Puno is not an attractive spot. Lying at a great elevation, it has a cool climate, and its inhabitants pass a good part of the time in trying to keep warm. There are no trees in the neighborhood; before the opening of the railway the only fuel was the dried dung of llamas and other animals, and a small shrub known as tola. The nights are always cold, the thermometer sometimes descending fifteen degrees below the freezing-point, and even touching zero; people retire to bed very early, and remain there till after sunrise, as the best means of escaping the cold. Frank and Fred were obliged to follow the local custom, in spite of their overcoats and rugs. Notwithstanding the severe temperature of the place, the means of warming the houses do not receive much attention. Since the railway came, and rendered it possible to have coal, a few stoves have been set up, but they are not in general use. [Illustration: PERUVIAN HEADS, ANCIENT AND MODERN.] Nine tenths of the five thousand inhabitants of Puno are of the native races; the Aymaraes occupy the southern part of the town, and the Quichuas the northern, the former being the most numerous. The rest, which includes the wealthier and more intelligent fraction of the population, is made up of people of Spanish descent, a few German and English merchants, and two or three American _attachés_ of the railway. Puno owed its origin to the rich silver mines in the neighborhood, which were discovered and operated about two hundred years ago. A romantic story is told concerning these mines, and the romance is by no means free from tragedy. Jose de Salcedo, a Spaniard, was in love with an Indian girl, and was beloved in return. She revealed to him the secret of the mines, and he worked them with enormous profit; his wealth attracted the attention of the royal officers, who found a pretext for arresting him, and taking him to Lima. He was condemned to death, and his property was confiscated to the government, which meant that the officials expected to transfer his wealth to their own pockets. Salcedo offered to pay a thousand marks of silver a day if they would wait until he could appeal to the king, but his offer was refused. He was executed in the public square at Lima, and the governors proceeded to take possession of his property. He was well liked by the tribe to which his Indian maiden belonged, and as soon as the natives heard what had been done they stopped the drains of the mines, and flooded them with water. There is now a small lake over the entrance of the mine, and the Indians have ever since refused to give any information concerning the extent of the deposit, or the direction of the veins. These people will keep a secret with the utmost fidelity; torture cannot wring it from them, and they are indifferent to bribes or any other inducement. At the present time they know of rich deposits of silver in various parts of the country, but absolutely refuse to give any information concerning them.