Having Now Arrived At The Northern Extremity Of The Cordilleras, Comprehended Between Cape Horn And The Isthmus Of Panama, We

Shall proceed to notice the loftiest summits of the three chains which separate in the knot of the mountains of

Socoboni, and the ridge of Roble (latitude 1 degree 50 minutes to 2 degrees 20 minutes). I begin with the most eastern chain, that of Timana and Suma Paz, which divides the tributary streams of the Magdalena and the Meta: it runs by the Paramos de Chingasu, Guachaneque, Zoraca, Toquillo (near Labranza Grande), Chita, Almorsadero, Laura, Cacota, Zumbador and Porqueras, in the direction of the Sierra Nevada de Merida. These Paramos indicate ten partial risings of the back of the Cordilleras. The declivity of the eastern chain is extremely rapid on the eastern side, where it bounds the basin of the Meta and the Orinoco; it is widened on the west by the spurs on which are situated the towns of Santa Fe de Bogota, Tunja, Sogamoso and Leiva. They are like tablelands fixed to the western declivity, and are from 1300 to 1400 toises high; that of Bogota (the bottom of an ancient lake) contains fossil bones of the mastodon, in the plain called (from them) the Campo de Gigantes, near Suacha.

The intermediary, or central chain, runs east of Popayan, by the high plains of Mabasa, the Paramos of Guanacas, Huila, Savelillo, Iraca, Baraguan, Tolima, Ruiz and Herveo, towards the province of Antioquia. In 5 degrees 15 minutes of latitude this chain, the only one that shows traces of recent volcanic fire, in the summits of Sotara and Purace, widens considerably towards the west, and joins the western chain, which we have called the chain of Choco, because the platiniferous land of that province lies on the slope opposite the Pacific ocean.

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