Few countries offer a more interesting field of study than Bolivia, a land of varied attraction, with mystery and romance enveloping the story of its antiquity and lending a magic charm to its many legends and traditions; with records of daring and devotion illuminating the often triste pages of its existence under Spanish domination, and marking a worthy preface to the annals of sturdy patriotism revealed in the long struggle for freedom which began two centuries before South American independence was an accomplished fact; with the history of the republic,—with all that makes this land worth knowing as the dear home of a brave nation.

To the popular imagination Bolivia presents only the picture of a country somewhere in South America, above the clouds, consisting of inaccessible peaks and unfathomable gorges, with an occasional plateau to give diversity to what a clever writer has called “the roof of the western world,” where llamas are believed to pose eternally on rocky cliffs, and gaily plumed Indians to form picturesque groups forever against a background of Inca architecture. This is an archaic idea, but it is held tenaciously in the minds of a majority of people. Bolivia is a land so rarely visited by the foreigner that it is not remarkable that the most extraordinary notions prevail regarding it. A few have read of the fabulous riches of Potosí, but it is not many years ago that a distinguished European asked where “the country called Potosí” was situated; and the vast wealth of Bolivia, apparently so unlimited that a traveller was impressed to describe the country as “a table of silver supported by legs of gold,” is yet a treasure whose value has never been fairly calculated. It is a closed book to the tourist, though it presents aspects of grandeur undreamed of except by the few who have witnessed its beauty, who have felt the compelling majesty of snow-capped Illimani and wonderful Sorata, and to whom the legends of Titicaca have been told in the white moonlight as they glided across its mirror-like surface, seemingly enveloped in the glory of a higher sphere,—so clear is the moonlight on this lake above the clouds,—their souls thrilling in unison with the wondrous harmony of the perfect picture. To the lover of varied scenery there is a fascination about this almost untravelled country, with its bleak Andean plateaus and densely wooded plains, its towering mountains, rugged cañons, and fertile valleys, bounded as it is on one side by a desert so barren that not a blade of grass could find nourishment, and on the other by the greatest river system of the globe, which receives and pours out continually enough water to fertilize a whole continent. Although third in territory and one of the richest in natural resources among the South American republics, Bolivia occupies the most remote position and is the least influenced by foreign association, placed as it is in the heart of the continent, with no outlet to the sea except through neighboring countries, and consequently having had, up to the present, scant opportunity to establish extensive international relations. As the country is now entering upon a new era of progress, increasing its productiveness, building railroads in every direction to connect the various centres of industry with Atlantic and Pacific ports and the great Amazon waterways, and making improvements in all branches of national administration, its Arcadian character is becoming modified to conform to twentieth century conditions in the New World, and the advance of modern thought is making its influence felt on the Titicaca plateau and in the Amazon valley as surely as in any other region of South America.

It is often said that nothing is a greater obstacle to modern progress than the inheritance of ancient monuments, and his majesty of Greece is credited with the statement that he would be glad to have every vestige of ancient Athenian architecture disappear, so that his country might be given a little consideration for what twentieth century Greeks are doing. Bolivia’s heritage of some of the most remarkable ruins of antiquity has been so great an attraction to foreign writers that it has diverted their interest almost entirely from modern Bolivia; though it is true that the subject of these ruins is one which deserves the attention of the world, one worthy of all the scientific research given to it, pointing as it does to a solution of the important problem of the priority of races in the New World.

Many theories have been advanced regarding the monumental ruins that exist in the region of Lake Titicaca—particularly those of Tiahuanaco—as to their origin, the people who built them, the period to which they belong and the degree of civilization which they indicate, but very little is really known about them, and imagination has free rein to picture the conditions that may have existed before the Spanish conquest brought Bolivian history into the realm of certain knowledge. There is nothing to indicate that the primitive inhabitants of what is now Bolivian territory reached an important degree of advancement in any other part of the country than that known to ethnologists generally as Aymaráland, which is supposed to be—though this, too, is questioned—the cradle of the Aymará race, whose origin is very obscure, but whose people are considered by many writers as the authors of the most colossal examples of ancient architecture existing on the South American continent. This region is comprised in the southern part of what is now the department of La Paz, chiefly in that section which borders Lake Titicaca. Unfortunately, everything relating to it prior to the period of the Spanish conquest is so shrouded in mystery as to yield few satisfactory results to the most careful investigation beyond the apparently certain evidence that it was not a contemporaneous civilization that wrought such marvels of progress, but the peoples of successive and often remotely separated periods not necessarily of identical origin. According to some authorities, the Tiahuanaco whose ruins are now to be seen, and which was already a shattered record of past greatness when the Incas set up their dynasty, is but the remains of a second Tiahuanaco, the first having been swallowed up at a previous period, forgotten ages ago, when a great seismic upheaval changed the face of the Bolivian plateau and buried out of sight evidences of culture advanced far beyond anything the same race attained subsequently. Archæologists generally agree in claiming that at least three distinct periods of culture are recorded in the form and character of prehistoric remains now being excavated in this locality. Naturally it is this part of Bolivia which is the centre of interest in the study of the pre-Columbian epoch.

