At Juliaca, 30 miles before Puno, the line branches north towards Cuzco, 210 miles, a journey of a day and a half. Sleeping cars run from Arequipa. The highest point on the north division is 14,153 feet. Cuzco itself is at an altitude of 11,445 feet. The place, almost surrounded by hills, has a more genial climate than might be expected at this altitude. The appearance of the country is very different from that near Cerro de Pasco with more green and a milder atmosphere. Cuzco is said once to have had a population of 400,000, instead of the present 30,000. Some progress has been made since railway connection was established in 1908; a decent hotel, the Pullman, has superseded the apologies for one then available. The population is chiefly Indian, and many come in from the surrounding country to the markets. The Department, a very rich but undeveloped section, is on the border where Quichuas and Aymarás mingle. From the port of Puno, on the shore of Lake Titicaca, altitude 12,500 feet, there is, in connection with the railway, steamboat service (an all night journey) to Guaqui, at the south end of the lake. Here is railroad connection for La Paz, a three hours ride, all under the management of the Peruvian Corporation, a British company which controls also the Central Railway and most of the short lines from the various ports; the Corporation has further among other concessions one for the export of guano. PROPOSED RAILWAY EXTENSION It is evident that the railways of this great country which nowhere touch the vast _montaña_ region and which leave destitute most of the towns of the sierra district, are totally inadequate for its development. However delightful the climate or rich the country in agricultural or mineral resources, few persons in the present age will settle in regions remote from cities in time if not in distance, and where the interchange of products is almost impossible for lack of means of transportation. The leaders of the Government are well aware of this fact and are doing their utmost to promote railway development, both through their own initiative and by their willingness to grant favorable terms and, to some extent, guaranteed concessions to foreign capitalists. The importance of connecting the coast and sierra cities, and these with the Amazon Basin and river transportation to the Atlantic is perfectly apparent. The ideal is for three or four railways serving different sections to extend from coast ports up over the mountains down to the navigable waters of the Amazon affluents, and that such roads should be connected by a north and south line in the sierra country as a part of the great Pan American system long ago planned. Branches would diverge from all of these lines, thus opening up large mineral deposits for operation, and the rich agricultural lands of the _montaña_ for settlement and commerce.