362 



AMAZONIA AND LA PLATA. 



Bay, Port Yancouver and, near tlie Dampier islets, the spacious York Bay about 

 midway between tlie east and west points. 



Staten Island, which was discovered in 1616 by the Dutch expedition of Le 

 Maire and Schouten, was never occupied by any European power, and is, in fact, 

 ■uninhabitable. At least, . no permanent settlements could be advantageously 

 formed in such an inhospitable region. At presents it depends politically on the 

 Argentine Government of Tierra del Fuego. 



RiojA, San Luis, and Cordoba Uplands, 



Other mountain masses, at present separated from the Andes, but which 

 probably at one time formed part of the system, are found scattered in isolated 



Fig-. 148. — SiEREA DE San Luis. 

 Scale 1 : 1,000,000. 









■'^*^< 





'..■^^^ 



We,l oF Gre.rwlct. 



66' 



18 Miles. 



grouj)s over the boundless plains of Argentina. A first group, the Sierra de los 

 Llanos, rises above the saline and arid low-lying tracts midway between the 

 Rioja and San Luis. This much- weathered sierra presents no distinct peaks 

 rising boldly above its long rounded crests of crystalline and metamorphic 

 formations, which scarcely anywhere rise much above 3,000 feet. 



Farther north the Sierra Brava, which falls even below 3,000 feet, presents an 

 analogous aspect, and doubtless belongs to the same orographic system— a mere 

 islet, like the Sierra de los Llanos, in the ancient inland sea. 



The Central system, which extends for a distance of over 300 miles, parallel 

 with the great Cordillera, consists of several distinct chains, all disposed in the 



