226 A NATURALIST IN MID-AFRICA. 



belts ; (6) a very wide wet jungle area (Congo) 

 reaching to the Atlantic. 



Starting from the west coast of South America 

 one has (1) A littoral strip ; (2) a dry, or in parts 

 desert country (Peru or Chili) ; (3) a fertile moun- 

 tainous region with cloud belts and woods ; (4) a 

 dry desert valley ; (5) another mountain chain 

 with woods and steppes ; (6) a very wide wet 

 jungle (Amazon, &c.) reaching to the Atlantic. 



It is only in the jungle character of No. 1 being 

 less marked in South America, and in the cloud 

 belt being in No. 3 instead of in No. 5 that these 

 sections differ. 



The similarity is, to my mind, too close for mere 

 coincidence, and the meteorological phenomena 

 should be the reason. 



