OJf GEOGRAPHY. 573 



fast of the branches of the "Volga, and the other inland rivers flowing into 

 the lake Aral and the Caspian sea. Here we are situated on the widely ex- 

 tended elevation of India, in the neighbourhood of the sources of the Indus: 

 and, lastly, in our way from hence towards Kanischatka, we leave the Jenisei 

 and Lena on the left, and the Ganges, the Kiang Kew, the Hoangho, and 

 the Amur to the right. 



The direction of the most conspicuous mountains is, however, a little dif- 

 ferent from this, the principal chain first constitutes the Pyrenees, and divides 

 Spain from France, then passes through Vivarais and Auvergne, to join the 

 Alps, and through the south of Germany to Dalmatia, Albania, and Mace- 

 donia; it is found again beyond the Euxine, under tlie names of Taurus, 

 Caucasus, and Imaus, and goes on to Tartary and to Kamschatka. The 

 peninsula of India is divided from north to south by the mountains of Gate, 

 extending from the extremity of Caucasus to Cape Comorin. In Africa, 

 Mount Atlas stretches from Fez to Egypt, and the mountains of the moon 

 run nearly in the same direction : there is also a considerable elevation be- 

 tween the Nile and tlie Red Sea. In the new world, the neighbourhood of 

 the western coast is in general the most elevated ; in North America the 

 Blue mountains, or Stony mountains, are the most considerable ; and the 

 mountains of Mexico join the Andes or Cordeliers, which are continued along 

 the whole of the west coast of South America, 



There are several points in both hemispheres from which we may observe 

 rivers separating to run to difterent seas ; such are Swisserland, Bjelosero 

 Tartary, Little Tibet, Nigritia or Guinea, and Quito. The highest moun- 

 tains are Chimborapao and some others of the Cordeliers in Peru, or perhaps 

 Descabesado in Chili, Mont Blanc, and the Peak of Tenerifte. Chimborafao 

 is about 7000 yards, or nearly 4 miles, above the level of the sea ; Mont 

 Blanc 5000, or nearly 3 miles; the Peak of Teneriffe about 4000, or 2 miles 

 and a quarter : Ophir, in Sumatra, is said to be 5 or 6 hundred feet higher. 

 It has, however, been, asserted that some of the snowy mountains, to the 

 north of Bengal, are higher than any of those of South America. The 

 plains of Quito, in Peru, are so much elevated, that the barometer stands at 

 the height of 15 inches only, and the air is reduced to half its usual density. 

 But none of these heights is equal to a thousandtli part of the earth's semi- 



VOL. I. 4 b 



