575 



The whole surface of South America is 

 571,300 square leagues (20 to a degree) $ and 

 the relation of the mountainous country to the 

 region of the plains is as 1 : 3.9. The latter 

 region, on the east of the Andes, is more than 

 424,600 square leagues, the half of which con- 

 sists of savannahs, that is, it is covered with 

 gramina. 



Section II. 



General partition of lands. — Direction and in- 

 clination of the layers. — Relative height of the 

 formations above the level of the Ocean. 



We have examined in the preceding section, 

 the inequalities of the surface of the soil, that 

 is, the general structure of the mountains, and 

 the form of the basins left between those moun- 

 tains variously grouped together. These moun- 

 tains are sometimes longitudinal, by narrow 

 bands or chains, similar to the veins that pre- 

 serve their tendency at great distances (Andes, 

 mountains of the shore of Venezuela, Serra do 

 Mar of Brazil, Alleghanies of the United States); 

 sometimes they are in masses with irregular 

 forms, in which the heavings-up seem to take 

 place as on a labyrinth of crevices or a heap of 

 veins (Sierra Parime, Serra das Vertentes). 

 These modes of formations are linked with an 



