ernips, not more remarkable for the immensity of its ast elevation of its plains. The highest cultivated axceeds 2,000 feet above the level of the sea, but America is from 6,000 to 10,000 feet in altitude. tits are found at the elevation of 9,000, and in Mexico quare miles is from 6,000 to 8,000 feet above the vinch rivals the celebrated pass of Mount Cenis or Mount . Ist interminable plains, too, stretch through the wide America, at a very slight elevation above the sea. Those Mazonia and Buenos Ayres, may be mentioned as examples, usist of extensive savannas, varied in a few places with clumps so extremely level that the space of 800 square leagues cuts any inequality. versity of surface gives rise to a corresponding variety in the ad vegetable productions of this continent; and all species, from and other majestic trees which adorn the sultry regions of the torrid ehe last lichen, which creeps beneath the eternal snows that cover Smits of the Andes, are met with in these regions. In ascending ne shore to the upper ridges, the plants peculiar to the different disof the globe appear in regular succession. At an elevation of from 5,000 feet, cassava, cacao, maize, plantains, indigo, sugar, cotton coffee are produced. Both cotton and coffee also grow at a much er elevation, and sugar is successfully cultivated in the valley of Quito. om 6,000 to 9,000 feet in elevation, the climate is best suited to the prouction of all kinds of European grain. Within these limits, too, are to be and the oak, and various other species of forest trees; but beyond the height of 9,000 feet large trees of all kinds begin to disappear, except dwarf paes, which are found nearly 13,000 feet above the level of the sea, and About 2,000 feet below the lower limit of perpetual snow. The space between 13,000 and 15,000 feet, grasses clothe the ground, and from this latter height, the lichen is the only plant which creeps on the rocks, and seems to penetrate under the snow. The following is a table of the culminating points of the mountains of South America: Peak of Tolima. Silla de Caraccas... 2. THE MOUNTAINS OF BRAZIL....Summit of the Chain of Mantiquera......8,421 Itacolumi, Sierra do Espinhaco... Sierra de Piedada, near Sabara. 44 de Frio..... Tingua, near Rio Janeiro.................. The MAJESTIC RIVERS OF SOUTH AMERICA leave far behind them those of the Old World, both in the length of their course and the breadth of their streams. Owing to the peculiar construction of South America, no rivers of any magnitude flow from it into the Pacific Ocean, the Andes forming a continued barrier along the whole western coast. From a similar reason no important stream enters the Atlantic between 120 and 320 south latitude. More than three-fourths of all the waters which fall on this continent are carried to the ocean through the channels of the Orinoco, Amazon, and La Plata. The ORINOCO, from its position, will claim attention first. It rises in latitude 50 north, and longitude 65° west. Its course is very crooked, somewhat resembling the figure 6. For the first 300 miles it runs from north to south. It then turns, and proceeds in a westerly direction for several hundred miles, to San Fernando, where it receives from the south-west the Guaviari, a very considerable river. Here it turns northward, and, after receiving the Vichada from the west, pours its waters down the cataracts of Atures. These cataracts are 740 miles from the mouth of the Orinoco, and 760 from its source, and completely obstruct the navigation. At the distance of ninety miles below the cataracts, the river is enlarged by the junction of the Meta, one of its principal tributaries, which is 500 miles long, and navigable 370 miles. About ninety miles below the mouth of the Meta, the Orinoco receives from the west the Apure, a large and deep river, 520 miles long, having numerous and wide-spreading branches, and is more rapid than the Orinoco, into which it empties its waters by many mouths. After receiving the Apure it turns, and, running about 400 miles in an easterly direction, divides into many branches, and discharges its waters into the ocean by fifty mouths, the two most distant of which are 180 miles apart. Only seven, however, are navigable, and but one of them, the southern, called the Ship's Mouth, for vessels of more than 200 tons. the rivers which rise on the southern declivity of the chain of Venezuela, and on the eastern declivity of the Andes, between the parallels of 20 and 90 north latitude, are tributaries of the Orinoco. It thus forms the channel which conveys to the ocean the waters of an immense basin, extending from east to west about 1,000 miles, and from north to south, in many parts, between 5 and 600. All The AMAZON, the largest river in America, rises in Peru, between two ridges of the Andes, in about latitude 16 south, under the name of the Apurimac, and, after running in a northerly direction through five degrees ner branches, and forms the Ucayale. The are, and unites with the Tunguragua, and forms is in a direction a little north of east, completely und discharges its waters under the equator by a - ter a course of more than 4,000 miles. The tide und the river is navigable to the very foot of the Andes. tenes of the Amazon from the south, are 1. The Tunguive, already mentioned. 