On and up they went among the mountains, and over the dreary pampas stretching between them, crossing deep ravines, winding around precipices, threading the valleys, darting through tunnels, now on a level with the banks of snow on the sides of the giant mountains, or looking down upon the clouds that rolled at their feet. Ten, twelve, thirteen, and fourteen thousand feet of elevation were reached, and at length they halted at Vincamayo, 14,443 feet above the level of the sea. It is the creation of the railway, with an American hotel, and all the adjuncts of a relay and repairing station. It is the highest village in the world, higher than famous Potosi, and higher, too, than Cerro de Pasco. Place another Mount Washington on the top of the present one, and its summit would be nearly two thousand feet lower than Vincamayo. Professor Orton passed a night at Vincamayo; he says he did not sleep, but spent the time in panting for breath. Our friends had the same experience with the rarefied air; the least movement caused them to breathe with difficulty, and they wisely refrained from stirring from their places. In a little while the train reached Alto del Crucero, the highest point of the line, and 14,660 feet above the Pacific at Mollendo. The surrounding land was simply a bog covered with short grass, and sprinkled in places with snow. It affords pasture for alpacas and vicunas, and as they looked from the windows of the carriage and shivered in the chilly atmosphere they saw numerous herds of these animals feeding on the plain. [Illustration: THE NEVADA DE SORATA, CROWN OF THE ANDES.] From the summit the descent was gradual, among hills and over desert plains, passing between two lakes of brackish water, and along the banks of a river that had its source among the clouds. By and by the waters of Lake Titicaca were in sight, and beyond them rose the grand old peak of the Nevada de Sorata, sometimes called "the crown of the Andes." The train ended its journey at Puno, on the shore of the lake, and the three travellers stepped again to the earth, with more than twelve thousand feet of perpendicular distance below them to the level of the sea! CHAPTER XI. PUNO AND LAKE TITICACA.--COCA AND ITS PROPERTIES.--THE LLAMA AND HIS KINDRED.--EXCURSION TO THE SACRED ISLAND OF THE INCAS. [Illustration: VIEW ON LAKE TITICACA.]