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394 ECUADOR are the bays of Santa Helena, Callo, Caracas, Mompiche, and Pailon. Mompiche bay is S. of Cape San Francisco, and Caracas S. of Cape Pasado. Point Santa Helena, a rocky pro- montory, is the most westerly land in the re- public ; and the whole coast from that point to Punta Galera, 350 m. northward, including the sinuosities, is of the same character as the promontory. Besides the Galapagos, which will be treated under that title, Ecuador pos- sesses numerous islands, most of which are in the immediate vicinity of the coast. The prin- cipal of these are Puna, at the mouth of the Ria de Guayaquil (the landing place of Pizarro in 1531 when on his way to conquer Peru), Santa Clara, La Plata, and Tumaco. Of the three ports, that of Guayaquil, sheltered by the island of Puna, is the most important ; it is one of the best on the Pacific, and monopolizes the maritime commerce of the republic. Es- meraldas, on the Rio Esmeraldas, has anchor- age for ships of small draft. Manta is now abandoned to coasters. No country in the world presents a more varied surface than that of Ecuador ; about nine tenths of it is com- posed of snow-clad mountains, dense forests, and vast llanos or savannas. To the east ex- tend interminable forests and immense plains, intersected by rivers, lagoons, and marshes, and interrupted by mountain ranges stretching from the Andes obliquely to the banks of the Amazon. To the west the country is covered with extensive forests, with less lofty moun- tains, and cut by rivers of lesser magnitude. The centre swells into two Cordilleras sepa- rated by a valley 300 m. long, with snow-cov- ered peaks, ranking among the loftiest of the earth. The valley is remarkable as being, next to the basin of Titicaca, the centre of the most ancient native civilization of America. The Andes enter the republic by the mountain knot of Loja, where they separate into two chains parallel to each other and to the coast, traversing the state in a N. N. E. direction, until the chains again unite in the mountain knot of Pasto, near the northern limit. At two points transverse ridges link the two parallel chains together, dividing the large valley into three smaller ones, named severally, commenc- ing at the south, Cuenca, Alausi and Ambato, and Quito. The first of these cross ridges oc- curs about lat. 2 27' S., and takes its name from the trachytic range of Asuay, which at- tains an elevation of 15,440 ft. ; and the sec- ond, the Alto de Chisinche, only 500 ft. above the surrounding plain, about lat. 40' 8. This latter ridge forms the Ecuadorian watershed between the Atlantic and Pacific. The eleva- tion of the valleys varies from 8,500 to 14,500 ft., that of Quito having a mean elevation of 9,540 ft. None of the mountains bordering the southern valley, Cuenca, reach the line of perpetual snow. The principal summits are comprised between lat. 2 27' S. and 1 N"., the eastern range, or Cordillera Oriental, main- taining the greatest general elevation, although Chimborazo, the culminating point of the sys- tem, 21,422 ft. above the sea, is in the Cordil- lera Occidental or western range. The other noteworthy peaks in the Cordillera Occidental are: Iliniza (17,380 ft.), Pichincha (15,924), Carihuairazo (15,920), Chiles (15,960), and Cumbal, about 1,500 ft. above the snow line, which in Ecuador is a little above 14,000 ft. The principal summits of the Cordillera Orien- tal are Cayambi (19,813 ft.), the only volcano on the globe immediately under the equator ; Sara Urcu or Supai Urcu (17,276 ft.), 35 m. E. of Quito, forming part of a ridge known by the name of Guamani; Antisana, 35 m. S. E. of Quito (about 19,200 ft.), Cotopaxi (about 19,- 500), Llanganate (18,639), Tunguaragua (16,- 424), Altar (17,126), and Sangay (16,138). No- where in the whole system of the Andes are more colossal mountains than those on either side of the valleys of Quito and Ambato, 2 8. and 15' N. of the equator. Many of these are volcanoes, a few being extinct, and the others in activity. The whole table land of Quito con- stitutes one vast volcanic hearth, the subter- ranean fire bursting sometimes from one and sometimes from another of the openings, which have generally been regarded as independent volcanoes. The country between the Andes and the Pacific is intersected by spurs detached from the western chain, and gradually sinking into low hills as they approach the coast, ex- cept the portion adjacent to the Ria de Guaya- quil, which is a plain several miles in extent, and so low as to be inundated during the flood. Swamps prevail also in this region. The Ama- zon, here called the Maratton, on the southern boundary, receives the waters of several trib- utaries taking their rise within the territory of Ecuador. The most important of these is the Napo, which, rising in the eastern declivities of Cotopaxi and Sincholagoa, holds a generally S. E. course through the plains of Oriente to its junction with the Amazon, a distance of about 600 m., receiving the Arajuno, Yasuni, Coca, Aguarico, Curaray, and other tributaries. It is navigable by steamers from its mouth to the confluence of the Coca, about 400 m. ; above that point the natives navigate it in canoes. Orellana, the first European who nav- igated the Amazon, embarked on the Coca, a few miles above its junction with the Napo. The Pastaza has a course of 540 m., about 270 of which are navigable by steamers, and 60 more by small craft ; it takes its rise in the same region as the Napo, and joins the Ama- zon in lat. 4 35' S., Ion. 76 35' W. The upper part of this river is called Patate. The San- tiago, flowing from the lakes Quinuas, Cajas, and Culebrillas, in the valley of Cuenca, main- tains first an easterly and afterward a southeast- erly course, and falls into the Maranon near the town of its own name, and in the vicinity of the falls of Manseriche ; its length is 500 m., and it may be navigated by steam for 300 m. ; it receives the waters of the Zamora and oth- er important streams. Besides the foregoing,