The Guardian And Evening Star, with which is incorporated the West Coast Times. MONDAY, JUNE 6, 1927. ANOTHER LITTLE BRITAIN.

Hokitika Guardian, 6 June 1927, Page 2

The Guardian And Evening Star, with which is incorporated the West Coast Times. MONDAY, JUNE 6, 1927. ANOTHER LITTLE BRITAIN.

The spirit of the British is not dead yet. as the following account of Bolivia’s Little Britain discloses. A writer in an English periodical goes on to relate that the interesting expedition that left England last autumn to found a British settlement in the volcanic- republic of Bolivia is now beginning pioneer work in cultivating the amazingly fertile soil of that country. Carefully chosen for their previous tropical experience, the men who com- . prise the expedition have great hopes of developing this mast- mysterious region of central South America, particularly for cotton production. Their venture is an especially brave one, inasmuch that Bolivia is the “no man’s land” of most overseas travellers on account of its climatic and social conditions. Lions, jaguars, serpents, and alligators are all to l>e found there in profusion. Even the is an exceedingly mixed one. Over ten times the size o£ England, Bolivia was

captured by the Chilians in the tribal wars of 1889, and now ii is a selfgoverning republic, with its own President and Chinnier of Deputies. The surface ‘of the country is mountainous in the extreme, and for that reason all the degrees of heat and cold on the thermometer are encountered in one part or another. Peru lies along its western boundary, and Lake Titicaca—the biggest sheet of water in South America—irrigates the prolific plains whereon Bolivia's “Little Britain” is now beginning to rise up. The silver mines of “Llama land,” which once exported vast quantities: of the precious mineral, are practically dormant now. The town of Polosi, situated at an altitude of 13,000 feet above .sealevel, once produced the fani'ins silver of that name, hut Bolivia’s chief exports nowadays are rosewood, mahogany, cotton and cereals. Some nitre and copper ere still comes to Britain from (he republic, hut our trade with Bolivia is sm.ill, various metal manufactured goods being all for which any British market now exists there. But Bolivia is rich in llama, which is the chief herd animal of these mysterious plains, which are also a hunting ground for numerous strange birds and reptiles rarely heard of in England. Tn the very heart of this somewhat inhospitable land here nestles Chuquisaea, or “Sucre’’ as it is a cathedral city which is now the capital. Although it is Bolivia’s principal city, “Sucre” is not the largest either in size or population, this distinction belonging to La Paz, dose to the Peruvian border. The fortunes of the new settlers, which are nearly (ill British demobilised officers, are being followed with considerable interest because Bolivia is a region of sueii remarkable promise. Gold is said to exist on the eastern side of the Andes, hut little of it is lieing mined so far. A country of innumerable religions, universal suffrage, and fraught with considerable dangers, this little-known land among the mountains may yet become nnotliet Eldorado if anticipation hears ffllit;