GEOGRAPHY. ^^^^^^V 1? 



(fcc. They extend along a distance of about 2000 miles, scarcely ever attaining 

 a heio-lit of over 6000 feet. 



III. The Oronoco Mountains, in the north-eastern part of South 

 America. 



IV. The Rocky Mountain range of Mexico and North America. "With 

 this is associated a lofty table-land, beginning at the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, 

 and extending north-west to the parallel of 42^. It is of greatest breadth 

 (360 miles) and height in the latitude of the city of Mexico, at which place 

 it is 7430 feet above the level of the sea. In the vicinity of the city of 

 Mexico are situated numerous volcanoes, pre-eminent among which are 

 Popocatepetl, 17,884 feet ; Orizaba 17,374 ; and Iztascihuatl, 15,705 feet 

 above the level of the sea. The mountain system of North America proper 

 is one of no little complexity. The Rocky Mountains, as the central range, 

 extend to the mouth of Mackenzie River ; a second great range extends from 

 the Peninsula of California to Russian America, leaving only two gaps for 

 the passage of the Avaters along the west side of the Rocky Mountains, which 

 are occupied respectively by the Columbia and Frazer's rivers. It possesses 

 several peaks more lofty than those of the Ptocky Mountains, among which 

 are some active volcanoes. This range in California is know^n as the Sierra 

 Nevada. Immediately along the coast of California is a range of mountains, 

 known as the Coast Mountains, and separated from the preceding by the 

 valleys of the Sacramento and San Joaquin. It is pierced by the Bay of 

 San Francisco. About the latitude of 42° a chain of mountains extends east 

 and wxst, between the Sierra Nevada and the Rocky Mountains, forming the 

 northern boundary of the Great Western Basin of North America. This 

 basin is about 500 miles in diameter each way, and contains its own system 

 of lakes and streams, without any connexion with the sea. Many of these 

 lakes are salt ; the most remarkable are the Great Salt Lake (Timpanagos 

 of Humboldt) and Utah. The Ozark Mountains, which run from Texas 

 to the Mississippi, ma}^ be considered as an offset from the Rocky Moun- 

 tains. The highest summits in the mountains of Western North America 

 are Mount St. Elias, 16,775 feet ; Fremont's Peak, 13,570 ; Mount 

 Brown, 16,000; Momit Hooker, 15,700 feet: Long's Peak, 13,470; 

 James's Peak, 11,500, &:c. Some of these estimates are doubtless in- 

 correct. 



V. The Allegham^ Mountains, w^hich occupy the region east of the Mis- 

 sissippi River, have for their base a strip of table-land, extending from 

 Alabama to the mouth of the St. Lawrence. This high land is traversed 

 throughout 1000 miles, from Alabama to Vermont, by from three to five 

 parallel ridges of low mountains, rarely more than from 3000 to 4000 feet 

 high, and separated by fertile longitudinal valleys. The Alleghanies proper 

 are, however, restricted to Pennsylvania and A^irginia. The chain is well 

 characterized by the parallelism of the ridges, and the uniform level outline 

 of their summits, with but few indentations. To the south they maintain 

 a distance of 200 miles from the Atlantic : further north, however, they 

 approach closer to the coast, as in the south-eastern part of New York, 

 whence their course is nearly north towards the St. Lawrence. The most 



ICONOGRAPHIC ENCYCLOPAEDIA. VOL. HI. 2 17 



