THE SUB-TROPICAL ZONE. 169 



two great classes of Exogens and Endogens. These plants, 

 which are small trees or shrubs (Plate VIII.), agree with 

 the Exogens in the concentric rings of the wood, and with 

 the Endogens in the straight veins of the leaves, which re- 

 semble those of the Palm. In the manner in which the 

 fruit grows they agree with neither, the seeds being arranged 

 in cones like those of the Eir, without any covering, and 

 only protected by a kind of scales called bracts. The pith 

 of these plants supplies a kind of sago ; most of that which 

 is imported is however the product of a true Palm (Sagus 



As we have spent so much time in the Northern Sub- 

 Tropical Zone, and have nothing in addition to say of China 

 and Japan, we must now see whether this zone has at all 

 the same character in the Southern Hemisphere. The first 

 glance around however, when we land in that part of Chili 

 which lies in this zone, tells us that vegetation here wears 

 a totally different aspect ; its character too on the western 

 side of the Andes differs from the eastern ; the eastern side, 

 where the country is low, having a more tropical appearance 

 than the western, where the land lies at a greater variety of 

 elevations. 



The plants most characteristic of this part of Chili are 



