THE MONTANA produces rubber and various kinds of hardwood, but the development of this region progresses very slowly, owing to the undeveloped state of communications.
The weaving of " Panama " hats is carried on as a domestic industry in all parts of Ecuador, which is now the chief producer of this class of goods. The toquilla straw, from which the hats are made, is obtained from the shrub Carludovica palmata, which grows wild in the hot and humid regions of the Pacific coast and the Amazon basin.
Ecuador seems to contain considerable mineral resources, but so far mining operations have not met with much success.
The railway from Guayaquil, the port of Ecuador, to Quito, its capital, recently completed, will probably bring about considerable changes in the economy of the country. It will be possible to send cereals from the inter-Andine regions to the coast lands and the heavy imports of food-stuffs from the United States will probably be diminished. At the same time it ought to be possible to distribute textile goods, which come chiefly from Great Britain, at a much lower rate than formerly. The annual value of exports and imports combined amounts to about £4,000,000.
BouvrA Bolivia, one of the largest and least developed of South American States, has an estimated area of 708,000 square miles, and there fore comes next in size to Brazil and the Argentine. Its south
western part lies within the Cordillera, where, between the eastern and western Andine chains, lies the Bolivian tableland, which has an elevation of over 12,000 feet, and on which are the two large connected lakes, Titicaca and Aullagas. Many of the surrounding mountains are covered with perpetual snow.
THE PuNA.—At an elevation of 9,000 feet and over, climatic con ditions become unfavourable to much cultivation, and stock-raising and mining are the main pursuits of the puna region. Large numbers of sheep, alpacas, and llamas are raised, while the vicuna, in its wild state, is also common. More important, however, is the mineral production of the region. Tin, which is found in large quantities along the eastern belt of the plateau from Lake Titicaca to the southern frontier, is the principal export of the country. With the development of communications, more especially of the Anto fagasta-Oruro line and its branches, the output has more than doubled within the last ten years, and now amounts to over 18 per cent. of the world's production. Bismuth is generally found closely associated with the deposits of tin. Silver is worked chiefly in the department of Potosi, and copper is mined along the eastern range of the Andes.