AT the time of the discussion in the Spanish Council of State concerning the decision of the Ecuadorian-Peruvian Boundary dispute, upon which His Majesty the King of Spain had been asked to arbitrate, the President of the Council is said to have remarked, Beyond the natural boundaries, raised by the hand of God, it will be difficult for Ecuador to hold territory, for she is the Switzerland of the Americas.,, This remark is indeed true, for a striking similarity exists between the Alpine Republic and this country in the Andes?both having as common features lofty snow-clad peaks, deep ravines, and broad valleys enclosed by great mountain ranges?and the comparison enables one to form a topographical idea of Ecuador. The Republic of Ecuador, which with the exception of Uruguay is the smallest of all the South American Republics, lies between 20 N. and 6? S. lat. The longitudinal extension of the Republic is as yet undecided, for, although many years of discussion have passed and many decision s have been made, the Eastern and Southern frontier limits are still in dispute with the neighbouring Republic of Peru, and some territory is in litigation with Colombia. One is almost safe in claiming that Ecuador has more boundaries than any other country, for there are maps of the Republic showing six different frontiers according to six different opinions. There are the limits claimed by the Government of the Republic, which take in the greatest extent of territory and stretch far to the east, including a vast portion of the Oriente, that territory lying to the east in the great Amazonian plain. This delineation of the frontier was made by Restrepo and Humboldt in the eighteenth century. Another frontier line is that known as the Pedemonte Mosquera line, and was drawn in 1830. The third is the provisional boundary made according to Menendez-Pidal, the Spanish High Com? missioner, in 1887. The fourth is the line drawn according to the ideas set forth in the Garcia Herrera agreement. The fifth is the boundary as outlined in 1909 by the Spanish Council of State. The sixth is that claimed by the Government of Peru. These limits of Ecuador are