SOUTH AMERICA. 



325 



America.) The surface rises gradually from the 

 shores ot the Atlantic ocean to the summit of the 

 great mountain chain, which extends along the 

 western coast, no where more than 80 miles from 

 the Pacific ocean. This chain, called the Andes or 

 Cordilleras (see the articles), stretches north and 

 south through South America from capes Froward 

 and Pilares, on the straits of Magellan, to the isth- 

 mus of Panama, where it sinks somewhat. It is 

 volcanic almost throughout; in many parts there 

 are volcanoes in activity. The lofty valley of 

 Quito is often desolated by earthquakes. On the 

 Pichincha, Humboldt counted eighteen shocks in 

 less than thirty minutes. To the south, towards 

 the Rio de la Plata, are extensive plains covered 

 with saltpetre and salt, in which the springs and 

 rivers are also saline. From the gulf of Arica, on 

 the western coast, to cape St Roque, runs the 

 mountain chain Chiquitos, separating the basins of 

 the Amazons and of the Plata. At the foot of this 

 ridge lie two immense plains, the pampas of the 

 Plata (see Pampas'), and the plains of the Amazons, 

 the former covered with grass, the latter with 

 wood. To the north is the detached chain of 

 Guyana, in the western part of which, called the 

 Mei, the Orinoco rises; the eastern part of the 

 chain is called Tamucaraque. Still further north, 

 on the coast of the Caribbean sea, is the chain of 

 Caracas, or the sierra of Santa Martha, in which is 

 the Silla, 8500 feet high. This chain bounds the 

 great basin of the Orinoco, 1,000,000 square miles 

 in extent. To complete the view of the natural 

 divisions of South America, it is necessary to dis- 

 tinguish the valleys of the three great rivers, which 

 drain nearly the whole continent, and are striking 

 features in its geography. The Orinoco, the Ama- 

 zons and the Plata have been described in separate 

 articles. Besides these, the principal rivers are 

 San Francesco in Brazil, the Colorado in Buenos 

 Ayres, and the Magdalena in Columbia, flowing | 

 north inter the Caribbean sea. The vicinity of the j 

 Andes to the western coast renders the streams 

 which flow into the Pacific, little more than moun- 

 tain torrents. The lakes are neither so numerous nor 

 extensive as those of North America. Maracaybo 

 in the north, Titicaca in the west, and Patos in the 

 south-east, are the most considerable. In the great 

 plains, temporary lakes are formed during the rainy 

 season, by the overflowing of the rivers, which have 

 sometimes been marked on the maps. The ele- 

 vated plains or plateaus of South America are in- 

 ferior in extent to those of the northern division of 

 the continent, not exceeding 100 miles in circuit; 

 but they are higher (from 8300 to 9000 feet), and 

 are separated by deeper valleys. The lowest plain, 

 however, the Llanos, extends over a space of 

 250,000 square miles, from the mountains of Cara- 

 cas to the forests of Guyana, and to the delta of the 

 Orinoco. In some parts, it is covered with woods, 

 standing under water; in others, it is destitute of 

 trees and fountains, or bears a few scattered palms. 

 In the dry season, the parched grass falls to powder, 

 the ground cracks, and whirlwinds raise clouds of 

 dust, which resemble the waterspouts of the ocean. 

 Even the alligator and the boa lie immovable in the 

 dried clay, till they are revived by the first rains. 

 Then the plain is suddenly covered with a rich 

 carpet of grass. The climate of South America is 

 colder throughout than in other regions under the 

 same latitude. Even under the line, the heat is 

 not excessive, owing to the height of the surface 

 and the narrowness of the continent in this part. 



Many of the summits in the torrid zone are covered 

 with perpetual snow. Humboldt fixes the snow- 

 line under the equator at 15,000 feet. (See Snow- 

 Line.') On the Cordilleras of Grenada and Peru, it 

 rains almost the whole year; on their coasts, it 

 never rains nor thunders at all. In other parts, the 

 heat is tempered by the great marshy lowlands, or 

 by frequent rains. In some of the countries on the 

 Amazons, it rains during ten months of the year. 

 Guyana is thus rendered extremely unhealthy. In 

 Patagonia, the air is raw, the skies are rarely clear, 

 and the coasts are covered with almost perpetual 

 fogs, and subject to violent storms. In Terra del 

 Fuego, the valleys on the northern side are in the 

 vicinity of high, bare mountains, covered with snow 

 in midsummer. The peculiarities of the soil and 

 climate, of course, have an effect upon the natural 

 productions. The wonders of the tropical vegeta- 

 tion are exhibited in the great work of Bonpland 

 and Humboldt Nova Genera et Species Plantarum, 

 quas in Peregrinatione ad Plagam (equinoctialem 

 Orbis Novi collegerunt (fol., Paris, 1816). The 

 potato (solarium tuberosuni) is a native of the Andes, 

 and, according to Pavon {Flora Peruviana), grows 

 wild around Lima, in Chile, and in other places. 

 The natives cultivate it, and call it papas. There 

 are fourteen species of the cinchona or quinquina 

 known. (See Bark, Peruvian.} Great quantities 

 of the bark are collected between lat. 2 and 6 

 south. Cacao, vanilla and maize are also native 

 plants, and the soil yields a great number of medi- 

 cinal plants and dye-stuffs, and resinous trees 

 Particularly remarkable are the aracatscha, from the 

 root of which a farinaceous substance of an agree- 

 able flavour is obtained, and the wax palm, which 

 grows to the height of 160 180 feet. In America 

 alone there are 87 species of palms known, which 

 are equally distinguished for their beauty and size, 

 and for their various uses, furnishing wine, oil, wax, 

 flour, sugar and salt. Of the orchidece, the chief 

 ornament of the tropical vegetation, 244 species are 

 counted in America. Around the cataracts of 

 Tequendama, formed near Santa Fe by the Bogota, 

 nature appears to have scattered various species of 

 unknown plants and strange animals, as from her 

 horn of plenty. The forests are so thickly filled 

 with bushes, trees and plants, as to be impenetrable 

 except in some places where the wild beasts have 

 made a path to the water. Chile abounds in medi- 

 cinal plants, frankincense, the cocoa-palms, &c. In 

 the Brazilian forests there are more than eighty 

 species of wood useful for carpentry or dyeing. In 

 the low lands of the Orinoco, and on the coasts, 

 the valuable guaiacum and caoutchouc exude from 

 the trees. The plantations in Guyana yield all the 

 productions of the West Indies without manure or 

 ploughing. Cayenne produces spices, and Brazil, 

 matte, or tea. In the animal kingdom, the lama, 

 the guanaca and the vicugna, of the sheep kind, 

 and the tapir and the peccary of the hog kind, are 

 peculiar to the countries on the Andes. The 

 American tiger, or jaguar and the puma, are the 

 principal beasts of prey. The alligator or cayman, 

 attains to a length of fifteen feet and more. The 

 birds are not numerous in the higher parts of the 

 country, but of great variety of colours and size, 

 from the colibri to the condor. The low lands 

 abound in birds and fishes. The whale fishery on 

 the coasts of Brazil is important, and the manati, 

 or sea-cows, are numerous in the rivei s of Guyana. 

 The alco, or wild dog, and the tuyu, or American 

 ostrich, whic inhabits the pampas, the electric eel, 



