The government of the Republic is entrusted to a President and a Congress of two Chambers, elected by universal suffrage. The State religion is the Roman Catholic. There are 692 primary schools and 6 universities.

La Paz is again the capital of Bolivia. Oruro and Sucre were, successively, the former capitals. Sucre (21) is situated on the interior plateau, at an elevation of more than 9,000 feet, and is the commercial capital. Potosi (20), to the south-west of the capital, is a more famous city, on account of the rich silver mines with which its name was formerly so long associated. The town of LA PAZ (46), which stands only a short distance from Lake Titicaca, is more populous, and commercially more important, than any other place in Bolivia, and the chief transit trade of the Republic passes through it. Cochabamba (22) is an important agricultural centre. Santa Cruz (12) is the chief

town to the east of the Cordilleras, and will shortly be united by rail with the River Paraguay. It is situated in the richest portion of the country for agricultural produce.

PERU.

The REPUBLIC OF PERU is on the Western side of South America, and is bounded on the north by the Republic of Ecuador, on the east by Brazil and Bolivia, on the south by Bolivia and Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean.

Peru has a coast-line of 1,520 miles, and an area of 695.700 square milesnewly 14 times the size of England. There are boundary disputes with the adjoining Republics; those with Ecuador and Bolivia have been submitted to arbitration.

The population of Peru is about 3 millions, three-fifths of whom are Indians, the rest are Mestizoes of mixed race, and whites of Spanish descent.

NATURAL FEATURES: Peru includes (1) a large portion of the Andes; (2) a plain along the Pacific Coast, between the mountains and the sea; and (3) a more extensive plain which stretches from the eastern base of the mountains into the interior.

The portions of the Andes which traverse Peru include some of the highest elevations of the mountain-system. Cold and barren tablelands, which rival in elevation the lofty plateaux of Central Asia, are included between the exterior and interior chains or cordilleras. The Tableland of Pasco (between 10° and 11° S. lat.) reaches 11,000 feet, and the tableland which contains the Lake of Titicaca, further to the south, is still more elevated.

The Coast Plain constitutes, however, the most remarkable feature in the physical geography of Peru. It is, almost throughout its entire extent, an arid and sandy region, in which the only verdure found is on the immediate banks of the numerous short streams by which it is traversed. But the soil, even here, is capable of cultivation under a proper system of irrigation.

Peru includes the upper portions of the great River Amazon, and the chief tributaries by which it is joined, either within the mountain region, or shortly after its issue from the mountains.

CLIMATE: The climate of Peru varies with the most striking differences in its physical conformation. The mountain-region is cold. The Coast Plain is as intensely hot and arid as the tehama of the Arabian peninsula-a tract which it resembles in many respects. Rain is almost unknown here, and the dense mists which are of periodical recurrence are the only source of moisture. The plains to the east of the mountains are watered by abundant rains.

W

PRODUCTIONS: Peru has great agricultural resources and still greater mineral wealth, but its mines of gold, silver, and quicksilver, long the richest in the world, are now only worked to a limited extent. The Andes also contain salt and petroleum. Rice, cotton, sugar-cane, olives, and fruits are cultivated in the valleys. The tablelands are covered with natural pastures, giving food to the llama and other wool-bearing quadrupeds.

All the rich productions of the South American forests-gums, balsams cinchona bark, vanilla, sarsaparilla, and the caoutchouc-tree-abound in Peru, and the food-plants of Europe thrive at various elevations among the mountainregion. The guano procured from the little group of the Chincha Islands (13° 40′ S. Lat.) for many years formed one of the chief items in the Peruvian export-trade. These and other deposits are now to a great extent exhausted, but recent surveys show the existence of rich deposits of this invaluable fertilizer on the coast of the mainland. The export of sugar has largely increased within recent years. The development of the resouces of the country has been greatly facilitated by the construction of an extensive system of railways. The disas trous war with Chile so disorganized the trade and industry of the country, that they have not yet regained their previously flourishing condition. The copper industry is being rapidly developed.

COMMERCE: The export trade of Peru is chiefly with Great Britain and the United States. Annual value, about 54 millions. (Exports to the United Kingdom, 2 millions). Imports, annual value, 4 millions (from the United Kingdom, 11⁄2 millions).

The chief exports are minerals, sugar, cotton, wools, cocaine, hides, coffee, rice, borax, coca, and alcohol.

GOVERNMENT: The executive power in the Republic is vested in the President, and the legislative authority in an elected Senate and a House of Representatives.

The Revenue is now over, and the Expenditure under, 2 millions sterling a year. The external Foreign Debt (about 30 millions sterling, contracted in England in 1870-72) has been cancelled by the cession to the bondholders of all

the State railways for 66 years.

