xv The Continental Area 283 



4000 miles from the ice-bound Parry Islands in 75 N. 

 to the tropical isthmus of Tehuantepec in 17 N. The 

 greatest breadth, on the parallel of 52 N., is 3000 miles. 

 In the extreme north-west Cape Prince of Wales on Bering 

 Sea comes within 40 miles of the north-eastern extremity 

 of Asia ; and on the north-east Greenland is bound to 

 America by continuous ice .in winter. The west coast 

 and northern part of the east coast of North America are 

 high and rocky, but the south-east presents the longest 

 stretch of gently shelving shore in the world. 



364. Western Heights of North America. From 

 Tehuantepec to Alaska the axis of the continent runs along 

 the Rocky Mountains. This range is often considered to 

 be a continuation of the Andes, but it is less lofty, the 

 passes across it are lower, and the two slopes into which it 

 divides the continent are more nearly equal than those of 

 South America. The average distance of the range from 

 the west coast is about 400 miles, except where, the great 

 Pacific outcurve increases the distance to almost 1000 miles. 

 Mount Brown, near 52 N., is the highest peak, 16,000 

 feet; and Pake's Peak (14,200 feet), in 39 N., is one of 

 the next in elevation. Midway between these summits one 

 of the grandest portions of the range has been set apart as 

 a permanent museum of physical geography on a grand 

 scale, under the name of the Yellowstone National Park 

 ( 316). On the east the Rocky Mountains slope down in 

 wide terraces comparatively gently to the central low plain. 

 On the west their slope is abrupt but short, terminating in 

 a wide plateau, averaging 5000 feet in height, which runs 

 along the entire length of the continent, and is buttressed 

 on the west by a less continuous series of ranges. The 

 Sierra Madre is the western buttress of the plateau in the 

 south, where it forms the watershed, and near the point 

 where it diverges from the Rocky Mountains the volcanic 

 peaks of Orizaba (18,200 feet) and Popocatepetl (17,500 

 feet) rise as majestic summits, which with Mount 

 Wrangel (17,500 feet) in Alaska are the loftiest in North 

 America. Farther north the plateau te supported by the 

 rugged snow-clad Sierra Nevada^ which presents a very 



