332 



J. F. CAREER. 



from South America by way of the Isthmus of Panama, Central 

 America and Mexico. The north-flowing stream was divided 

 first by the Cordilleran system, one branch of the division follow- 

 ing the Pacific Coast northward, the other, by far the more im- 



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portant one, spreading over the Gulf States, was split again by 

 the Appalachian Mountain System. One of these latter branches 

 overflowed the Mississippi Valley ; the other, following the coast 

 of the Atlantic, finally rounded the north end of the mountain 

 system and finding a congenial highway across New York State 



