446 



and even the Nevados of Mexico and the 

 Mount Saint Elie of Russian America. The 

 peak of Tolima, which in form resembles Co- 

 topaxi, yields perhaps in height only to the 

 ridge of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, 

 which may be considered as an insulated sys- 

 tem of mountains. 



The eastern chain, also called chain of Choco 

 and the coast (of the South Sea), separates the 

 provinces of Popayan and Antioquia from those 

 of Barbaeoas, Raposo, and Choco. Little ele- 

 vated in general, if compared to the height of 

 the central and eastern chains, it however pre- 

 sents great obstacles to the communications 

 between the valley of Cauca and the shore *. 

 On its western slope lies the famous auriferous 

 and platiniferous land -f*, which has during 



* The frightful roads that cross the western chain, are 

 those of Chisquio (east of the Rio Micay), Anchicaya, las 

 Juntas, Saint Augustin, opposite Cartago, Chami, and Urrao. 

 {Seman., Tom. i, p. 32. 



f The Choco Barbaeoas and Brazil are the only countries 

 of the earth where the existence of grains of platina and of 

 palladium has been hitherto fully ascertained. The small town 

 of Barbaeoas is situated on the left bank of the Rio Telembi 

 (tributary of Patias or the Rio del Castigo), a little above 

 the confluence of Telembi and the Guagui or Guaxi, nearly 

 in 1° 48' of latitude. The ancient Provincia, or rather the 

 Partido del Rasposo, comprehends the insalubrious land ex- 

 tending from the Rio Dagua, or San Buenaventura to the Rio 

 Iscuande, the southern limit of Choco. 



