The section of the Cordillera south of Lago Nahuel Huapi includes a central valley which traverses it from north to south, separating the high western and eastern ranges. From Lago Nahuel Huapi itself a deep pass, which is cut nearly to the level of the lakes, leads to Lago Gutierrez, whose waters flow by way of Nahuel Huapi to the Atlantic. East of Gutierrez is the Sierra de la Ventana, and west of it El Catedral, both prominent summits among the Andean heights, yet between them one may pass from Lago Gutierrez to Lago Mascardi, over a gravel plain which, although it scarcely sepa rates the two lakes, divides the waters of the eastern and western oceans. Here the continen tal divide descends from El Catedral, passes across the plain between the two lakes, and ascends again to the summit of the Sierra de la Ventana. El Bolson and its neighbor, the Hoyo de Enuyen, are the deepest valleys in this section of the Andes, lying between 900 and 1,000 feet above the sea and 1,333 feet or nen below Lago Mascardi. The temperan.7 naturally changes with the altitude_ which are common in the northern portion the central valley, are rare during the SUIEURr. in El Bols6n, a valley sometimes characteru as a little paradise in the heart of the In the south rises the mourt.c.
group of Cerro Tres Picos and its =en& heights, stretching clear across the motinna zone as a promontory of the western CorchBra. On the east of El Bo1s6n the continental dirh which follows southward along the summit the eastern Cordillera, sinks into the Pans and, swinging eastward outside of the AndeL is marked by the ridge of a glacial !non= surrounding the basin of Cholila. South of lie heights of Tres Picos a system of rabr. tributary to the Rio Fetaleufu and thus to Pacific lies between the snowy western C.cr dillera and the treeless heights of the Corder de Leleque and the Cordon Esquel, which here represent the eastern Cordillera. The yalk! zone between the ranges is wider here ita• farther north, the valleys themselves are a general broader, and the western chain is tax! dominant as compared with the eastern. Cen munication across this western range is =I difficult than it is farther north, and it Ins been suggested that this circumstance a fluenced the arbitrator in tracing the bounda7 upon the western range and giving the vallen of Cholila, Lago Rivadavia, Lago Fetalzi quen and 16 de Octubre to Argentina. Thee valleys are rich, fertile and, owing to the brac ing mountain climate and pure, swiftly flonug streams, healthful. The Bolsi:in, the Hoye do Epuyen, Cholila and 16 de Octubre will prosperous communities and play an imports: part in the future development of the Andes.
The population in this essentially bonier land far southern division is composed of the varied elements that usually gather on a fron tier and cannot be disregarded in planning for the future occupation of the country by a more stable community. Under the treaty o: 1881 defining the international boundary, Chit for 20 years laid claim to nearly all the motr tain zone of the Andes, and Chileans were en couraged to establish themselves in the an she claimed. It is not difficult for men arm toured to the mountain trails in the forests of southern Chile to cross the passes which lead into the eastern valleys of the Andes. Then is along the boundary no conspicuous natural barrier greater than those which the Chilean Indian or half-breed with his active horses and cattle constantly traverses in his own country. Quite naturally, then, the Chilean element is large.
The Andean area which according to Mr. Willis contrasts peculiarly and favorably with other sections of Argentina lies between lat and lat. 44° and is set apart by such climatx conditions that it may eventually be occupied IA' energetic people of the temperate zone and be come the site of manufacturing industries on a large scale. It is an area of approximately 20,000 square miles, characterized by moderare summer temperatures, cold yet not sever winters, abundant rainfall and such remarkable scenery, that, in brief, it may be called she Argentine Switzerland.
Next, as above promised, we proceed to 2B account of the south central division, in wfiich the most interesting region is that extending eastward from the Chilean capital city.
Charles Darwin wrote that the features in the scenery of the Andes which struck him most were: The flat' fringes some times expanding into narrow plains on each side,— the valleys.— the bright colors, chiefly red and purple, of the utterly bare, and precipitous hills,— the grand and continuous wall-like dikes,— and the strongly marked strata which, when nearly vertical, form the most picturesque and wild pinnacles, but where less inclined, great massive mountains; the latter occupying the outskirts of the range, and the former the central parts ;— lastly, the smooth conical piles of fine and bright colored detritus, which slope at a high angle from the flanks of the mountains to their bases, some of the piles having a height of more than 2,000 feet. The quantity of crumbling stone on the Cordillera is very great. Occasionally in the spring masses of such matter slide down the moun tains, and cover the snow drifts in the valleys, thus forming natural icehouses the elevation of which may be far below the limit of perpetual congelation.