Chile is a long narrow strip of land lying between the summits of the Andes and the Pacific Ocean. It extends from the tropic of Capricorn to Cape Horn, or from 24 deg. to 56 deg. south latitude—a distance of 2000 miles, while its average breadth is under 100 miles. Its length, therefore, exceeds its breadth about 20 times. In a tract of country extending over 32 degrees of latitude in the temperate zone we may expect to find great diversity of climate. North Chile is a sandy desert, South Chile is a rainy forest; in the former cotton grows to perfection, in the latter glaciers descend even to the sea. The central provinces enjoy a climate resembling that of Italy; from the spring to the autumn equinox no rain falls, while the rest of the year is rainy. In South Chile there are innumerable rivers and lesser streams, but, as we go northwards, the country gets drier, the streams fewer and smaller, until at last we reach a region in the north where the river beds have no water in them. The one I intend to speak of to-night is at Carrizal, in the province of Atacama, 28 deg. south latitude, or 300 miles north of Valparaiso. One cannot say exactly where the desert begins. The last considerable river north of Valparaiso is the Aconcagua, beyond it being a few smaller ones, but all the country north of Coquimbo may be called desert. From this point to the north This 250-word extract was created in the absence of an abstract