is Lake Titicaca, which
is one hundred and sixty miles long and thirty miles wide. This lake,
which is the highest body of water in the western hemisphere, is fed by
streams of water from the Andes and is so cold that ice is formed along
the edge every night in the year although the lake itself is never
frozen over. The lake has no outlet and the color of the water is a
steely blue.

This lake forms the northwestern border of Bolivia. Situated as it is,
including both mountains and table-land, Bolivia has been called the
Switzerland of South America. It is more than twelve times as large as
the state of Iowa and is the cradle of the ancient civilization that
made up the world-famous Inca empire which existed many centuries ago.

The people of Bolivia today have the blood of this ancient race in their
veins and they are an industrious people. Visiting a mission school in
Buenos Aires I was much impressed by one young man who seemed to be the
peer of the two hundred students in the school.

On talking to this young man I found that he was from Bolivia. How he
heard about this mission school I have forgotten, but the story of how
he tramped two hundred miles over the mountains and then across the
great Argentine plains determined to reach this school and work his way
through, could not be forgotten. On Sunday morning I went to the
American church and this fellow was at the door as an usher and the
friendly greeting and winning smile he had for everyone gave me great
respect for him and his people as well.

Portions of this great Bolivian plateau are very beautiful. One noted
naturalist coming from Paraguay said as he beheld this region, "If
tradition has lost the records of the place where Paradise is located
the traveler who visits these regions of Bolivia feels at once the
impulse to exclaim: 'Here is Eden.'"

Here grows the famous chincona tree from which we get quinine. Also the
coca plant from which we get cocaine. Perhaps when the dentist pulled
your tooth he used cocaine that came from this country. The natives chew
the coca leaf as a stimulant. It is actually said that by the use of
this leaf a man can go for many hours without food and perform feats of
endurance that seem to us impossible.

The cultivation of the coca plant is one of the important industries of
eastern Bolivia. The plant grows as a shrub and must not be confused
with the cocoa tree from the beans of which our chocolate and cocoa are
made.