THE BOLIVIAN HIGHLANDS. 859 



Santos (19,382), and Lipez (19,650). This last gives its name to tlie Lipez 

 ran^e, a transverse section connecting the Central with the Western Cordillera, 

 and enclosing on the south the old lacustrine plains, whose deepest depressions are 

 occupied by Lakes Titicaca and Parapa-Aullagas. Lipez thus corresponds in the 

 south with the Vilcanota Knot on the north side of the same lacustrine region. In 

 the middle of the plains rise some isolated masses, amongst others Tahua, which 

 attains a height of 17,400 feet. 



The " Bolivian Switzerland," which stretches east of the Central Cordillera in 

 the direction of the plains, still presents some Alpine peaks, such as the Cerro de 

 Potosi, which rises east of the city of like name to an altitude of 15,380 feet. But, 

 as a rule, the elevation of the mountains corresponds to that of the plateaux on 

 which they stand, and consequently fails gradually towards the eastern llanos. In 

 this vast labyrinthine system the trend of the several ranges is extremely irregular, 

 although they are mainly disposed in two directions parallel with the border 

 chains ; that is, the Cordillera de Cochabamba in the north, which runs first west 

 and east and is then deflected towards the south-east, and in the east the Misiones 

 range, continued by other ridges, which with Cochabamba form a sort of advanced 

 rampart terminating at a right angle above the plains. The outer escarpments of 

 these mountains are extremely abrupt, scarcely anywhere presenting accessible 

 tracks ; hence travellers descending from the uplands to the plains all take the 

 river routes, trusting their lives to frail barks. 



Some of the offshoots of the Bolivian Andes stand out with sufficient prominence 

 to constitute distinct ridges beyond the region of the Cordilleras. Thus the 

 Sierra Manaya skirts the right bank of the Beni, and the Sierra Chamaya takes a 

 more northerly trend, while the Manaya is continued to the foot of the Cocha- 

 bamba Alps, first by the Cordillera de los Mosetenes, and then by several " little 

 Andes." Even in the heart of the plains there rise isolated groups of gneiss hills, 

 which in remote geological times certainly formed part of the Andean system, 

 from which they are now separated by the erosive action of rain and running 

 waters. These groups, forming an advanced promontory of the Brazilian heights, 

 have been collectively called the Chiquitos system, from the Indians of that name 

 inhabiting their valleys. 



Main Physical Divisions. 



From the standpoint of its relief Bolivia falls naturally into four distinct 

 regions. On the west the alta planicie, or " high tableland," as it is locally called, 

 answers to the inter-Andean plateau of Peru, though much broader and far more 

 uniform. This vast space, varying in altitude from 11,000 to 13,000 feet, stretches 

 north-west and south-east between the two Cordilleras, from the Yilcanota to the 

 Lipez Knot, a total length of over 500 miles, with a mean breadth of 80 miles, and 

 a superficial area of some 40,000 square miles. On the east the Cordillera Real, 

 with all the dependent chains and valleys, forms the most populous part of Bolivia, 

 in which are situated nearly all the large towns. It is naturally divided into two 



