In addition we should know the difficulties which have retarded the development of countries settled earlier than our own, that instead of a supercilious mental attitude on account of real or fancied superiority in certain directions, we may have a sympathetic understanding of conditions, and of tremendous obstacles, some of which have been overcome in an extraordinary manner. A general view of the continent as a whole may well precede a more detailed study of the several countries. INDUSTRIAL AND COMMERCIAL SOUTH AMERICA CHAPTER I SOUTH AMERICA AS A WHOLE PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS In the study of South America one may observe certain points of resemblance with others of difference between that continent and North America. The outline of each, we perceive, is roughly triangular, broad at the north and tapering towards the south; but as the broad part of one is not far from the Arctic Circle while that of the other is near the equator, we find that the greater part of North America is in the temperate zone while most of South America is in the torrid; disparity in climate and productions follows. The geological formation of the two continents is as similar as their outline. There is a correspondence on the northeast between what are called the Laurentian Highlands in Labrador and the uplands of Guiana; on the southeast between the Appalachian system of the North and the Serra do Mar of Brazil, each having a northeast to southwest trend and a fair similarity in height, though the tallest peak in either range is the Itatiaiá in Brazil, which by 3000 feet exceeds Mt. Mitchel, the highest of the Appalachians. A difference worth noting is that the Brazilian range is closer to the sea. A similarity, perhaps greater, exists in the west where lie, close to the shore, the loftier ranges of the two continents, of much later origin than the eastern mountains, and containing many volcanic peaks. Each system includes several chains with valleys or plateaus between; but in the United States the system which includes the Rockies is wider than is that of the Andes at any point. The two systems are distinct, having neither the same origin nor the same trend, while the altitude of the South American _massif_ greatly exceeds that of the North American mountains. Between the coastal regions both continents have great basins sloping to the north, east, and south with a large river draining each: the Mackenzie and the Orinoco flowing north, the St. Lawrence and the Amazon east, the Mississippi and the Paraná south. Were the two continents side by side there would be a great resemblance in production instead of the present considerable diversity.