Lothrop, Samuel Kirkland | 2022-06-10

eng: The Pacific coast of South America and the adjacent islands, from the Isthmus of Panama to Cape Horn, extends sixty degrees from north to south, and embraces a shore line of many thousand miles. Al the western edge of the continent exhibits distinct types of topography and great changss in climate, it may be divided into several contrasting areas. Briefly, Colombia and Ecuador have tropical forests, heavy rainfall, and rivers navigable in small boats. Peru and the northern third of Chile, on the contrary, present almost treeless coastal deserts. Further south, in the Araucanian section of Chile, there again is heavy rainfall accompanied by luxuriant forest and turbulent rivers. Lastly, the Magellanic region is nasked by innumerable bays and islands covered with dense vegetation, but there are few rivers owing to the proximity of the Cordilleras to the sea. We emphasize these changes in the nature of the South American coast because they called for different kinds of ocean-going boats among the aboriginal inhabitants. Not only were the materials available for .nstruction limited by the climate of the locality, but the stage of culture reached by the natives, as well as their navigational requirements, were similarly affec.d. Nevertheless, the basic types of boass used on the waters of the Pacific were not numerous when we consider the great length of the coast.