civil war the republic was dissolved in 1838. The progress of the country has since been retarded by frequent wars and revolutions. In 1907 a meeting of delegates from all the states was held in Washington, U. S. A., and an agreement was made that all differences which may occur shall be submitted to a peace-court at Costa Rica.
South America. It is important to remember that South America is southeast of North America. The entire southern continent lies east of Florida, and three-fourths of its western coast lies east of New York. Its easternmost point is nearer to Africa than is its northern coast to New Orleans. Its length is 4,500 miles, greatest breadth 3,200 miles, area 7,300,000 square miles and population about 40,000,000. It is a triangle with its base on the north, and dwindling to a point at Cape Horn on the south. Its coast-line is for the most part unbroken, the important inlets being on the north the Gulf of Venezuela, on the northeast the mouth of the Amazon, on the east the Bay of All Saints, Bay of Rio de Janeiro, the mouth of the Plata, Bahia Blanca, Gulf of San Matias and Bay of San George; on the west line there is no important break in the coast-line, but several small bays which afford harbors.
Surface and Drainage. A commanding physical feature of the continent is the mighty Andean Mountain range which traverses its entire length on the western coast, with a mean height of 12,000 feet, a breadth varying from 40 to over 300 miles, covering more than one million square miles, numbering scores of active volcanoes, and towering at Mt. Aconcagua to 24,000 feet, the highest point on the western hemisphere. In the heart of the continent it divides into two ranges, inclosing the high plateau of Bolivia, the second largest and most elevated table land in the world, with an elevation of 13,000 feet and an area of more than 40,000 square miles. This tremendous mountain wall dominates the rainfall and largely influences the climate and the productive value of almost the entire area of the continent. Lower lateral ranges run through Venezuela and the Guianas, and in eastern Brazil are several parallel ranges with intervening highlands.
Within these bordering mountain ranges the center of the continent is a vast region of plains and valleys, sloping up to the Andes and stretching down through the rich pampas of Argentina to the gravelly plains of Patagonia.
The continent is drained by three vast river systems, the Amazon, the Orinoco and the Plata. As drainage systems and navigable water-ways they have no parallel, affording over 50,000 miles of navigable waters. The Amazon discharges more water than Asia's eight largest rivers. In its valley of 2,500,000 sq. miles is a vast, almost impenetrable forest. It is connected with the Orinoco indirectly by a sometimes navigable channel. The Plata system, in its northernmost feeders, lies but three miles from southern tributaries of the Amazon, and a canal would provide unbroken inland navigation from the mouth of the Amazon to the mouth of the Plata. Another, around rapids in the Orinoco, would pass boats from Venezuela to Uruguay. These rivers form nature's highroads from the Atlantic to the Andes. The great lake is Titicaca in Bolivia, 12,645 feet above tidewater and about 1,800 miles in area.
Climate and Rainfall. South America experiences less variation in temperature than North America. Three fourths of its area, including the most fertile districts, lie within the tropics, about one fourth in the temperate zone. The tropic regions east of the Andes receive heavy rains in the long wet season, and have high temperatures, but the western coast between Panama and Chile is a burning desert. The Andes on their sunset slopes make climates of their own, differences in altitudes, even in the tropics, creating warm, temperate and frigid zones.
It is important to note that while in North America the heaviest rainfall is on and near the sea coast, in South America it is heaviest in the interior of the continent, remote from the sea. The trade winds carry the warm moisture-laden air inland from the Atlantic, until, cooled by contact with the foot-hills of the Andes, heavy precipitation occurs, and, passing on, the remaining vapor falls in snow on the summits of the range, the winds falling on the western slope cool and dry. Thus the western coast-line north of latitude 30° is practically rainless, there being points where no rain has fallen for many years, while on the eastern slopes of the Andes the rains are tremendous. The rivers of the western coast are small shallow streams, while east of the Andes the rivers become streams of great volume near their source, and furnish commercial highways thousands of miles inland from the sea.
Animal and Vegetable Life. The variations in elevation and rainfall result in a wide range of products. In the tropical valleys, under the influence of heat and moisture, vegetation is riotously luxuriant. Forests, especially in the Amazon valley, are so dense as to be almost impenetrable. A scientist who camped in this region relates that he found it necessary to have the area about his hut cut over at frequent intervals, to escape being enveloped in the rank, upspringing vegetation. The .forests are rich in rubber and ornamental woods, including rosewood, satinwood, cedar and mahogany; besides valuable dye-woods. Corn, potatoes and tobacco are indigenous, as are agave, arrowroot, cinchona, cocoa, pineapple and tapioca. The forests teem
