326 MOUNTAINS OF SANTA MAETA. 



of Loxa (south lat. 3 5) ; but we know that on the north 

 of that knot, the Cordilleras rise five times higher than the 

 majestic elevation of 2600 toises : 



In the group of Quito, to 2 south lat. (Cbimborazo, 

 Antisano, Cayambe, Cotopaxi, Collanes, 5Qiniza, Sangay, 

 Tungurahua.) 



In the group of Cundinamarca, lat. 4| north (peak of 

 Tolima, north of the Andes of Quindiu). 



In the group of Anahuac, from lat. 18 59' to 19 12' 

 (Popocatepetl or the Great Volcano of Mexico, and 

 Peak of Orizaba). If we consider the maritime Alps 

 or mountains of California and New Norfolk, either as 

 a continuation of the western chain of Mexico, that 

 of Sonora, or as being linked by spurs to the central 

 chain, that of the Eocky Mountains, we may add to the 

 three preceding groups : 



The group of Eussian America, rom lat. 60 to 70 (Mount 

 Saint Elias). Over an extent of 63 of latitude, I know 

 only twelve summits of the Andes which reach the 

 height of 2600 toises, and consequently exceed by 140 

 toises, the height of Mont Blanc. Only three of these 

 twelve summits are situated north of the isthmus of 

 Panama. 



II. INSULATED GEOUP or THE SNOWY MOUNTAINS OF 

 SANTA MARTA. In the enumeration of the different 

 systems of mountains, I place this group before the littoral 

 chain of Venezuela, though the latter, being a northern 

 prolongation of the Cordillera of Cundinamarca, is imme- 

 diately linked with the chain of the Andes. The Sierra 

 Kevado of Santa Marta is encompassed within two diver- 

 gent branches of the Andes, that of Bogota, and that of the 

 isthmus of Panama. It rises abruptly like a fortified 

 castle, amidst the plains extending from the gulf of Darien, 

 by the mouth of the Magdalena, to the lake of Maracaybo. 

 The old geographers erroneously considered this insulated 

 group of mountains covered with eternal snow, as the 

 extremity of the high Cordilleras of Chita and Pamplona. 

 The loftiest ridge of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta is 

 only three or four leagues in length from east to west ; it is 

 bounded (at nine leagues distance from the coast), by the 



