ANDES. 
 
 
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 PHILADELPHIA: 
 
 J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY. 
 
 1888. 
 
ANDES. 
 
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 PHILADELPHIA: 
 
 J. B. LIPPINCQTT COMPANY. 
 
 1888. 
 
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 Copyright, 1888, by J. B. Lippincott Company. 
 
 «I| ||STEREOTYP£RSanoPRINTERSI| 1 
 
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ANDES. 
 
 Andes, a lofty mountain-system of South America, 
 extending north and south along the Pacific coast of 
 that continent, throughout its whole extent. Geographi- 
 cally, it may be regarded as an extension of the vast 
 and complicated mountain-system of Western North 
 America, although it is not distinctly connected with 
 that system. As the Andean chain approaches the 
 Isthmus of Darien, after having crossed the Atrato, it 
 is represented by a low crest of serpentine, at one point 
 only 130 feet high ; and much of the Isthmus proper 
 is even lower than that. 
 
 The mountains of the Fuegian Archipelago, south of 
 the mainland of South America, must be held to belong 
 to this system. Cape Horn, on a detached island, is 
 regarded as the most southerly point of the chain, which, 
 however, may be said to extend to the rocky islets of 
 Diego Eamirez, 60 miles SW. of the Cape. Without 
 allowing for curves, the Andes extend some 4500 Eng- 
 lish miles. For about 1000 miles (south of Chiloe), 
 the mountains not only reach the ocean, but in part 
 stand in its waters, for the great Chonos Archipelago is 
 only an irregular double chain of mountains. Indeed 
 some geographers hold that these islands for at least 300 
 miles north of Cape Horn, in reality represent the main 
 chain of the Andes. The Patagonian portion of the 
 
4 ANDES. 
 
 system is much cut by steep ravines, sometimes partly 
 filled with glaciers, and not seldom occupied by deep 
 fjords, or arms of the sea. On the eastern slope in 
 Patagonia lie vast masses of granite, porphyry, basalt, 
 and lava ; and on both sides of the ranges vegetation is 
 luxuriant; extensive forests covering a large proportion 
 of the surface. This is chiefly due to the excessive 
 abundance of the rainfall, to which cause also must be 
 ascribed the numerous and rather large sub-Andean 
 lakes of Patagonia, and the swift and copious streams 
 which water its wild and gloomy terraces — for the ascent 
 to the mountains is here by a step-like succession of 
 steep rises. The Patagonian Andes cover a strip of 
 land from 20 to 50 miles in breadth, and, as will be seen 
 in the table given below, are not of great height. 
 
 Between lat. 42° and 24° S. the main chain of the 
 Andes recedes from the sea-coast, leaving in Chili a tract 
 of country nowhere exceeding 120 geographical miles 
 in breadth. The mountains here reach a mean elevation 
 of 11,830 feet; one of the peaks (Aconcagua) is the 
 loftiest on the American continent. In this region, both 
 to the north and to the south, there is but one main line 
 of peaks ; but between these two parts two high parallel 
 ranges occur, having between them a relatively low 
 plateau. A low parallel ridge of granite skirts the 
 mountains to seaward. On the Argentine side a great 
 number of buttress-like processes extend into the Pam- 
 pas country, chiefly having a south-easterly direction 
 except to the northward, where they are numerous, and 
 are nearly parallel with the main Andes. The Bolivian 
 Andes occupy perhaps one-third of the area of the re- 
 public. They form a vast arid region of great elevation. 
 
ANDES. 5 
 
 The east and west Cordilleras of Bolivia inclose the 
 land-locked plateau of the Desaguadero, 13,000 feet in 
 height, and having an area of 30,000 sq. m. It has 
 thus about the superficial extent of Ireland, and has 
 been called i the navel of South America/ In the 
 vicinity are several much smaller land-locked basins of 
 similar character; and near at hand are some of the 
 loftiest of the Andean summits. 
 
 The Peruvian Andes present features of great interest. 
 The maritime Cordillera overlooks the sea in a close 
 succession of volcanic cones. Near lat. 10° S. the chain 
 divides into the seaward Cordillera Negra, and the more 
 eastward Cordillera Nevada, with a deep trough or 
 ravine intervening. The central Cordillera of Peru is 
 the chain which bounds the Titicaca basin on the west. 
 No river, except the Maranon (Upper Amazon), cuts 
 through its vast wall-like ridges. The eastern Andes 
 of Peru lie between a high, cool, western valley and the 
 hot and seething forest plains of the Amazonian basin. 
 They form a magnificent succession of grand peaks, 
 with only very local evidences of recent volcanic action. 
 To the north they decline greatly in elevation. Here 
 the grandest scenery of the Andes is to be witnessed. 
 The lofty wildernesses of the high Peruvian Andes form 
 a cold and wind-swept region known as the Puna, and 
 are scarcely habitable. In the SW. of Ecuador the 
 various ridges of the Andes coalesce, immediately to 
 divide again into two main chains, both characterised by 
 intense volcanic activity. Transverse ridges divide the 
 intervening valley into three basins, that of Cuenca in 
 the south, Ambato in the centre, and Quito (with its 
 fine climate and productive soil) in the north. The 
 
6 
 
 ANDES. 
 