The theory accepted by many ethnologists, that the Indians of America are of Asiatic origin, is met, on the other hand, by the assertion of some more recent investigators—notably those composing the expedition organized by Mr. Morris K. Jessup, president of the American Museum of Natural History, and sent out by him ten years ago to study this question—that man did not emigrate from Asia to America, as many racial similarities seemed to prove, but that the emigration was from America to Asia, the evidences of human life on the American continent proving greater antiquity of origin here than in Asia. The latter possibility gives unique value to the study of a country within whose territory have been found indications of human habitation in ages remote beyond any determined period. May it not be that Bolivia has an especial claim to universal attention as the true birthplace of the human race, and the chief centre of its progress at a time antedating the chronicles of Old World empires?

Aymará mythology is very similar to that of the Orient. According to the oldest traditions, at the beginning of the world, the god Khunu, the creator of all things, became so angry because of the vices of mankind that he visited a great drought upon the earth, converting fertile regions into deserts: he deprived humanity of the means of living, and they became lower than the beasts. Then Pachacamac, the supreme spirit of the universe, restored that which had been destroyed by Khunu and gave new life to mankind. A second time Khunu showed his wrath and sent a great flood and darkness upon the earth. The few people who were saved from destruction in this calamity sent up prayers to heaven, and in answer the sun appeared behind the rock Inti-Karka, on the sacred lake of the same name, since corrupted into Titicaca. Soon after this appeared also the great god Viracocha, the name signifying “foam of the sea,” so called because he rose out of the waters of the lake. Viracocha created the sun, moon and stars, plants and animals, as well as men. Tiahuanaco is full of carvings representing this deity, and it is the opinion of noted archæologists, among others Professor Max Uhle, who has made a special study of the field, that Tiahuanaco was built as a temple of this deity, and that it was not, at least in later periods, a centre of population, as has been generally believed.

As far back as any records exist that serve to trace the history of the Aymarás, there appears to be confusion regarding their identity with the Collas, Umasuyas, Yungas, and other tribes that are generally considered as offshoots of the parent Aymará stock. All these tribes were natives of the country now called Bolivia, and were governed by mallcus, or chiefs, chosen in some cases for their military valor and in others for their venerable character. The Collas, or Charcas, were the most powerful and numerous, and gave their name to the whole country, which was called Collasuyo by the Incas to distinguish it as a southern province of the great empire of Tahuantinsuyo, “the kingdom of four regions,” the remaining three having been called Antisuyo, “to the east,” Cuntisuyo, “to the west” and Chinchasuyo, “to the north.”

At the period generally credited to the advent of the Incas, the inhabitants of Collasuyo had already reached decadence and were given up to decimating wars and struggles among themselves. That the Collas, or Charcas, tribes belonged to the same stock as the Aymarás is disputed by some of the best authorities, who believe the latter an entirely distinct race, of Mongolian origin, who came to Bolivia by way of Arica on the Pacific coast, many centuries ago, and settled on the Lake Titicaca plateau because it was the centre of a region belonging to a people of peaceable habits, living, not on the barren heights, but in the valleys and on the slopes around. These authorities give the Aymarás no share in the construction of the great monuments, which they claim were built there only as sanctuaries, apart from the habitations of the people, explaining that because of their great solidity of construction they have survived the changes which brought about the decadence and oblivion of the race that built them.

