THE EARTH AND ITS INHABITANTS. 



SOUTH AMERICA— THE ANDES EEGIONS. 



CHAPTER I. 



GENERAL SURVEY OF THE CONTINENT. 

 I. 



^ BIRD'S-EYE view of South America shows that it forms the eastern 

 termination of the continental lands describing a vast semicircle 

 round the Pacific basin. This section of the oceanic j)eriphery 

 presents far greater regularit}^ in its orographic development 

 than any other region of the globe. Neither in Africa, in Asia, 

 nor in North America do the mountain ranges and masses skirting the ocean at 

 varying distances display such an unbroken line of uplands, nor do they preserve 

 more strictly the aspect of coast ranges. 



The Andes differ also from all other continental systems, such as the Alps, 

 Himalayas, and Rocky Mountains, in their far greater relative importance to the 

 respective regions above which they rise. The mean altitude of South America, 

 regarded as a solid mass with perfectly horizontal surface, was estimated by Hum- 

 boldt at 1,150 feet. But according to later and more accurate researches based 

 on more detailed cartographic documents, the continental altitude should be raised 

 to 1,312 fe'et, of which about 820 feet should be assigned to the mass of the Andes 

 system in an equal distribution over all the land standing above sea-level. 



Configuration of the Continent. 



The form of South America, as compared with that of the other continents, is 



one of those topics that have been most frequently discussed by geographers. The 



analogy presented by the contour-lines of the southern section of the New World 



with those of Africa and Australia had already been noticed by Buffon and other 



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