coast are more sharply defined and enclose deeper valleys, where the
cultivation of the soil becomes possible, at first through irrigation
and then with the aid of light periodical rains. The slopes of the
Andes are precipitous, the general surface is rough, and in the north
the higher ground and coast are still barren. Beginning with the
province of Aconcagua the coast elevations crystallize into a range of
mountains, the Cordillera Maritima, which follows the shore line south
to the province of Llanquihue, and is continued still farther south by
the mountain range of Chiloe and the islands of the western coast,
which are the peaks of a submerged mountain chain. Lying between this
coast range and the Andes is a broad valley, or plain, extending from
the Aconcagua river south to the Gulf of Ancud, a distance slightly
over 620 m. with an average width of about 60 m. It is sometimes
called the "Vale of Chile," and is the richest and most
thickly-populated part of the republic. It is a highly fertile region,
is well watered by numerous streams from the Andes, has a moderate
rainfall, and forms an agricultural and grazing region of great
productiveness. It slopes toward the south, and its lower levels are
filled with lakes and with depressions where lakes formerly existed.
It is an alluvial plain for the greater part, but contains some sandy
tracts, as in Nuble and Arauco; in the north very little natural
forest is found except in the valleys and on the slopes of the
enclosing mountain ranges, but in the south, where the rainfall is
heavier, the plain is well covered with forest. South of 41 deg. S. the
country is mountainous, heavily-forested and inhospitable. There are
only a few scattered settlements within its borders, and a few nomadic
tribes of savages eke out a miserable existence on the coast. The
deeply-indented coast line is filled with islands which preserve the
general outline of the continent southward to the Fuegian archipelago,
the outside groups forming a continuation of the Cordillera Maritima.
The heavy and continuous rainfall throughout this region, especially
in the latitude of Chiloe, gives rise to a large number of rivers and
lakes. Farther south this excessive precipitation is in the form of
snow in the Cordilleras, forming glaciers at a comparatively low level
which in places discharge into the inlets and bays of the sea. The
ext