ased in Great Britain. The exports
are more than double the imports. Most of the goods pass through the
Chilean port Antofagasto, or Mollendo, Peru. _La Paz_, _Oruro_, and
_Sucre_ are the chief cities.

The hypothetical state of Acre is situated in the angle where Bolivia,
Peru, and Brazil join. The rubber forests, together with the absence of
legal government, led to its existence. The government is wholly
insurrectionary, but it at least uses its powers to encourage the rubber
trade.

=Chile.=--This state comprises the narrow western slope of the Andes,
extending from the tropic of Capricorn to Cape Horn, a distance of about
three thousand miles. The resources of the state have been so skilfully
handled, that with the drawback of a very small proportion of cultivable
land, Chile is the foremost Andean state.

The cultivation of the ordinary crops is confined to the flood-plains of
the short rivers. These, as a rule, are from twenty to fifty miles long
and a mile or two in width. They are densely peopled and cultivated to
the limit. Between the river-valleys are long stretches of unproductive
land.

Within the valleys wheat, barley, fruit, and various food-stuffs are
grown. Of these there are not only enough for home consumption, but
considerable quantities are exported to Bolivia, Peru, and Ecuador. Much
of the cultivable land requires to be watered, and the system of
irrigation has been developed with extraordinary skill. The grazing
lands are extensive. In the northern part an excellent quality of merino
wool is produced; the greater part of the clip, however, is an ordinary
fibre. The cattle furnish a considerable amount of leather for export.

The conditions which have made the northern part a desert have also
given to the state its greatest resource--nitre.[63] The nitrate occurs
in the northern desert region. The crude salt is crushed and partly
refined at the mines, and carried by rail to the nearest port. The
working of the nitrate beds is largely carried on by foreign companies.
Nearly all the product is used as a fertilizer in Germany, France, and
Great Britain. Nitrate constitutes about two-thirds of the exports.
Iodine and bromine are also obtained from the nitrates, and the Chilean
product yields nearly all the world's supply.

Copper is extensively mined and, next to the nitrates, is the most
valuable product. Great Britain is the customer for the greater part.
Coal occurs in the southern part of