445 



By this counter-fort, and by those that come 

 from the west, the eastern and central chains ap- 

 proach between Nares, Honda, and Mendales. In 

 fact, the bed of the Rio Magdalena is narrowed 

 in 5° and 5° 18', by the mountains of Sergento on 

 the east, and by the counterforts that are linked 

 with the granitic mountains of Mariquito and 

 S. Ana, on the west. This narrowing of the 

 bed of the river is in the same parallel with that 

 of the Cauca, near the Salto de San Antonio ; 

 but, in the knot of the mountains of Antioquia, 

 the central and western chains join each other, 

 while between Honda and Mendales, the tops 

 of the central and eastern remain so far re- 

 moved, that it is only the counter-forts of each 

 system that draw near and are confounded to- 

 gether. It is also worthy of remark, that the 

 central Cordillera of New Grenada displays the 

 loftiest summit of the Andes in the northern 

 hemisphere. The peak of Tolima * (lat. 4° 46'), 

 of which the name is almost unknown in Eu- 

 rope, and which I measured in 1801, rises at 

 least 2865 toises high. It consequently sur- 

 passes the Imbabufa, and the Cotocache in the 

 province of Quito, the Chiles of the table-lands 

 of los Pastos, the two volcanoes of Popayan, 



* The second rank of height, in the northern hemisphere, 

 appears to be occupied by the Nevado de Huila (lat. 2o 55'), 

 between Nataga and Quilichao. M. Caldas estimates it 

 2800 toises. (See Semanario de Bogota, Tom, i, p. 6.) 



