TOPOGRAPHY AND RAILROADS 9 



their contours from most points of view, like those of the 

 Cordillera Central with the exception of Turrialba, rise 

 gradually and gently to their summits. 



The Cordillera de Talamanca is more continuous than the 

 northern Cordillera and is much less known. It begins 

 with the Cerros of Candelaria, or Escazii (7956 feet, 2425 

 meters) to the south and southwest of San Jose, and with 

 Carpintera (5705 feet, 1739 meters) to the east. The latter 

 connects with Irazu and forms the watershed between the 

 Rio Reventazon and the Rio Grande de Tarcoles. Com- 

 ponent parts of the Cordillera de Talamanca, proceeding 

 southward, are the Cerro de las Vueltas (10,127 ^^^t, 3087 

 meters), Buena Vista (11,614 feet, 3540 meters), Chirripo 

 Grande (12,467 feet, 3800 meters), the highest point in Costa 

 Rica, Cruz del Obispo (9100 feet, 2775 meters), Kamuk or 

 Pico Blanco (11,794 ^^^t, 3595 meters) and Cerro Pando, 

 beyond which, in the Republic of Panama, is the Volcano of 

 Chiriqui. 



The Cordilleras de Guanacaste and Talamanca are nearer 

 to the Pacific than to the Atlantic Ocean, so that the Atlantic 

 slope is much the larger. It is divided by the Cordillera 

 Central into a northern and a southern portion, most of the 

 northern portion draining directly or indirectly into the San 

 Juan River, the outlet of the Lake of Nicaragua, while the 

 rivers of the southern portion and a part of the northern 

 empty directly into the Caribbean Sea. 



The prevailing winds are the warm easterly trades. They 

 become saturated with moisture as they pass over the Carib- 

 bean and the heavily forested low Atlantic coast. Farther 

 westward, as they meet the high mountains of the interior, 

 their moisture is precipitated so that after they pass these 

 elevations they are much drier. As a consequence the At- 

 lantic slopes usually have a heavy rainfall throughout the 

 year and there is little or no distinction between wet and dry 



