662 



NATURALIST'S GUIDE TO THE AMERICAS 



REFERENCES 



Anthony, H. E. 1921. Mammals Col- 

 lected by Wm. Beebe at the British 

 Guiana Tropical Research Station. 

 Zoologica, 3: 265-285. 



Beebe, C. William. 1916. Fauna of 

 four square feet of Jungle debris. 

 Zoologica, 2: 107-119. 



Beebe, C. William. 1909. Ecology the 

 Hoatzin, Zoologica, 1 : 46-66. 



Beebe, Hartley and Howes, and White. 

 1917. Tropical Wild life in British 

 Guiana. New York. 



Andre, E. In the Guiana Forest. 



Rodway, Wm. A Naturalist in the 

 Guianas. London. 



4. ECUADOR 



BY WILSON POPENOE AND 

 H. E. ANTHONY 



I. TOPOGRAPHY (W. P.) 



Ecuador is popularly divided into 

 three regions, the Pacific coast, the 

 Sierra or inter-Andean region, and 

 the Oriente or trans-Andean portion. 

 The coastal region is in the main an 

 alluvial, low-lying plain formed of 

 detritus brought down from the Andes; 

 in the southernmost part of the republic, 

 near the frontier with Peru, it is practi- 

 cally desert in character; about Guaya- 

 quil it is swampy during a portion of the 

 year, and extremely dry during another 

 portion; north of this point, as far as 

 Bahia de Caraques, it is somewhat more 

 broken, with several ranges of hills, 

 and has practically the same rainfall as 

 the Guayaquil section; while to the 

 north of Bahia de Caraques it is ex- 

 tremely moist. 



The inter- Andean region, though com- 

 monly termed a plateau, consists in 

 reality of a number of small basins, 

 lying between the eastern and western 

 ranges of the Andes, and separated by 

 extensions of the latter which are known 

 localjy as "nudos" or knots. From 

 north to south the Sierra increases in 

 aridity. 



The basins themselves, which usually 

 lie at elevations between 7000 and 9000 

 ft., possess delightful climates, with 

 abundant rains during a large part of 



the year (except in the provinces of 

 Tungurahua and Leon, where rainfall is 

 scant), and a rich volcanic soil excellent 

 for agricultural purposes. In these 

 regions were found the principal centers 

 of population and agriculture in pre- 

 Columbian days. 



Within sight of each other, twenty- 

 two snow clad peaks rise from the inter- 

 Andean plaifis, presenting one of the 

 most magnificent scenes in the world. 

 Many of these can be scaled without 

 difficulty; others, such as Cayambe 

 and especially Chimborazo, "King of 

 the Andes," are difficult of ascent. 

 Because of their isolation, and the 

 paucity of knowledge concerning them, 

 these peaks are extremely attractive to 

 those interested in geography, geology, 

 and natural history generally. Among 

 modern investigators, Reiss and Steubel 

 (1871-1873) and Edward Whymper (1880) 

 are perhaps the most important. They 

 have obtained the following measure- 

 ments of altitude : 



feet 



Eastern Cordillera: 



Cayambe (W.) 19,186 



Sara-Urea (W.) 15,502 



Antisana (W.) 19,335 



Sincholahua (R. & S.) 16,365 



Ruminarui (R. & S.) 15,607 



Cotopaxi (W.) 19,613 



Tungurahua (R. & S.) 16,690 



Altar (Capac-Urcu) (R.&S.). 17,730 



Sangay (R. & S.) 17,464 



Western Cordillera. 



Cotocachi (W.) 16,301 



Mojanda (R. & S.) 14,088 



Pichincha (W.) 15,918 



Atacatzo (R. & S.) 14,892 



El Corazon (Chamalari) (W.) 15,871 



Illiniza (R. &S.) 17,405 



Carihuairazo (W.) 16,515 



Chimborazo (W.) 20,498 



The trans-Andine region of Ecuador 

 is similar in character to the neighboring 

 portions of the upper Amazon basin 

 occupied by Colombia, Brazil, and Peru. 

 It is a great forest-covered plain sloping 

 gradually toward the east, and broken 

 on its western margin by short spurs 

 from the Andes as well as by low, iso- 

 lated ranges which lie between the 

 courses of the larger rivers. It is 

 scarcely inhabited, explored only in 



