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388 A HISTORY OF CHILE north, rain seldom falls ; in the central provinces it sometimes rains three or four days in succession and then follows two or three weeks of pleasant weather. In the south it will often rain for nine or ten days in succession, but the storms are not accompanied with high winds or hail, and thunder is seldom heard. Snow falls only in the Andes, which are rendered nearly impassable by it from April to November. Oc- casionally there is a light fall in the country bordering upon the mountains, and in the interior provinces there are August frosts with chilly nights. Heavy dews fall during the spring, summer and autumn, and to a certain extent, supply the want of rain. Fogs are not infrequent on the coast; the north winds bring rain, the south winds clear sky; there are seldom tornadoes. There are one hundred and twenty-five rivers in Chile, nearly half of which flow directly into the sea. They form a vast natural system of irrigation, bringing the melting snows of the mountains down into the valleys. Eight or ten of them are navigable for some distance, as the Maule and the Biobio, the latter being over two miles in breadth. As Chile is merely the western slope of the Andes these rivers are all short and rapid, the waters shallow and broad, the banks low, the beds rocky. This fact, with the general topography of the country, renders irrigation a simple matter. Not only is Chile abundantly supplied with rivers, there are also many lakes, such as Bucalemu, Caguil, Borjeruca which are brackish; Ridaguel, Aculeu, Ta- guatagua, Laquen or Villarica, Nahuelguapi, and many others, beautiful fresh-water lakes, some of which, as Villarica and Nahuelguapi, are from seventy to eighty miles in circumference. In the southern provinces there are many small fresh-water lakes. In the southern part of Chile immense crops of wheat