PHYSICAL FEATURES OF CHILI. 419 



in south Chili, discovered in 1856 a track leading over the cordillera directly to 

 the Nahuel-Huapi, " Tiger Lake," a magnificent sheet of water whence flows one 

 of the main branches of the Rio Negro. The Boquete de Perez Rosalez, as this 

 pass is called, is said to be only 2,760 feet high. In the last century the Jesuit 

 missionaries were already acquainted with the passes near the Tronador, for they 

 had a station on the Argentine slope in an island of Nahuel-Huapi. 



South of this depression follows another forming an eastern continuation of 

 the narrow Reloncavi fiord, the first occurring south of continental Chili. The 

 dull green vegetation clothing its rugged walls imparts a savage aspect to this 

 wild mountain gorge. 



In the vast bend, exceeding twelve degrees of latitude, which the Andean 

 cordillera describes south of the Tronador, the system nowhere offers any 

 altitudes comparable to those of the northern and central sections. The Yate 

 or Yebcan volcano rises 6,970 feet above Reloncavi Bay, while the more southerly 

 Hornopiren, ascended in 1872 by the botanist Downtown, falls as low as 5,280 

 feet. Minchinmavida or Chayapiren, again rises to 7,946 feet, and this is followed 

 by Chana, Corcovado and Millimoia (Melimoyu), all about the same height. 



In Magdalena Island, Motalat (Mentalat) falls to 5,450 feet, although its base 

 fills the whole island, which is enclosed by a circular trough like the moat of a 

 castle. A subsidence of a few hundred years would suffice to transform all the 

 coast mountains to so many islands, like Motalat, for they form not so much a 

 chain properly so called, as a system of isolated cones disposed in a line. 



These unexplored mountains are supposed to be volcanoes, although neither 

 history nor tradition knows of any eruptions. Darwin alone states that Min- 

 chinmavida emitted flames in 1835. San Valentin, the highest peak yet measured 

 in this part of the cordillera, attains 12,720 feet ; it stands at the neck of the 

 Taytao Peninsula, and appears greatly to exceed most of the surrounding summits, 

 which on the marine charts fall below 8,200 feet. 



But if the Magellanic crests do not constitute a very elevated range, they 

 present an imposing aspect in their bold escarpments, the variety of the clear 

 waters in which they are mirrored, the wealth and bright foliage of their wood- 

 lands, the dazzling white snows congealed to glaciers in their upland glens and 

 gorges. Every summit has its native name imposed by the Patagonian 

 Tehuelches; but these names having mostly been forgotten, many peaks have 

 been designated from such explorers and observers as Fitzroy, Stokes, Payne, 

 Burney and Ladrilleros. 



The continental backbone terminates in the bold headland of Cape Froward, 

 at the foot of which the Atlantic and Pacific sections of Magellan Strait inter- 

 mingle their waters. 



The Chilian Coast Range. 



The Chilian coast range does not become clearly distinct from the Andean 

 cordillera till about the latitude of the Chacabuco Hills, between Santiago and 



