In considering this table, and beginning from the south,
we observe, that through the first twelve degrees, the height
of the snow-line rises only a little more than 2000 feet. In
this space the climate and productions of the country are in
many respects very uniform. In the succeeding nine degrees
the rise is no less than nine thousand feet. Before any one
pronounces this to be impossible, let him reflect well that
the height of the snow-line very much depends on the heat
of summer. In Chiloe no fruit, excepting apples and strawberries,
comes to perfection; it is even oftentimes necessary
to carry the barley and corn into the houses to be ripened :*
on the other hand, in central Chile, even the sugar-cane f
has been cultivated out of doors, and during a long summer
of seven months the sky is seldom clouded, and rain never
falls. The island of Chiloe, as well as the neighbouring maintrem
e v a ria tio n . I w a s to ld , tlm t d u r in g o n e rem a rk a b ly d ry a n d lo n g
sum m e r, a ll th e sn ow d is a p p e a re d from A co n c a g u a . N o t b e in g a t th e
tim e aw a re o f t h e e x tr a o rd in a ry e le v a tio n o f th is m o u n ta in (2 3 ,0 0 0 ) , I d id
n o t c lo se ly c ro s s -q u e s tio n m y in fo rm e rs . I t m u s t b e r em em b e re d th a t
ev en in o rd in a ry sum m e rs th e sk y is g e n e ra lly c lo u d le s s fo r s ix o r sev en
m o u th s , t h a t n o fre sh sn ow falls, a n d t h a t th e a tm o s p h e re is excessively
d ry . I t m.ay b e a sk e d w h e th e r v a s t q u a n titie s o f sn ow w o u ld n o t, u n d e r th is
c o n d itio n o f c irc um s ta n c e s , b e e v a p o ra te d ? so t h a t i t m ig h t h e possible
t h a t a ll th e sn ow sh o u ld d is a p p e a r from a m o u n ta in w ith o u t th e tem p e ra tu
r e h a v in g ris e n a b o v e th e fre e z in g p o in t. M r. M ie rs (vol. i., p . 3 8 4 )
says h e p a s se d th e C o rd ille ra b y th e C um b r e P a s s o n M a y SOth, 1819,
“ w h e n n o t th e sm a lle s t v e s tig e o f sn ow w a s o b s e rv a b le in a n y p a r t o f
th e A n d e s .” Y e t A c o n c a g u a is in fu ll v iew in th e a p p ro a c h to th is pass.
M r. M ie rs, in a n o th e r p a r t (p . 3 8 3 ), m ak e s a g e n e ra l a s s e rtio n to th e
same e ffe c t.
J S e e M r. P e n t la n d ’s m o st in te r e s tin g p a p e r in th e G e o g ra p h . J o u rn a l,
re a d M a rc h 1835.
II J o u rn a l o f G e o g ra p h . Soc ., v o l. i., p . 165.
* F o r th is fa c t I m ay q u o te , as a d d itio n a l a u th o r ity , A g u e rro s D e s c rip c
ió n H is to r ia l d e l a P ro v in c ia d e C h ilo é , 1791, p . 94.
f M le rs ’s C h ile , v o l. i., p . 4 15. I t is s a id t h a t th e su g a r-c a n e g rew a t
In g e n io , la t. S 2 °-3 3 °, b u t n o t in su ffic ien t q u a n ti ty to m a k e th e m a n u fa
c tu re p ro fita b le . I n th e v a lley o f Q u illo ta , s o u th o f In g e n io , I saw
som e la rg e d a te p a lm -tre e s .
land, is concealed by one dense forest, dripinng with moisture,
and abounding with ferns and other plants that love a humid
atmosphere: while the soil of central Chile, where not irrigated,
is arid and nearly desert. These two countries, so
remarfcahly opposed to each other in every character, blend
together rather suddenly near Concepcion, in lat. 37°. I do
not doubt, the plain of perpetual snow undergoes an extraordinary
flexure in the district where the forest ceases ; for
trees indicate a rainy climate, and hence a clouded state of
atmosphere.*
From central Chile to Bolivia, a space of 16°, the rise of
the snow-line is only 2000 feet. If Bolivia possessed an
atmosphere as clear as that of Chile, the limit in all probability
would be even higher than the present 17,000. The
cause why the limit in the equatorial regions should be lower
than in a latitude seventeen degrees to the southward, I
leave to those to explain, who have more means of information
respecting the dryness and clouded state of the atmosphere
in the respective regions.
The presence of glaciers depends on the accumulation of a
large mass of snow, subject to some variations of temperature,
sufficient partially to thaw, and then reconsolidate the
* T h e a v e ra g e d e g re e o f a tm o s p h e ric tr a n s p a re n c y se em s to b e a m o s t
im p o r ta n t e lem e n t in d e te rm in in g th e c lim a te o f a n y p lac e . D r . R ic h a rd son
(R e p o r t to B r it. Assoc, fo r 1836, p . 131) h a s r em a rk e d th a t P ro fe s so r
L e s lie , from e x p e rim e n tin g o n th e effects o f r a d ia tio n o n ly in a n in su la r
c lim a te , d e d u c e d th e o r e tic a l in fe ren c e s r e s p e c tin g th e m e a n tem p e r a tu r e
o f th e y e a r, e x tr em e ly d iffe re n t from th e r e s u lts o b ta in e d u n d e r th e c le a r
a tm o s p h e re o f th e p o la r reg io n s. I a p p r e h e n d c e n tr a l C h ile w ill b e a r
c om p a riso n w ith a n y p a r t o f th e w o rld fo r th e c le a rn e s s o f its sk y , a n d
C h ilo e , fo r o n e o f a n o p p o s ite c o n d itio n ; th e r e fo r e w e s h o u ld n o t fee l
su rp ris e d , i f th e effects o f tw o su c h o p p o s ite c lim a te s a t first a p p e a r a n d
m a lo u s . T h e rem a rk a b le d iffe ren c e in th e h e ig h t o f th e sn ow -lin e , o n th e
o p p o s ite sid e s o f th e H im m a la y a , h a s b e e n e x p la in e d b y H um b o ld t a n d
J a c q u cm o n t, o n th e s am e p r in c ip le ; a n d in a l ik e m a n n e r , tlie d iffe re n c e
b e tw e e n th e h e ig h ts o n th e P y r e n e e s a n d o n C a u c a su s, th e l a t t e r m o u n ta
in s b e in g c h a ra c te r iz e d b y a c lim a te m o re e x c essiv e, th a n th a t o f th e
fo rm e r.
Mi)