The Bolivian historian Señor Don José Maria Camacho apparently favors the theory which gives the Aymarás credit for the culture that found expression in these colossal structures. In an entertaining chapter on this subject he writes: “It is presumable that in order to have attained the degree of prosperity which their monuments reveal, as well as to have arrived at the state of decadence in which the Quichuas found them, the Aymarás must have experienced, through a long succession of centuries, great social changes and the devastating inroads of other tribes.” The same author gives an interesting description of these people, with particular reference to their government, religion, and mode of life. In addition to the mallcu, or supreme chief, there were the jilakatas, or secondary authorities, and, in some parts, there were also sacerdotal chiefs, whose word was the law of the community. “The Aymarás,” says Señor Camacho, “believed in the existence of God, whom they called Pachacamac, which means ‘eternal.’ They supposed that he revealed himself to the eyes of mankind in every object of Nature; from which their religion degenerated into complete fetichism, losing its spiritual significance entirely. They believed in the existence of the soul and in its immortality; in the evil spirit; in the resurrection of the body; and in eternal reward and punishment. They were acquainted with the meaning of prayer, knew of confession and penance, and were accustomed to offer sacrifices. Their most celebrated sanctuary was Inti-Karka, signifying ‘the rock of the sun,’ a name that has extended to the island on which it was located and to Lake Titicaca itself. Each tribe of the Aymarás was distinguished from the others in dress and more particularly by the cap, a knitted kind of headgear, and this distinction still prevails. The tribes had ideas of military art, were skilled in constructing fortresses, which they called pucaras, some of which remain to the present day; they used the lance, the sling, and the arrow. Their chief industry was agriculture; they had many herds of llamas, and paid careful attention to the cultivation of their fields. Commerce was reduced to a limited exchange of products. They had an idea of hieroglyphic writing. Their language is reputed by eminent philologists to be one of the mother tongues—the most ancient, richest, and most complete in existence.”

One of the chief difficulties in the way of acquiring adequate information regarding the religious beliefs of the races that were conquered by the Spaniards is the tendency of the Indians to engraft Christian teachings on their Aymará and Quichua traditions to such a degree that it is not possible to know exactly where the influence of the Church enters into their records. There is much confusion also between Aymará and Quichua deities. Pachacamac and Viracocha are apparently only different names of the same deity, commonly used both in Quichua and Aymará traditions, and in many cases the influence of Aymará traditions upon the religion of the Incas is marked as clearly as are the traditions of the Children of the Sun to-day upon the modern religious beliefs of these Indians, gained through four centuries of Christian teaching. No foreigner who has visited the land of the Incas can fail to observe the strange interpretation which they put upon Bible truths.

According to various existing traditions the Aymarás and the Quichuas had been rival races from time immemorial, alternately superseding each other until the final change gave the Quichuas uninterrupted ascendancy, under the dominion of the Inca dynasty, and they achieved a degree of advancement and culture beyond that of any other primitive race of South America within the period of existing records. It is a singular fact, awaiting explanation by the ethnologists, that the Aymarás appear to have been always confined almost exclusively to the Titicaca plateau, while the Quichuas are found not only in the region extending from the lake northward to Cuzco, but in the departments of Cochabamba, Chuquisaca, Potosí, and Oruro. There is a theory, accepted by some ethnologists, that the Aymarás and the Quichuas were of the same origin, the Aymarás having evolved in the course of many generations, and under the harsh necessities of the rigorous soil and climate of the plateau, into a hardy race of highlanders, differing in character and even in appearance, from their Quichua brothers who had been subjected to less severe natural conditions in their development on the fertile mountain slopes and in the valleys of the regions they occupied. It seems incredible that offspring of the same race should develop a higher degree of culture on the arid plateau than in the fertile valley; yet the evidences of advancement among the ancient inhabitants of the Titicaca region indicate that they were leaders of progress among their contemporaries, who have left no monuments equal to those of the Titicaca plateau. It has been claimed that the great empire of Tahuantinsuyo was built upon a foundation purely Aymará, and that the first Inca obtained from Collasuyo his ideas regarding government, religion, and even architecture, which were afterward developed according to the genius of his successors. The most reasonable theory seems to be that the Quichua culture had been in process of development long ages before the establishment of Inca empire, and that it may be traced to a source identical with the origin of the Collas, whether this race be related to or distinct from the Aymarás. The question affords a prolific subject of controversy, and remains unsettled in the minds of impartial students of ethnology and archæology. Whether the Aymarás are too primitive a people to have had any connection with the history of the wonderful monuments of the Titicaca plateau; whether the Quichuas in long periods of culture, possibly interrupted, and dating from great antiquity, constructed these colossal monoliths; whether these Quichuas were of Peruvian origin, and the Aymarás also first came from the region of the Apurímac in that country; or whether the Quichuas were first the inhabitants of Collasuyo and had their ancestral domain in the land of the Charcas,—who, according to some ethnologists, belong to the same parent stock as the Quichuas,—all are theories for the scientists to settle when more extensive investigation shall afford better ground for establishing proofs.

