316 



THE POPULAR EDUCATOR. 



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49 7 



LESSONS IN GEOGRAPHY.- 



SOUTH AMERICA. 



-XXXIX. 



SOUTH America has on the map the appearance of the vertical 

 (section of an irregularly shaped pear. The stalk end is broken 

 off at the island of Tierra del Fuego, where it meets the junction 

 of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, on the south. The projec- 

 tion of a map of this continent is to be made in the same 

 manner as a projection for a map of Africa, namely, by drawing 

 the parallels of latitude as horizontal straight lines, parallel to 

 each other, and equidistant by a space assumed to represent 5 

 or 10, and the meridians as curved lines on either side of a 

 perpendicular, representing the meridian of 55 or 60 W. longi- 

 tude, the curves being regulated by the comparative length of 

 the degree under each parallel of latitude laid down, as shown 

 by a diagonal scale made for the purpose. The latitudes and 

 longitudes of places may bo obtained from the index to any 

 good atlas. 



Boundaries. It is bounded by the Caribbean Sea on the 

 north ; by the Strait of Magellan on the south ; by the Pacific 

 Ocean on the west ; and by the Atlantic Ocean on the east. It 

 is connected with the North American continent at the north- 

 west point by the Isthmus of Panama, and includes the nar- 

 rowest portion of that isthmus, which forms the State of 

 Panama, in the Granadian Confederation. The most northerly 

 point of this continent is Point Gallinas, in New Granada, very 

 nearly in lat. 12 30' N., and long. 71 Q 53' W. ; the most 

 southerly point, including Tierra del Fuego, or- the " land of 

 fire," and the adjacent islands, is Cape Horn, in lat. 55 59' S. 

 and long. 67 12' W. ; the most westerly point is Parina Point, 

 near the Lobos Islands, in lat. 4 43' S. and long. 81 11' W. ; 

 and the most easterly point is the entrance to the Eiver Goyana, 

 near Olinda, in lat. 7 31' S. and long. 34 47' W. 



Length, Breadth, and Superficial Area. The length of this con- 

 tinent from north to south is about 4,800 miles ; and its greatest 

 breadth about 3,300 miles. The surface of South America, 

 including its adjacent islands south of the equator, is about 

 6,700,000 square miles; and the population is about 23,000,000; 

 hence this continent contains, on an average, about 3j inhabi- 

 tants to every square mile. 



Islands. The islands considered as belonging to South 

 America are few and unimportant. The largest, namely, Tierra 

 del Fuego, is considered sterile, and scarcely habitable. Between 

 the continent and this island, and Clarence and Desolation 

 Islands to the west of it, lies the long, narrow, and winding 

 strait, called by the name of Magellan, or Magalhaens, the 

 navigator who first sailed through it and discovered the passage 

 to the Pacific Ocean. Off the southern coast of Tierra del 

 Fuego lie Londonderry, Hoste, and Wollaston Islands, with the 

 small islets, on the south of which is the famous headland 

 called Cape Horn, or Hoorn, after its discoverer. The islet, it 

 should be said, bears the same name. Staten Land is an island 

 of small size, lying off its eastern coast, and separated from it 

 by the Strait of Le Maire. About 350 miles east of the entrance 

 to this strait lie the Falkland Islands, one of which is called 

 the East Falkland, and the other the West, between which runs 

 the Falkland Sound ; besides these, this group consists of 200 

 smaller islands, the area of the whole being about 13,000 square 

 miles. About 800 miles south-east of these islands lies the 

 South Georgian group, the largest of which, South Georgia, 

 from which the group takes its name, is 90 miles long by 10 

 miles broad, and forms a useful dep6t for the seal and whale 



fishery. The Galapagos Islands are situated on the equator, 

 about 750 miles west of the state called Ecuador, to which they 

 belong. The Lobos Islands and the Chinca Islands, celebrated 

 for their guano, lie off the west coast of the state of Peru, to 

 which they belong. The island of Juan Fernandez lies nearly 400 

 miles off the west coast of the State of Chili. The Patagonian 

 Archipelago, including the islands of Chiloe, Chonos, Wellington, 

 Madre de Dios Archipelago, Hanover, Adelaide, etc., lies west 

 of the country or region from which it receives its name. 