2. The Madeira, the principal ne Amazon, rises in Bolivia, near Potosi, about 20° south ...passes, under various names, into Brazil, where it is joined by her rivers, and makes its way in a north-easterly direction to ...a, into which it falls, after a course of more than 2,000 miles. focantins, which discharges itself into the Amazon near its mouth, otherly course of about 1,500 miles. Its principal tributary, the ...y, rises between the parallels of 180 and 19° south latitude. The rincipal tributaries of the Amazon from the south, are Jutay, the AAV, and the Puros, which join it between the Ucayale and the Madeira; the Tapajos and Xingu, which join it between the Madeira and the Tocantins. The principal rivers which fall into the Amazon on its northa bank, beginning in the west, are the Napo, the Putumayo or Ica, the Yapura and the Negro. The Negro is remarkable for sending off a branch towards the north, which, under the name of Cassiquiari, falls into the Orinoco, and thus unites the Amazon with that mighty stream. All the rivers which rise on the eastern declivity of the Andes, between the parallels of 20 north latitude and 20° of south latitude, are tributaries of the Amazon. Not a single brook rises in all this distance which does not contribute to swell its waters. The basin of the Amazon is thus more than 1,500 miles long, from north to south; from east to west, it is more than 2,000; and its area may be estimated at 3,000,000 square miles, or nearly half of South America. The RIO DE LA PLATA is a very broad stream, formed by the Uruguay and the Parana, which unite near latitude 34° south. It is more properly the mouth or estuary of these two rivers, as it is nowhere less than 30 miles broad, and at its entrance into the ocean, between the parallels of 35° and 36, expands to the width of 150 miles. The Uruguay, the eastern branch of the Plata, rises on the western declivity of the Andes of Brazil, and pursues a south-westerly course of more than 1,000 miles, for the last 200 of which it is navigable. The Parana, or western branch of the Plata, is formed by the union of several small streams, which rise also on the western declivity of the Andes of Brazil, between 18 and 21° south latitude. It runs on the whole in a south-westerly direction about 1,000 miles, till it receives the Paraguay from the north, when it turns to the south, and after a further course of 500 miles, joins the Uruguay. The Paraguay is formed by several streams, which rise between the parallels of 13 and 14° south latitude, near the head waters of the Tapajos, the Xingu, the Tocantins, and other tributaries of the Amazon. It pursues a southerly course through nearly 14 degrees of latitude, and joins the Parana under the parallel of 27° south latitude. The Pilcomayo and the Vermejo, the principal western branches of the Paraguay, both rise in the Andes, between 200 and 23° south latitude, and pursue a south-easterly course of more than 1,000 miles. The Saladillo is a considerable stream, which rises in the interior of the Argentine province of Salta, and joins the Rio de la Plata 50 miles from its mouth, after a south-easterly course of several hundred miles. The valley of La Plata thus includes the extensive country bounded west by the Andes of Chili, and north and east by the high lands and mountains of Brazil, embracing the whole Argentine Republic and the southern part of the great empire of Brazil, and covering an area of about 1,200,000 square miles. To complete the physical description of South America, we shall now proceed to consider the various animals that live at different heights in the Cordillera of the Andes, or at the foot of those mountains. From the level of the sea to 3,078 feet, in the region of the palms and the scitaminea, we meet with the sloth, which lives on the Cecropia peltata; the boa, and the crocodile, which sleep or drag along their frightful mass at the foot of the Conocarpus and the Anacardium caracoli. It is there that the Cavia capybara hides himself in the marshes that are covered with the Heliconia and the Bambusa, to withdraw himself from the pursuit of the carnivorous animals. The Tanagra, the Crax, and the Parrots, perched on the Caryocar and the Lecythis, mingle the brilliancy of their plumage with that of the flowers and leaves. It is there that we see the glittering of the Elater noctilucus, which