The poetical story of the first Inca’s appearance is worthy of the race that invented it. The Inca historian, Garcilaso de la Vega, one of the most picturesque figures in the landscape of ancient Peru, even as he himself paints it for us, and the only contemporary authority of note on the history of the Peruvian empire, relates in inimitable style the story of the first Inca’s appearance. In his Comentarios Reales he tells us that the Sun, the life-giving and fructifying deity of the universe, was moved to pity by the contemplation of degraded humanity, and in order to redeem it he sent down from heaven his two children, Manco-Ccapac and Mama Ocllo, causing them to appear on the island of Inti-Karka, where, after the great food, brought upon the earth by the god Khunu (meaning snow, and supposed to have reference to the glacial period), the Sun had beneficently extended his first rays. This mysterious pair, who were at the same time brother and sister and husband and wife, crossed the plains north of the Lake Inti-Karka, carrying with them a sceptre in the form of a bar of gold, which was to determine the place of their permanent abode by the facility with which it buried itself in the earth. They proclaimed themselves children of the Sun, and announced as their mission the civilization of all savage tribes and the establishment of an empire which would be under their own benevolent government, as divine rulers who inherited their rights from their father the Sun.

The historian adds, with the naïve gravity of a true descendant of the Incas, that as the sacred bar buried itself most easily in the soil of Cuzco, that locality was made the site of the Inca capital. The first Inca was called Manco-Ccapac, and his wife Mama Oclla. Pedro Kramer, in his Historia de Bolivia, says the name Manco is evidently a corruption of mallcu, and that Manco-Ccapac was an Aymara chief or sacerdóte, of great talent and superior knowledge, who probably left his home on account of the wars of extermination which the Aymarás were carrying on at that time, and, with his sister, embarked in one of the little balsas, or canoes, made of rushes which are used at the present day on Lake Titicaca, the two making their way to one of the islands in the lake, where they remained hidden until it was safe for them to continue their voyage to the opposite or western border. There they landed and became acquainted with the neighboring Quichua tribes, continuing further north on their journey, until they arrived in Cuzco. They found themselves in the midst of a people of hospitable disposition and submissive character, who, seeing that the pilgrims were superior in wisdom and beauty, began by respecting them and ended by rendering them mystic reverence. The royal pair founded a city which they called Cuzco, “the navel of the universe,” and began the organization of the great Inca empire of Tahuantinsuyo, with which the history of Bolivia is also associated. The Bolivia of to-day is represented in Collasuyo, the inhabitants of which were tributary to the Cuzco monarchs, required to send their share of gold to the royal coffers, to labor in the royal mines, and to serve in the royal household. But the subjection of Collasuyo to Inca authority did not take place until the reign of the fourth Inca. Even then the warlike Bolivian highlander was not entirely subdued, and he remained a troublesome vassal of the empire throughout the entire period of Inca rule.

When the fourth Inca, Maita-Ccapac, marched into Collasuyo at the head of an army of twelve thousand men, he was met by the natives with sturdy and determined resistance, but he conquered by superior force of arms, returning well satisfied with the result of the invasion. It was upon the occasion of this visit that he became so impressed with the grandeur of the Tiahuanaco ruins that he thought of making this place the seat of his empire. His successor, the Inca Ccapac-Yupanqui, extended the empire eastward and southward, marching over a great deal of territory and subduing numerous tribes. There was continued opposition to the invaders on the part of both the Aymarás and the Charcas, and repeated revolts kept the country in a ferment of warfare. Pachacutec, one of the wisest of the Incas, visited Collasuyo, spending several years in the neighborhood of Lake Titicaca, and making an expedition to Oruro, one of the most important pueblos.

The Incas were by no means insensible to the advanced culture everywhere shown in the monuments and temples of Collasuyo. They copied much from the works of the vanquished race, and some authorities go so far as to say that they got all their ideas of civilization from this source, modifying little and adding less; others assert, as proof to the contrary, that there is nothing to establish this claim beyond the similarity naturally existing in the ideas of races allied in thought through long periods of mutual interchange.