 North-east of Cape St. Roque, the easternmost point of Brazil, 

 lie the islands of Fernando Noronha and Kocas ; and near the 

 twentieth parallel of S. latitude, about 700 miles from the 

 coast, lie the islands of Trinidad and Martin Vaz. North of 

 the entire continent lie the West Indies, in the Caribbean Sea, 

 as described in a former lesson. 



Seas, Gulfs, Bays. Of inland seas in this continent there are 

 none; and the gulfs and bays are small and unimportant. At 

 the north-west corner, where it joins North America, are found, 

 on the Pacific side, the Bay of Panama and the Gulf of St. 

 Miguel ; on the Atlantic side, and to the north of it, are the 

 Gulf of Darien, the Gulf of Maracaybo, the Gulf of Triste, the 

 Gulf of Paria, the estuary of the Orinoco, the estuary of the 

 Amazon, and the estuary of the Maranham. On the east of the 

 continent are the bays of Todos Santos (or All Saints Bay), 

 Espirito Santo, the estuary of the Rio de la Plata, the Gulf of 

 San Antonio, and the Bay of St. George. On the west, the 

 Gulf of Penas, the Bay of Morena, the Bay of Pisco, the Gulf of 

 Guyaquil, and the Bay of Choco. 



Mountains. The most remarkable natural feature in the con- 

 tinent of South America is, with one exception, the grand range 

 of mountains called the Cordillera de los Andes, or Chain of 

 the Andes, which run nearly parallel and comparatively close 

 to its western shores. The commencement of this range is 

 south of the Isthmus of Darien, and its termination is at the 

 Strait of Magellan, its whole extent being about 4,500 miles, 

 but varying considerably in altitude as well as in name. The 

 mountains of this range, indeed, take . their names according to 

 the countries through which they pass ; hence we have the 

 Columbian, the Peruvian, the Bolivian, the Chilian, and the 

 Patagonian Andes. The average height of the Columbian 

 Andes is about 12,000 feet above the level of the sea, and the 

 highest peak is Chimborazo, which is 21,425 feet above the 

 same level. Antisana, Pichincha, Tolima, Cotopaxi, and others, 

 are little inferior in altitude to the " giant of the western 

 world," and the last is reckoned the most tremendous volcano 

 on the face of the globe. The average height of the Peruvian 

 and Bolivian Andes is greater than that of the Columbian 

 chain, being about 14,000 feet ; their highest peaks, Sorata and 

 Ulimani, reach the respective elevations of 21,190 feet and 

 21,150 feet above the level of the sea; and many of the passes 

 across the chain of Upper Peru are about 16,000 feet above the 

 same level. The Chilian Andes have a less average elevation 

 than any of the former; but the peak of Aconcagua, which is 

 23,910 feet above the level of the sea; overtops all the high 

 peaks already mentioned, and forms the culminating point of 

 South America. The Patagonian chain is very considerably 

 lower than any of the preceding, its average height being only 

 3,000 feet, and its highest peaks only 9,000 feet above the level 

 of the sea. In Venezuela are the mountains of Parime, the 

 culminating peak of which is Maravaca, about 10,500 feet above 

 the level of the sea. Along the southern frontier of Guiana 

 runs a mountain range called the Sierra Acary, while Brazil is 

 traversed from north to south by several ranges parallel to each 

 other, and of no great altitude when compared to the Ancles, 

 the principal of these being the Sierra del Espinha90 and the 

 Cordillera Grande. 



Table-lands. The plateaus or table-lands of South America 

 are formed of the elevated intervening grounds between the 

 chains or ridges of its mountains just described, and they rival 

 in elevation those of the continent of Asia. The principal of 

 these plateaus are those of Quito, Pasco, and Titicaca. The 

 elevation of the plateau of Quito, above the sea-level, is about 

 9,600 feet ; of Pasco, 13,700 feet ; and of Titicaca, 12,850 feet. 



Rivers. The vast plains of South America give rise to a 

 system of rivers unparalleled in the rest of the world for magni- 

 tude and extent. The great central plain of this continent is 

 divided into three large portions, which receive their names 

 from the immense rivers which run through them respectively, 



