soil, covered with verdure and foliage, is interrupted by innumerable heaths and deep clefts, still it is very aptly described by a philosopher who had occasion to examine this Cordillera. In ascending, says he, the rude and terrific mountains which look towards the South Sea, it cannot possibly occur to the human mind, that on thetr shoulders others of equal magnitude should rise, and that all of them should serve to shelter, in their common bosom, that happy country where Nature, in her most bountiful mood, or rather, in her prodigality, has, painted the image of terrestrialparadise[1].
The low world is situated, with the interposition of the chain of mountains, between the western branch and the ocean, which are distant from each other from ten to twenty leagues. It consists of a multitude of sloping plains, which, descending from this branch, from the Line to Tumbes, terminate in immense forests, and hence advance towards the borders of the ocean, as if with a design to limit its empire. The above plains are separated from each other by vallies, which, originating at the coast of the ocean, with a breadth of from three to eight leagues, take an eastern direction, being bounded on the north and on the south by a series of hills, which, augmenting in proportion as they enter Sierra, divide the western chain, occasionally cross the subsequent space, intersect the eastern chain, and terminate in the plains of the country of the Amazons, preserving a great resemblance to their origin[2].