But, leaving aside all puzzling problems, there is a witchery of romance in the story of the great Incas descending upon Collasuyo in all the glory and pomp of royal power, and setting up their court on a scale of truly Oriental magnificence upon the sacred island of the Sun, in the sacred Lake Titicaca, over twelve thousand feet above the sea, in the heart of a continent at that time unknown to Pizarro’s hosts, a continent of savages beyond the limits of the vast Peruvian empire, which according to some authorities extended over the greater part of South America and counted among its vassals twenty millions of people. No wonder that the great Tupac-Inca-Yupanqui spent many years in this enchanting spot, and erected in the vicinity of the lake and on its various islands his wonderful palaces! One is only at a loss to imagine why the sacred golden rod of Manco-Ccapac did not sink itself with greater facility into the Rock of the Sun in the beginning of Inca history. It is related that Tupac-Inca-Yupanqui erected not only a sumptuous palace, but a temple dedicated to the sun, the richest of the whole empire: temples were also dedicated to thunder and lightning, a monastery was built for the sons of nobles, a sanctuary for the vestal virgins, houses were erected for the Inca’s followers; the Rock of the Sun was paved with silver and gold, the neighboring island of Coati (from Coya, the Moon, wife of the Sun) was consecrated to the moon, and temples were erected there, the ruins of which still remain, as well as those of the sun temple on the island of Titicaca. The Inca fasted for a whole year, it is stated in the records, abstaining from meat and aji—a pepper seed indispensable in the Quichua and Aymará cuisine—in order to prove his devotion and the serious purpose of his pilgrimage.

It was in Collasuyo that Huayna-Ccapac, the father of the ill-fated Atahuallpa, spent his earlier years, having been left in charge of the palaces and temples erected on Lake Titicaca by his father, Tupac-Inca-Yupanqui. He became learned in the culture of the ancient inhabitants of the lake region, and while under the spell of its charm, or through an inspiration of spiritual understanding, he taught the existence of a deity superior to the sun, invisible to mortal eyes, the source of all power. Huayna-Ccapac was one of the most illustrious of his race and added much to the prestige of the empire by his conquests and discoveries. He explored the rich mines of Porco, south of Potosí, visited the thriving pueblo of Chuquiapu,—on the site of the present city of La Paz,—and celebrated there with great splendor the religious festival of “Raymi.” One of his sons, Manco, famed later for the determined campaign he led against the Spaniards, and who was put to death by order of Almagro, Pizarro’s general, was a native of Collasuyo, having been born at Tiahuanaco.

At the very height of power and in the full brilliancy of Collasuyo’s glory, when Huayna-Ccapac was visiting his wonderful palaces and temples on the sacred lake, and all was apparently peace and security in the vast realm, which had so steadily extended its boundaries since the first Inca placed his sceptre in the soil of Cuzco that there remained little to conquer worth the effort; when no cloud seemed visible in the sky,—suddenly an awful presage of coming evil gripped the heart of the great Inca in a spasm of foreboding. Strange signs appeared in the heavens, lightning struck down one of the Inca’s palaces, earthquakes threatened, and, to complete the catalogue of bad omens, the news was spread that white and bearded men, sailing in houses of wood,—whose coming had been predicted by the Inca Ripac more than a century before,—had been seen in the Pacific.

To relieve the sadness of his heart under such terrible conditions, the Inca left his beloved Collasuyo and repaired to Quito to seek refuge from care in the sweet companionship of his favorite, Pacha, the mother of his best beloved son, Atahuallpa. The story of his death and of the succession of his two sons, Atahuallpa and Huascar, the former to the throne of Quito and the latter to that of Peru,—their quarrels and the consequent weakening of the Empire’s defence at the very moment when greatest strength was needed,—the events connected with the imprisonment and death of Atahuallpa, and the occupation of his throne by Francisco Pizarro,—belong rather to Peruvian than to Bolivian history.

The first invasion of Bolivia by the Spaniards was made under the orders of Pizarro’s companion in the conquest, Diego de Almagro, who chose the route through Collasuyo on his march to Chile. The vanguard of this expedition was placed in charge of Juan de Saavedra, who founded the first Spanish town on Bolivian soil at Paria, a few miles from Oruro. Continuing southward, Almagro’s party made a halt at Tupiza, and then pursued their ill-fated course southward, leaving the rich mines of Charcas unexplored and plunging into the horrors of a trans-Andean journey altogether the most terrible in suffering and deprivation that is recorded in the annals of the Spanish conquest. Afterward, the unhappy adventurer expressed the keenest regret that he had not remained in Charcas and colonized it instead of continuing the profitless march which proved his ruin.

