7 ft.). The range is covered with vegetation and its
Pacific slopes are precipitous and humid. The Cordillera de Baudo,
which becomes the coast range above lat. 4 deg. N., is the southern
extension of the low mountainous chain forming the backbone of the
Isthmus of Panama, and may be considered the southern termination of
the great North American system. Its elevations are low and heavily
wooded. It divides on the Panama frontier, the easterly branch forming
the watershed between the Atrato and the rivers of eastern Panama, and
serving as the frontier between the two republics. The passes across
these ranges are comparatively low, but they are difficult because of
the precipitous character of their Pacific slopes and the density of
the vegetation on them. The Eastern Cordillera is in some respects the
most important of the three branches of the Colombian Andes. Its
general elevation is below that of the Central Cordillera, and it has
few summits rising above the line of perpetual snow, the highest being
the Sierra Nevada de Cocui, in lat. 6 deg. 30' N. Between Cocui and the
southern frontier of Colombia there are no noteworthy elevations
except the so-called Paramo de Suma Paz near Bogota, the highest point
of which is 14,146 ft. above sea-level, and the Chita _paramo_, or
range, north-east of Bogota (16,700 ft.). Between the 5th and 6th
parallels the range divides into two branches, the eastern passing
into Venezuela, where it is called the Cordillera de Merida, and the
northern continuing north and north-east as the Sierra de Perija and
the Sierra de Oca, to terminate at the north-eastern extremity of the
Goajira peninsula. The culminating point in the first-mentioned range
is the Cerro Pintado (11,800 ft.). West of this range, and lying
between the 10th parallel and the Caribbean coast, is a remarkable
group of lofty peaks and knotted ranges known as the Sierra Nevada de
Santa Marta, the highest snow-crowned summit of which rises 17,389 ft.
above the sea according to some, and 16,728 according to other
authorities. This group of mountains, covering an approximate area of
6500 sq. m., lies immediately on the coast, and its highest summits
were long considered inaccessible. It stands detached from the lower
ranges of the Eastern Cordillera, and gives the impression that it is
essentially independent. The eastern Cordillera region is noteworthy
for its