106 PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY AND BOTANY OF CHILI. 



the Gulf of Ancud (41'^ 40' S.) This valley also slopes to the 

 south, as follows : — 



Below this I consider the Island of Chiloe and the Archipelago 

 of Chonos as representing the coast range, while the central plains 

 are below the sea level. 



Of course the Andes are capped with eternal snow, but the 

 snow line is difficult to determine as so many small and strictly 

 local circumstances have to be taken into account. In the latitude 

 of Santiago it is estimated at 11,000 feet, and I have no doubt 

 that this is nearly correct, but with all submission to the book- 

 makers, I have several times been as high as from 13,000 to 

 15,000 feet, and have never known precisely where to draw the 

 line. 



Soon after ray arrival in Chili I crossed the Andes, in order to 

 observe the limits of snow, plants, &c. Then I found that all my 

 previous ideas formed from books were very unlike the 

 reality. On reaching the height of 11,184 feet, I saw a large 

 field of snow some 800 feet above me, and I expected that I 

 should have to travel on this until arriving at about the same 

 altitude on the eastern slopes, but I was soon undeceived ; after 

 passing this snow, which was so extensive that it gave rise to a 

 brook, I travelled again on snowless land, and actually gathered 

 some of the violets and the Caloptilium largasece now before you 

 from 500 to 1000 feet higher up. And until I reached the summit 

 of the pass, 13,475 feet, I found the road — if I may use this 

 term — clear of snow except in a few hollows, although every part 

 above, and large fields at least 4000 feet below me, were covered 

 with it. 