The capital of Peru is the city of LIMA (130), which is 6 miles distant from the coast of the Pacific. Lima was founded (A.D. 1535) by Pizarro, whose remains lie within its magnificent cathedral. Callao, on the adjacent coast, is the port of Lima, and the commercial outlet of Peru. Pasco, Cuzco, and Arequipa are among the most considerable inland cities of Peru; Paita and Mollendo are important seaports. Pasco is famous for its rich silver mines, and is connected by rail with Lima and Callao. Cuzco (20) is a city of early Indian origin, the former capital of the Incas or native sovereigns of Peru. It stands in an Andean valley, at an elevation of more than 11,000 feet above the sea, and is connected by a railway with the coast.

ECUADOR.

THE REPUBLIC OF ECUADOR is bounded on the north by Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the south by Peru, and on the

west by the Pacific Ocean.

Its coast-line, which is limited to the Pacific, includes the Gulf of Guayaquil The Galapagos Islands, far out in the open ocean, about 600 miles west of the

Ecuadorian coast, belong to this Republic.

1. That is, Equator, of which Ecuador is the area of 2,950 square miles, and a population of some

Spanish form.

The Galapagos or Tortoise Islands have an

200.

The total area of Ecuador is nearly 120,000 square miles or equal to the area of the British Isles. By a treaty in 1904, it was agreed to submit the boundary dispute between Ecuador and Colombia to arbitration. There is also a boundary dispute with Peru.

Of a total population of about 14 millions, 100,000 are whites (of Spanish descent), 800,000 pure Indians, and 300,000 mixed races or Mestizoes.

NATURAL FEATURES: Ecuador includes part of the Andes -which there form two great ranges, with high tablelands betweenand the plains that stretch to the east and west of the mountainregion. These plains extend on the one side to the Pacific Coast, and on the other into the great lowland of the Upper Amazon.

The portion of the Andes that falls within Ecuador is one of the most elevated parts of the whole mountain-system. The Plain of Quito, which is crossed by the line of the Equator, has an elevation of 9,000 feet above the sea, and numerous high summits-several of which are active volcanoes-bound it on either hand. Among them are the gigantic peaks of Chimborazo, 20,545 feet above the sea, Cotopaxi, 19,613 feet, and Antisana, 19,335 feet.

The Upper Amazon, or Marañon, flows parallel to the southern boundary of Ecuador, and several of its tributaries flow through the eastwardly division of the State. The most important among them are the Napo, the Putumayo or Ica, and the Japura.

The Pacific Coast region is also well watered by numerous short rivers-the Guayaquil, Chones, Esmeraldas, &c.

The climate and productions of Ecuador are extremely varied. The trade is largely with the United Kingdom, and centres at Guayaquil.

The mountain-region of Ecuador enjoys a cool climate, and the city of Quito, though nearly under the line of the Equator, has the temperature of an English spring. But the plains of the coast and the great plains to the east of the Andes are heated and moist.

The

The natural productions are both rich and varied. The cinchona abounds in the extensive forests, and immense herds of cattle are fed on the upland pastures. In the agricultural districts in the low grounds to the west of the Cordillera, cocoa, coffee, cotton, yams, tobacco, fruits, &c. are grown. mineral wealth of the Republic is very great, but little developed. Gold, quicksilver, lead, copper, iron, and sulphur are found. Cocoa is the principal export, and is almost equal in value to the india-rubber, hides, coffee, vegetable ivory, precious metals, cattle, &c. taken together. The chief imports are textile fabrics, iro, and hardware. The total value of the trade is, imports, over 11⁄2 millions; exports under 2 millions. Imports from Great Britain amount to about 436,000, and exports to Great Britain about 170 000.

The executive government is vested in a President, while the legislative power is given to a Congress of two Houses-a Senate and a Chamber of Deputies. A new constitution was declared in 1907.

The Republic is divided into 16 Provinces and 1 Territory. The capital is QUITO (86), situated on the interior plateau, at an elevation of 9,500 feet, and nearly under the line of the Equator. The chief seaport is Guayaquil (40), which stands at the head of the Gulf called by its name, and, though notorious'y unhealthy, carries on a large trade, the customs duties amounting to about half

a-million a year. There is a short line of railway from Duran (opposite Guaya quil) to the base of Chimborazo in the Cordilleras, and this line will be extended to the high central tableland. None of the other towns, except Cuenca (25), are of more than local importance. A railway, 300 miles long, is now being constructed between Guayaquil and Quito.

COLOMBIA.

The REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA is in the north-west corner of South America, and is bounded on the north by the Caribbean Sea, on the east by Venezuela and Brazil, on the south by Ecuador, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean.

