Exploring South America

The traveler from Valparaiso to Santjago is well permitted an overview of the country. The Chilean country may be briefly called that. Along its whole length the narrow strip of land which forms Chile is enclosed and bounded by two mountain ranges. To the west, and forming the coast of the Pacific, it is the so-called Cordillera de la Costa, a range of mountains, varying in height from 800 to 1200 feet, and will seldom exceed the height of 3000 feet. Sometimes falling in gentler curves towards the sea, that range of mountains rises mostly in steep craggy banks, on which a thundering surf breaks. It is too frequently wooded towards the south on the summit and towards the land, but in the northern part of Chile it is almost entirely bare and rugged. However, even there, where the blazing sun scarcely allows any vegetation to appear on the heights, there are still those ravines which I have already mentioned, such as at Valparaiso, clad in lush greenery, to which solitary slender palms and mighty vines lend a tropical appearance.