At
first it appears rather surprising that the trade-wind along the
northern parts of Chile and on the coast of Peru should blow in so
very southerly a direction as it does; but when we reflect that the
Cordillera, running in a north and south line, intercepts, like a
great wall, the entire depth of the lower atmospheric current, we
can easily see that the trade-wind must be drawn northward,
following the line of mountains, towards the equatorial regions,
and thus lose part of that easterly movement which it otherwise
would have gained from the earth's rotation. At Mendoza, on the
eastern foot of the Andes, the climate is said to be subject to
long calms, and to frequent though false appearances of gathering
rain-storms: we may imagine that the wind, which coming from the
eastward is thus banked up by the line of mountains, would become
stagnant and irregular in its movements.
Having crossed the Peuquenes, we descended into a mountainous
country, intermediate between the two main ranges, and then took up
our quarters for the night. We were now in the republic of Mendoza.
The elevation was probably not under 11,000 feet, and the
vegetation in consequence exceedingly scanty.
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