uge central
watershed for rivers flowing east to the Amazon, west to the Pacific,
and north to the Caribbean Sea. The higher plateaus are called
_paramos_, cold, windswept, mist-drenched deserts, lying between the
elevations of 10,000 and 15,000 ft., which are often the only passes
over the Cordilleras, and yet are almost impassable because of their
morasses, heavy mists, and cold, piercing winds. The _paramos_ of Cruz
Verde (11,695 ft.) and Pasto, and the volcanoes of Chiles (15,900
ft.), Chumbul (15,715 ft.), and Pasto (13,990 ft.) are prominent
landmarks of this desolate region. North of this great plateau the
Andes divides into three great ranges, the Western, Central and
Eastern Cordilleras. The Central is the axis of the system, is
distinguished by a line of lofty volcanoes and _paramos_, some of
which show their white mantles 2000 to 3000 ft. above the line of
perpetual snow (approx. 15,000 ft. in this latitude), and is sometimes
distinguished with the name borne by the republic for the time being.
This range runs in a north-north-east direction and separates the
valleys of the Magdalena and Cauca, terminating in some low hills
south-west of El Banco, a small town on the lower Magdalena. The
principal summits of this range are Tajumbina (13,534 ft.), Pan de
Azucar (15,978 ft.), Purace (15,420 ft.), Sotara (15,420 ft.), Huila
(over 18,000 ft.), Tolima (18,432 ft.), Santa Isabel (16,700 ft.),
Ruiz (18,373 ft.), and Mesa de Herveo (18,300 ft.). The last named
affords a magnificent spectacle from Bogota, its level top which is 5
or 6 m. across, and is formed by the rim of an immense crater, having
the appearance of a table, down the sides of which for more than 3000
ft. hangs a spotless white drapery of perpetual snow. The Western
Cordillera branches from the main range first and follows the coast
very closely as far north as the 4th parallel, where the San Juan and
Atrato rivers, though flowing in opposite directions and separated
near the 5th parallel by a low transverse ridge, combine to interpose
valleys between it and the Cordillera de Baudo, which thereafter
becomes the true coast range. It then forms the divide between the
Cauca and Atrato valleys, and terminates near the Caribbean coast. The
general elevation of this range is lower than that of the others, its
culminating points being the volcano Munchique (11,850 ft.)and Cerro
Leon (10,84