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the west, they are akin to the comparatively insig- 
nificant parallel ranges just noticed, being, if A. at 
all, merely A. in miniature. But to the east, the 
spurs deserve more consideration. They are two in 
number, the one branching off between the 33d and 
31st parallels, and the other between the 28th and 
24th, The former, called the Sierra de Cordova, 
advances like a promontory into the plains of Rio 
de La Plata, or Pampas, as they are more gener- 
ally denominated, as far as the 65th meridian; 
and the latter, called the Sierra de Salta, runs 
nearly as far to the east, and in a direction nearly 
parallel. 
Peruvian Andes.—This part of the chain, stretch- 
ing from lat. 24° S. to lat. 6° S.—a distance about 
the same as in the last paragraph—is perhaps the 
broadest of all the divisions of the A. Tt certainly 
contains the largest of the plateaus, the plateau of 
Bolivia. Between the 20th and 19th parallels, not 
far from the city of Potosi, the chain separates into 
two ranges, known as the East and West Cordilleras 
of Bolivia; and it is the reunion of these ranges, 
between the 15th and 14th parallels, that encloses 
the land-locked plateau of Titicaca, containing, as is 
said, 30,000 square miles, or an area equal to that of 
Ireland. TImmediately above this table-land, the 
united ranges in question constitute the mountain- 
group of Cuzco, which, in point of superficial extent, 
18 stated to be thrice as large as all Switzerland. 
About a degree further north, the chain again 
separates as before, reuniting also, as before, between 
the 11th and 10th parallels, so as to embrace the 
cities of Guanta and Guancavelica. Hardly have 
the two ranges reunited, when they mass them- 
selves into the table-land of Pasco, not quite 
half the size of that of Titicaca. Further to 
the north, the chain divides, not into two, butb 
into three ranges, which unite again, on the 
frontiers. of Ecuador, in the group of Loxa, about 
lat. 5° 8. 
Andes of Ecuador.—Immediately beyond the group 
of Loxa, between 4° and 3> of S. lat., the chain 
divides into two ranges, which, by again uniting in 
2° 27', form the valley of Cuenga; and immediately 
beyond this is the group of Assuay, with its table- 
land. Then another plateau of no great extent, 
and a short stretch of the undivided chain, lead 
to the vast table-land of Quito, which is said 
to be subdivided by low hills into five smaller 
plateaus, two to the east, and three to the west. 
Towards the north, the table-land of Quito is suec- 
ceeded by the group of Los Pastos, forming the 
extreme portion of the A. of Ecuador. 
Andes of New Qranada.—Beyond the city of 
Almaguer, the chain breaks off into two ranges, 
which never again join each other. The range on 
the west side remains undivided, till it disappears 
near the mouth of the Atrato, a little to the east of 
the Isthmus of Darien. But the range on the east, 
after massing itself into the group of Paramo de los 
Papas, breaks into two branches, which, as dis- 
tinguished from the range aforesaid on the west, are 
styled the Central and Eastern Cordilleras of New 
Granada. These two contain between them the 
upper waters of the Magdalena, the eastern separat- 
ing them from the basin of the Orinoco, and the 
central dividing them from that of the Cauca. 
Between them also they contain several considerable 
table-lands, the principal one being that of Santa 
Fé de Bogota. 
Height—Under this head must be treated separ- 
ately the plateaus, the most prominent mountains, 
and the passes—the altitudes of the lines of perpetual 
snow falling more naturally under the head of 
Climate. Here, as in the case of breadth, the chain 
will be followed from south to north. 
HEIGHT OF PLATEAUS. 
Feet. 
Table-land of Titicaca, . : : 12,700 
Group of Cuzco, . 4 : . . 8300 
Table-land of Pasco, . : 5 2 11,000 
" " Assua.y, . o . . 15,520 
" " Quito, . . . . 9,543 
" " BOgOtEL, . . . . 8,958 
The average height of these six colossal masses 
above the sea-level is thus 11,000 feet, or consider- 
ably more than 2 English miles. 
HEIGHT OF MOUNTAINS. 
Fuegian Andes— Feet. 
Cape Horn, . 5 4 . § . 3,000 
Sarmiento, ; : 4 : ; 6,800 
Patagonian Andes— 
Yanteles, ; : . : : . 8,030 
Corcobado, " : . . . 7,510 
Minchinadom, . 5 : : . 8,000 
Clilian Andes— 
Antuco, . . : . : ’ 13,000 
Aconcagua, . . . . . . 22,296 
Descabezado, . J . . . 12,102 
Nevado de Chorolque, . : : . 16,546 
Bolivian Andes— 
Cerro de Potosi, . : . : 16,040 
Gualtieri, 5 : . . : . 22,000 
Nevado de Chuquibamba, . ; : 21,000 
" Illimani, ; . : A 250 
" Sorata.. s ; ; : 21,290 
Analache, . : : 5 : . 18,500 
Peruvian Andes— 
Arequipa, . : . . . E 20,320 
Andes of Heuador— 
Chimborazo, . : , % : . 21,420 
Cotopaxi, . : : 5 . ! 18,887 
Antisana, . : : - 4 <1987 
Pichincha, . : . : ; A 15,922 
Cayambe, . 2 : 19,648 
Andes of New Granada— 
Pic de Tolima, . . ¢ . : 18,314 
This last-named mountain is said to be the only one 
in New Granada that rises above the limit of per- 
petual snow. All the others appear to fall short of 
that line. 
HEIGHT OF PASSES. 
Chilian Andes— Feet. 
La Cumbre, 5 : 4 : ] 12,454 
Portillo, : ; : ; : . 14,365 
Bolivian Andes— 
Potosi, . . : : : . 14,320 
Las Gualillas, : % ; % . 14,830 
Peruvian Andes— 
Alto de Jacaibamba, . . ; : 15,135 
Lachagual, . : . < . . 15,480 
Antarangra, . . . : : 16,199 
Andes of Heuador— 
Assuay, : 2 . 12,385 
Andes of New Granada— 
Quindiu, E : 11,500 
These passes will bear a comparison with the 
loftiest pinnacles in Europe. The last and lowest 
overtops the highest summit of the Pyrenees by 
332 feet ; while the last but two, that of Antarangra, 
which Herndon traversed, soars 389 feet above Mont 
Blanc, the culminating peak of the Alps. 
The passes across the A. present a vast variety 
of surfaces and levels. They appear to skirt, as often 
  
as practicable, the mountain-torrents; and,awhen 
239