The total area of the Republic is estimated at 455,000 square miles, or nearly 9 times that of England and Wales.

The population is estimated at 4 millions, about one-half of whom are whites (of Spanish descent), and Mestizoes of mixed Indian and Spanish blood. The rest are Indians, about 150,000 of whom are Indios brazos, or uncivilized. The State religion, as in all the other Spanish republics of South America, is Roman Catholic. Primary education is free, but not compulsory.

The

great natural features of Colombia are the Andes the plain along their western base, and the valley of the Magdalena.

Colombia includes the northerly portion of the Andes, which here form three divergent chains known as the Western, Central, and Eastern Cordilleras, with elevated plains between. The vast tablelands of the Eastern Cordillera are cool and healthy, and are the most densely peopled portion of the Republic. Be tween the Western Cordillera and the coast is a low and fertile plain, traversed by numerous short rivers.

The chief river of Colombia is the Magdalena, which enters the Caribbean Sca. The Magdalena and its tributary the Cauca water the valleys that intervene between the three principal chains of the mountain-system. The Magdalena itself is navigable for river steamers and boats as far as Honda, about 450 miles from the sea, and only 70 miles from Bogotá, the capital of the Republic, The valley of the Cauca is extremely fertile and most picturesque. The valley of the Atrato, which flows into the Gulf of Darien, lies to the west of that of the Magdalena.

The lowland portions of Colombia are covered with dense forests of mahogany, cedar, fustic, and other dye woods and medicinal plants, and have an intensely hot climate; but the mountain-region is comparatively cool.

The mineral wealth of this country is very great, and includes ores of iron, copper, and lead, as well as the precious metals. The agricultural products are of still higher value. They include cocoa, coffee, cinchona, indigo, plantains, bananas, tobacco, and cotton, with wheat and other cereals.

The foreign trade, which amounts to about 6 millions sterling a year-imports, 2 millions; exports, 4 millions-is mainly with Great Britain and the United States. Nearly all the commerce of the Republic passes through BAK

RANQUILLA, situated on a cañon of the Magdalena, and connected by a short railway, 20 m les in length, with its outport of Savanilla.

The Government of the Republic is vested in a President, who acts through ministers or secretaries responsible to the National Congress or Parliament.

After the revolution of 1885, the nine States of Colombia became simple departments under Governors nominated by the President. The well-known Department of Panama, including the greater part of the Isthmus, across which M. Lesseps vainly endeavoured to cut a ship canal, asserted its independence in 1903, and has since ceded a strip of territory on either side of the proposed inter-oceanic canal route to the United States, which is now employing over 30,000 men on the further construction of the canal,

The capital is Bogotá (100), which is situated on a high plateau of the Andes, formed by the Eastern Cordillera. Bogotá lies at an elevation of more than 9,000 feet above the sea, and is connected by rail with the river-port of Honda, at the head of navigation on the Magdalena.

Cartagena (20), a seaport on the Caribbean coast, is memorable in English history as the scene of a disgraceful failure in an attempt at its capture by a squadron under Admiral Vernon in 1741. Barranquil a (40), on the Magdalena, near its mouth, is the chief commercial centre of the Republic. Its trade passes through its outport, Savanilla, with which it is connected by a short railway. Medellin (40) is the centre of an important mining region.

The annual trade between Great Britain and Colombia amounts to about £900,000. The chief exports to this country are silver ore, coffee, and rubber.

ΡΑΝΑΜΑ.

THE REPUBLIC OF PANAMA includes the greater part of the isthmus bearing the same name, and is bounded on the west by the Central American State of Costa Rica, and on the east by Colombia, of which it formed, till 1903, a department. In November of that year, however, it asserted its independence, and was speedily recognised by the United States and the other Powers as a separate Republic.

The total area is estimated at about 34,000 square miles, and the population at less than half-a million.

The country is extremely fertile, but three-fifths of it is still unoccupied. Bananas, caoutchouc and coffee are the chief products, and some cattle rearing is carried on. The chief towns are PANAMA, the capital, at the Pacific end, and COLON, or Aspinwall, at the Atlantic end, of the Isthmian Railway and proposed inter-oceanic Panama Canal.

In 1881 M. de Lesseps formed a company to cut a ship canal across the Isthmus of Panama. The enterprise ended in disaster in 1889, after over 30 millions sterling had been expended. In 1894 a new company was formed, the Board of which, in 1903, offered to sell their rights to the United States; and in the same year a Treaty was signed with the newly constituted Republic of Panama whereby a zone five miles wide on each side of the canal route was leased to the United States, which has taken over the further construction of the canal.