 Cuenca basin is 7800 feet in elevation, that of Ambato 
 8500, and that of Quito 9500 feet. 
 
 The Colombian Andes are disposed in three main 
 lines. The maritime range runs north and ends at 
 Cape Tiburon, on the coast of the Caribbean Sea. It 
 declines greatly in height to the northward, and the 
 same thing is true of the central range, which in the 
 south, near the great paramo or tableland of Cruz 
 Yerde, are very lofty. The very lofty eastern range 
 (Cordillera of Suma Paz) extends to the NE., and near 
 the Venezuelan boundary it forks out into two chains, 
 one of which forms the Goajira peninsula west of Lake 
 Maracaibo, and the other becomes the main Venezuelan 
 mountain-system. Near Caracas the mountains skirt 
 the sea-coast. Only a few of the peaks of the Venez- 
 uelan Andes rise above the snow-line. 
 
 PLATEAUS. 
 
 Of the numerous plateaus of 
 the Andes system, one, Assuay, 
 is at a height of 14,500 feet 
 That of Titicaca, the Collao, is 
 12,500 feet; of Cruz Verde, 
 11,695 feet; of Pasco, 11,000 
 feet; of Quito, 9500 feet; of 
 Bogota, 8958 feet. 
 
 HEIGHTS OF MOUNTAINS. 
 
 Fuegian Andes : 
 
 Feet. 
 
 Mount Sarmiento . . 
 
 6910 
 
 Mount Darwin . . . 
 
 6600 
 
 Cape Horn 
 
 3000 
 
 Patagonian Andes : 
 
 
 Yanteles 
 
 8030 
 
 Corcovado (volcano) . 
 
 7510 
 
 HEIGHTS OE MOUNTAINS. 
 
 Chilian Andes Proper : Feet. 
 
 Aconcagua 22,427 
 
 Cima del Mercedario . 22,302 
 Tupungato 20,269 
 
 Bolivian Andes : 
 
 Gualtieri 22,000 
 
 Sorata 21,290 
 
 * Illimani 21,150 
 
 Peruvian Andes : 
 
 Huascan 22,000 
 
 Huandoy 21,088 
 
 Arequipa 18,373 
 
 Ecuadorian Andes : 
 
 Chimborazo 20,517 
 
 Cotopaxi 19,550 
 
 Antisana 19,260 
 
 Cayambe 19,200 
 
ANDES. 
 
 HEIGHTS OF MOUNTAINS. 
 
 Colombian Andes : 
 
 Feet. 
 
 Cocui 
 
 . 19,300 
 
 Tolima 
 
 . 18,314 
 
 Sierra Nevada de 
 
 
 Santa Marta . . . 
 
 . 17,500 
 
 Venezuelan Andes : 
 
 
 Sierra de Merida . . 
 
 . 15,342 
 
 PASSES. 
 
 Of nine notable Chilian 
 passes, the lowest (Planchon) 
 
 is 11,455 feet high, the highest 
 (Dona Ana), 14,770 feet. In 
 the Bolivian Andes the passes 
 of Potosi and Gualillos are re- 
 spectively 14,220 and 14,380 
 feet ; of Peruvian passes, Jacai- 
 bamba is 15,135 feet, and Anta- 
 runga, 16,196 feet high ; while 
 Assuay, in the Ecuadorian An- 
 des, is 12,385 feet ; and Quindiu, 
 in the Colombian Andes, is 
 11,500 feet high. 
 
 Geologically, the Andes are by no means a unity. It 
 is certain that the elevation of the different parts must 
 have occurred at various times. The great bulk of the 
 mountain masses is composed of stratified rocks, largely 
 made up of materials which were deposited at the sea- 
 bottom. It is believed that as a whole the formative 
 sediment must have accumulated on subsiding areas. 
 Upheaval, denudation, and direct volcanic action have 
 been the other leading factors in the building and shap- 
 ing of the mountains. The mineral wealth is great and 
 varied. Volcanic action is still very active in Ecuador, 
 but less so in the other parts of the chain. The Chilian 
 volcanoes are numerous, but are seldom very active. 
 Earthquakes occur frequently all along the coast from 
 Caracas to Chiloe. Gold, silver, copper, mercury, and 
 other metals abound in nearly every part of the Andes. 
 The silver product is still very large. Further details 
 of the mining industries of the Andes are given under 
 the names of the various countries traversed by the 
 range. 
 
 The effect of the Andes in drying the atmospheric 
 
8 ANDES. 
 
 currents that flow over them from the eastward, and the 
 almost uniform desert character of most of the Pacific 
 slope, are noticed in the article America. The awful 
 canons and chasms of the Andes, the sublime height of 
 their peaks, the difficult and dangerous character of the 
 passes, the rich and varied vegetable life of the eastern 
 slope, and the steep descent of the generally barren 
 Pacific slope, all give elements of great interest to this 
 great range. 
 
015 811 200