The earth and its inhabitants .. . ay before the end of the century, lies south of Aconcagua, but bears nospecial name, being simply called the Cumbre, or Summit. It, however,occasionally takes the name of the Argentine town of Uspallata, and is also some- PHYSICAL FEATURES OF CHILI. 415 times called the Cumbre Iglesia, to distinguish it from another 500 feet higher,which lies farther south, and which couriers often follow in winter because freefrom snow. According to Giissfeldt, the lowest and most frequented pass, wherethe railway tunnel is to be cut, stands at an elevation of 12,340 feet. A


The earth and its inhabitants .. . ay before the end of the century, lies south of Aconcagua, but bears nospecial name, being simply called the Cumbre, or Summit. It, however,occasionally takes the name of the Argentine town of Uspallata, and is also some- PHYSICAL FEATURES OF CHILI. 415 times called the Cumbre Iglesia, to distinguish it from another 500 feet higher,which lies farther south, and which couriers often follow in winter because freefrom snow. According to Giissfeldt, the lowest and most frequented pass, wherethe railway tunnel is to be cut, stands at an elevation of 12,340 feet. A numberof casuchas, or shelters, where the navvies keep their tools, and where thewayfarers take refuge from snowstorms, have been constructed at intervalsalong the route, which is not difficult, rising in a series of terraces to the highestpoint. Above the border range between the Chilian slope and the Cuyo, theArgentine Piedmont, rises Mount Juncal (a name common enough in Chilian Fi^. 157.—Casucha del Poetlllo, on the geographical nomenclature), which, ulthough fallingbelow 19,700 feef, is importantas the knot whence a lateral ridge raraities west and north-west to the ChacabucoPass (4,220 feet). Here is the northern limit of the great longitudinal plain of?Chili, where is situated Santiago, capital of the republic. South of Juncal follows snowy Tupungato, a mountain of volcanic origin20,286 feet high. At its southern base lies the Portillo de los Piuquenes Pass(13,780 feet), so named from the species of herbage clothing the flanks of theneighbouring hills and the shores of a lakelet on the Chilian slope. It also takes 41G SOUTH AMERICA—THE ANDES REGIONS. the name of Portezuelo San Jose, from the extinct San Jose? volcano (20,020 feet),rising to the south, with an enormous breached crater facing west. In 1843 anearthquake overthrew one of the neighbouring heights, filling the valley with achaos of rocks for a space of over three leagues. Maipo (17,070 feet) seem


Size: 1726px × 1448px
Photo credit: © The Reading Room / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1880, booksubjectgeography, bookyear18