This project, which has now reached completion, has had many vicissitudes. Its real history may be said to date from 1873, when the first practical step was taken by two brothers named Clark. It was while engaged in connecting Chile and Argentina by telegraph in 1869 that these brothers conceived the idea that this route was the most feasible for a transandine railway. The Clarks obtained a concession for a railroad between Buenos Aires and the Chilean boundary from the Argentine government, and were soon afterwards climbing over rock and ridge in the work of surveying these desolate mountains. Several routes were considered, but the most practical one seemed to be the old Inca trail across the Andes, and this was the shortest as well. Along this trail innumerable hordes of the primitive races have passed for unknown centuries. The Spaniard named it Camino de los Andes, the Andean Trail. For almost four centuries since the white men found this route, they have followed it on foot or on mule between the two countries. The first section was built from Mendoza to Villa Mercedes, a distance of two hundred and twenty-two miles, and completed in 1880. Three years later this line was continued to Buenos Aires. In 1887 work was begun from Mendoza toward the Chilean frontier and new sections were opened up every few years, but progress was very slow. On the Chilean side the work progressed even more slowly because of financial difficulties. Several times construction was begun, and then stopped because money was not forthcoming from the government, as it was too costly an undertaking for private capital. In 1901, however, the financial arrangements were completed through the American firm of W. R. Grace & Co., and the final work was undertaken in an energetic manner. Argentina also took up her part again as soon as ultimate success was assured, and from that time until now the progress has been steady, but the difficult character of the work necessarily made it slow. Work on the tunnel was prosecuted from both ends, and it was a difficult undertaking because of the high altitude. Several lives were lost during its construction. It was found necessary to line the entire tunnel with a two-foot facing of cement because of the crumbling nature of the rock when exposed to the air. It is eighteen feet high and wide enough for a double track of the broadest gauge. The Chilean government guaranteed five per cent. on the capital invested in the Trasandino Chileno, almost seven million dollars, and the Argentine government practically constructed the Trasandino Argentino Railway. Thus, after thirty-seven years of work and planning, vicissitudes and discouragements, this railroad, which promises so much not only for the two governments but also for the whole of South America, has become an accomplished fact.