Page 28 - 1931

26 "THE GLEANER"
I was born. One of the first things that would take our attention while visiting would be the houses. These houS:es are built like the ancient Roman houses with a court yard in the centre, surrounded by rooms. There are no lovely green lawns or trees growing in front of the houses as they are built close to the side- walk. The eucalyptus and pepper trees are the most common trees found in Cochabamba. The houses have no heating system like the Canadian houses as the climate i.s generally a.gr,Eeable. January is the warmest month and July the cool- est.
There are very few large stores as most of the things are sold in the market places or at the street cor- ners. One has to be very careful when buying anything there as they will ask for more money than they expect for a thing, so it is up to yv.1 to beat them down. They do this es- pecially if it is a foreigner who they are dealing with.
Their dishes are usually mud and c l a y p o t s a n d w o o d e n spo~ons a n d plates.
Their beasts of burden are Llam- oes and donkeys.
They have street cars to take you t0 villages in the vicinity of Cocha- baml)a and to the station but they con't run through the different part:.> of the city. Coaches are used instead. Air mail is coming into use in Boliv- ia. When the first one came to Cochabamba we walked & mile to sec it.
The school I went to was the Am- 'erican Institute. The principal and several of the teachers were Ameri- cans and the rest were of the high cl::J.ss or whites. They have two schools one ·for the boys and one for the girls. A:ll the subjects are in Spanish except English reading.
On an exam the highest mark pos- sib1e is twenty-one
This is only a brief outline of Bol- ivia and I have only touched on the most im:Portant points.
THE TROSSACHS
En route from Glasgow to Callan- der the traveller passes the historic field of Bannockburn and Stirling Castle on a lofty eminence.
Soon after leaving the village of Callander "Ben Ledi's ridge (the Mount of God) rises on the right The road passes Lanark Mead and skirts the shores of Loch Vennachar. On the far side of the latter is a high hill on which evergreens have been r:hmted in squares similar to the formation of the British squares at the Battle of W::J.terloo. After cross- ing the Brig o' Turk the village of the same name is entered. A short distance beyond the road winds to give a magnifioent view and this spot is known as Queen's view as it was a favorite of Queen Victoria.
In a short time Lock Achray ap· pears 8,nd on its far side rise "the bold cliffs of Ben Venue"-a moun- tain 2393 feet which is remarkable for its rugged beauty. The Trossachs proper is entered soon and the dis- trict is well named for the Trossachs means "bristled territory". Where twines the path is most aptly des- cribed by Scott himself in the Lady
of the Lake,
"Where twined the path in shadow hid,
Round many a rocky pyramid, Shooting abruptly from the dell Its thunder splintered pinnacle." Then again quoting from the same
source-
"The rocl(y summits split and
rent,
Formed turret, dome or battle-
ment.''
Then Lock Katrine "with promo- tory, creek and bay" is reached. On "mountains that like giants stand" the hill heathet which is also pur- ple, blooms in July. It is quite in keeping that one of the boats that sails on this lake should be called the "Sir Walter Scott." A short sail brings one to Ellen's Isle, still "All