It was not long before Spanish cupidity turned its attention to the valuable mines known to exist in this part of the Inca’s former dominions. Hernando and Gonzalo Pizarro, brothers of the conqueror, undertook the invasion of the country, but after a short time Hernando returned to Cuzco, and Gonzalo became chiefly identified with the history of Spanish conquest in Bolivia. His first victory of note was in the valley of Cochabamba, followed by a more signal triumph over the Charcas Indians in Chuquisaca, which gave him practically undisputed sway. By order of Francisco Pizarro, Pedro Anzures founded, on the site of an Indian village, the city of Chuquisaca, also called Charcas, the seat of the royal Audiencia, and, later, La Plata, the archiepiscopal see. It is now known as Sucre, in honor of the hero of the Independence. Unwearying in the pursuit of adventure, Gonzalo Pizarro set out on an expedition into the forests of the Amazon, which yielded little in results. Upon his return, he devoted his attention to the development of rich mines of which he had taken possession in Porco, until altered conditions in political affairs led him to head a rebellion against the newly appointed viceroy, Blasco Nuñez de Vela, in a struggle to gain the supremacy as Governor of Peru. The viceroy had been sent out from Spain with orders from the Emperor Charles V. to reform the abuses of the system of encomienda, by which the conquerors claimed ownership not only of the land, but of the Indians who occupied it, under the pretext of converting them to Christianity, and treated them with unparalleled cruelty. The opposition of Gonzalo Pizarro and others to this action on the part of Spain led to open warfare; and Gonzalo marched to Lima, the new Spanish capital, defeated the viceroy’s army, and executed the viceroy. Then, finding that a reactionary sentiment had been stirred up in Chuquisaca by his rival, Centeno, and that there was a strong party arrayed against his authority there, he commissioned the redoubtable old warrior Carvajal, one of the most uncompromising fighters of the conquest, to restore tranquillity. The chase which Carvajal gave Centeno, and the territory the two armies covered without engaging in battle,—Centeno being finally obliged to disperse his troops,—were subjects of keen ridicule, and the battle was nicknamed the “fight of claws.” Gonzalo Pizarro himself soon afterward met and vanquished Centeno at the battle of Huarina, on the borders of Lake Titicaca. But the good fortune of Pizarro was short-lived. About this time the Emperor Charles V. sent out Pedro de la Gasca, with instructions to establish order in the new colony. La Gasca attacked Pizarro’s forces at Sacsahuana, near Cuzco, gaining a complete victory, and destroying forever the power of the Pizarro party, which had been already weakened by the disaffection of his followers, owing to his own pusillanimity and Carvajal’s cruelty. Both Gonzalo Pizarro and Carvajal were put to death.

As a memorial of the peace which had been achieved by his victory over Pizarro, La Gasca gave orders to Captain Alonso de Mendoza to found a city in the valley of Chuquiapu, which he desired should be established, in the phrase of Tacitus, “with a greater number of good customs than laws.” The foundation of the city was begun on the first anniversary of the battle of Sacsahuana, October 20, 1545, and it was named Nuestra Señora de La Paz. The Villa Imperial de Potosí had been founded a few months before by Diego Centeno and Alonso Santandia, upon the discovery of the rich mines that were later to make it one of the famous cities of the world.

In the founding of La Paz, the Titicaca plateau became again the honored spot chosen to mark the birth of a new régime in South America. It was peculiarly fitting that this locality, which bears witness to succeeding periods of primitive culture, and to the rise and development of the greatest of native dynasties, should have been selected to commemorate the successful establishment of a greater power on the continent and the beginning of a new national existence. Centuries later, when this power proved insupportable through greed and injustice, the same site was once more chosen to mark a fresh beginning, when the march of civilization was signalized by the first proclamation of the patriots of Independence. And the last honor was the most glorious of all; for in choosing the City of Peace on the Titicaca plateau as the sacred spot whereon to set the seal of victory upon one of the noblest efforts of mankind—the effort to establish the rights of human liberty. Destiny has bestowed a noble distinction upon the Bolivian nation, and one which should inspire its posterity to deeds of highest worth.