529 



to 400 toises, is comprehended within very 

 narrow limits, nearly between 18° and 28° 

 south latitude ; it does not appear to extend., 

 between the provinces of Goyaz and Mato- 

 Grosso, beyond 53° of longitude, west of the 

 meridian of Paris. 



WhenVe regard in one view the eastern con- 

 figuration of both Americas, we perceive that the 

 coast of Brazil and Guyana, from Cape Saint 

 Roque to the mouth of the Oroonoko (stretch- 

 ing S. E. to N. W.), corresponds with that of 

 Labrador, as the coast from Cape Saint Roque 

 to the Rio de la Plata corresponds with that of 

 the United States (stretching from S. W. to 

 N. E.). The chain of the Alleghanies is oppo- 

 site to the latter coast, as the principal Cordil 

 leras of Brazil are nearly parallel to the shore 

 of the provinces of Porto Seguro, Rio Janeiro, 

 and Rio Grande. The Alleghanies, generally 

 composed of grauwakke and transition rocks, 

 are a little loftier than the almost primitive 

 mountains (of granite, gneiss, and micaslate,) 

 of the Brazilian groupe ; they are also of a far 

 more simple structure, their chains lying nearer 

 each other, and preserving, as in the Jura, a 

 more constant parallelism. 



If, instead of comparing those parts of the 

 New Continent situated north and south of the 

 equator, we confine ourselves to South America, 

 we find on the western and northern coasts in 



vol, vi. 2 N 