feeds on the sugar-cane; and there, too, the Curculio palmarum lives in the heart of the cocoa-nut tree. The forests of these burning regions resound with the howlings of the alouates, and other sapajous. The jaguar, the Felis concolar, and the black tiger of the Orinoco, still more sanguinary than the jaguar, there relentlessly chase the little stag, (Cervus Mexicanus,) the Cavias, and the ant-eaters, whose tongue is fixed to the end of their sternum. The air of these lower regions, especially in the woods and on the banks of the rivers, swarms with those countless myriads of the mosquito, a fly which renders a large and beautiful portion of the globe almost uninhabitable. To the mosquito is added the Oestrus humanus, which deposits its eggs in the skin of the human body, and occasions painful swellings; the Acari, which furrows the skin; venomous spiders, and ants and termites, whose formidable industry destroys the labors and the books of the inhabitants. Still higher, from 3,078 to 6,156 feet, in the region of the arborescent ferns, we seldom meet with the jaguar, never with the boa, alligator, or lamentin, and rarely with the monkey; but the tapir, the Sus tajassu, and the Felis pardalis, are there numerous. Man, the monkey, and the dog, are there incommoded by an infinite multitude of the Pulex penetrans, which is less abundant on the plains. From 6,156 to 9,234 feet, in the higher region of the cinchona, we no longer meet with the monkey or the Mexican stag; but we now find the tiger cat, the bear, and the great stag of the Andes. Lice abound in the Andes at this height. From 9,234 to 12,300 feet, is found the small species of lion, which, in the Quichua language, is known by the name of the puma; the lesser bear, with a white forehead; and some of the weasel tribe. Humboldt has often seen, with astonishment, the colibri, or humming-bird, at the height of the Peak of Teneriffe. The region of the grasses, from 12,300 to 15,400 feet of elevation, is inhabited by flocks of the vicuna guanaco, and alpaco, in Peru, and the chili-hueque, in Chili. These quadrupeds, which here represent the genus Camelus of the old continent, have not extended themselves to Brazil, because, during their journey, they must necessarily have descended into regions that were too hot for them to exist in. The llama is only met with in the domestic The vicuna prefers those places in particular where snow occasionyuls. Notwithstanding the persecution which it has experienced, locks of 300 or 400 in number are still to be seen, at the sources of the River Amazon. This animal likewise abounds near Huancavelica, in the environs of Cuzco, and in the province of Cochabamba, near the valley of The Rio Cocatages. They are found then wherever the summit of the Andes rises higher than the summit of Mont Blanc. The inferior limit of perpetual snow is the higher boundary, as it were, of organized beings; some of the lichens even grow under the snow itself; but the condor, (Vultur gryphus,) is the only animal which inhabits these solitudes. Humboldt has seen them sailing through the air at the immense height of. 21,100 feet. Some sphinxes and flies were observed at the height of 19,10 feet, and appeared to him to have been involuntarily carried into these regions by ascending currents of air. To this distribution of the animal kingdom, according to the elevation of the country, might be joined a sketch of the purely geographical limits which certain animals never pass. It is a remarkable phenomenon that the alpaco, viçuna and guanaco, follow the whole chain of the Andes, from Chili to the 9 of south latitude, and that none should afterwards be observed north of this point. The writers of the country attribute this fact to the herb ichos, which these animals prefer to every other kind of food, but which they do not meet with beyond the above limits. The ostrich of Buenos Ayres presents an analogous phenomenon. This great bird is not found on the vast plains of the Parexis, where, nevertheless, the vegetation appears to resemble that of the Pampas. Perhaps, however, the saline plants may not exist there. South America, though as yet an almost uninhabited desert, has been appropriated by its several nations. The following distinct political divisions are recognized: 12. FRENCH GUAYANA: colonies belonging to those nations. 13. DUTCH 14. Patagonia and Terra del Fuego: as yet only inhabited by hordes of wild Indians. THE REPUBLIC OF NEW GRENADA. NEW GRENADA, formerly a vice-royalty of Spain, and also one of the states comprised in the late Republic of Colombia, extends from 120 N. to 20 S. latitude, and is bounded on the north by the Caribbean Sea and a part of Venezuela, from which it is divided by the central chain of the Andes; on the south by Equador, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean and the |