific Railway knows no obstacle, and succeeded in linking the Atlantic and Pacific with hoops of iron. A few months ago the tunnel, nearly 2 miles long, was completed, the rails are now laid down, and it is expected that the line will be open for traffic by the time these lines are printed. Some people, however, doubt whether it will be possible to keep it open all the year round. At present all passenger traffic is at an end from about May to October, for the blizzards and snow-drifts make it dangerous if not impossible, and there is great difficulty in getting even the mail-bags through by hand. It remains to be seen whether snow-ploughs and other implements can be employed which will be sufficient to clear the line and the tunnel. But at least the tunnel will be a great convenience in summer, although some may regret the short ride, breasting the keen air. The mountain-peaks are, of course, as barren as ever, though a few glittering glaciers can be seen on distant heights, but the bright sun, the lumbering carts, the whistling wind, and the shouts of the mule-drivers are pleasant sights and sounds. The pleasant open-air conditions keep off the dreaded _soroche_, or mountain sickness, which will probably attack many of the future passengers through the tunnel, but riding over the pass has merely an exhilarating effect. At the summit there is a board with _Argentina_ on one side and _Chile_ on the other. Here also is a colossal statue of Christ. This boundary line had long been a source of dispute between the two nations. Several times their jealousies had appeared to make the task of delimitation impossible, and the two countries had been on the brink of war. At last, aided by the good offices of King Edward VII., the statesmen on either side composed their differences and averted a fratricidal war by tracing a satisfactory boundary line, and on that line, as a pledge that war and discords from their lands should cease, the people decided to place a visible sign of concord to show to every traveller that the neighbours should wage no more wars one with another. They placed on the summit of the Andes a statue of the Prince of Peace. [Illustration: STATUE OF CHRIST.] FOOTNOTES: