CHAPTER II 



COSTA RICAN TOPOGRAPHY AND RAILROADS 



From Limon to Puntarenas, the chief Pacific port of Costa 

 Rica, the air-line measures nearly 125 miles (200 kilometers). 

 A railroad now connects them but its windings and its ascent 

 to the continental divide at a height of 5000 feet (1524 

 meters) increases this distance to 180 miles (289 kilometers). 

 The divide is formed by a mountain chain, the main Cor- 

 dillera, extending from west-northwest to east-southeast, 

 beginning south of the Lake and Isthmus of Nicaragua and 

 continued into Panama. Near Latitude 10° North, the 

 Cordillera is separated by the river valleys of the Reventa- 

 zon (Atlantic side) and Grande de Tarcoles (Pacific side) 

 into a northern and a southern portion, the first termed Cor- 

 dillera de Guanacaste, the latter Cordillera de Talamanca. 

 A little north of the tenth parallel, the Cordillera de Guana- 

 caste curves to the east, forming three groups of volcanoes 

 known collectively as the Cordillera Central. These groups, 

 from east to west, are: i,Turrialba (11,224 f^^^, 3421 meters) 

 and Irazu (11,325 feet, 3452 meters); 2, Barba (9524 feet, 

 2903 meters); and 3, Poas, formerly called de los Votos 

 (8786 feet, 2678 meters). Irazu is separated from Barba by 

 the pass of La Palma (5098 feet, 1554 meters), Barba from 

 Poas by that of the Desengaiio (61 15 feet, 1864 meters). 

 The principal members of the Cordillera de Guanacaste, 

 going northward, are Tenorio (4700 feet, 1432 meters). 

 Miravalles (5675 feet, 1730 meters), Rincon de la Vieja or 

 Cuipilapa [4500 (?) feet, 1371 (?) meters], and Orosi (5155 feet, 

 1541 meters). These also are volcanic in character and 



