234 ' SKETCH OF THE VEGETATION OF 
South America, gradually decreases when approaching this narrow neck 
of land, and in the province of Panama is hardly recognizable in a ridge 
of low hills, seldom exceeding 1,000 feet in height. A new series of 
mountains seems to commence at Punta de Chame, which visibly at- 
tains a greater elevation on entering the province of Veraguas, and in 
the voleano of Chiriqui presents the most elevated part of the Isthmus, 
a peak 7,000 feet in height. This ridge is thickly covered with forests, 
and chiefly confined to the centre and northern parts of the country ; 
. the districts on the coast of the Pacific, especially the cantons of Nata, 
Santiago, and Alanje, abound in grassy plains, or savanas, of great 
extent, which, by affording pasture to numerous herds of cattle, con- 
stitute the principal riches of the country. 
Volcanoes, all now extinct, rise in different parts. The highest is 
the volcano of Chiriqui, already mentioned: another, of considerable 
elevation, about 3,000 feet, called the Janand, is seen at Cape Corrientes 
in Darien ; and several others are reported to exist in Veraguas: even 
“the island of Taboga,” says Mr. E. Hopkins, “appears to have been 
a portion of a former volcanic crater." But, although destitute of 
active voleanoes, the Isthmus by no means therefore enjoys an immu- 
nity from earthquakes, Some pretty severe shocks are now and then 
experienced, especially during the dry season, from January until May. 
They. consist of undulating movements, coming from the west, and 
apparently having their origin in Central America; but they do not 
seem to exercise any baneful influence on the vegetation, as is fre- 
quently the case in Peru, where, after a severe shock, whole fields have 
been known to wither. 
The geographical position of the Isthmus, the almost entire absence 
of elevated mountains, and the vast extent of the forests and other 
uncultivated parts, tend to produce a hot and rainy climate, which, 
e nevertheless, is, with the exception of a few localities, healthy, and 
. more favourable to the constitution of the Caucasian race than that of 
most tropical countries. The seasons are regularly distributed into wet 
and dry. The rains are expected with the new moon in April, and 
they last eight months, till the end of December: they are prolonged, 
however, in the south of Darien, and in some localities on the Atlantie 
Ocean, to ten, and even to eleven months. In the beginning, the rains 
are very slight, but they gradually inerease, and are fully established 
towards the end of May, when they fall in torrents sometimes for days 
