The coastal zone in Ecuador is much wider than at the north or south. We have seen that in Colombia the mountain ranges are so close to the shore as to leave little space for cities or agriculture, while in Peru and Chile for the most part the mountains are visible from the sea. Further, a good portion of Ecuador’s coastal zone resembles in some respects the Amazon section, while in Peru the two are utterly different. Ecuador is the only country favored on the Pacific side with rivers navigable to any considerable extent, and the dense tropical vegetation of much of the coast is in striking contrast to the Peruvian deserts. Remembering that the equator crosses this country, it is easy to understand that where there is much rain the lowlands have a humid tropical climate. The coast curves slightly outward from the north to Capes San Lorenzo and Santa Elena, the latter lacking but a few miles of being the most western point of South America, which distinction falls to Peru. Near these capes the waters of the cold Antarctic current turn west towards the Galápagos Islands, the tropical waters above and the colder current below affecting the climate of the two sections. Just south of Cape Santa Elena begins the Gulf of Guayaquil, the only considerable arm of the sea indenting the West Coast between Panamá and the Island of Chiloé in Chile, a stretch of 3000 miles. Considering the gulf as the broad triangle between Capes Santa Elena, Ecuador, and Blanco in Peru, with the island, Puná, as inner limit, the width is 140 miles. The boundary line of Ecuador, a little north of the Tumbes River, leaves most of the Gulf line in that country. The Gulf penetrates east and slightly north about 100 miles to the Guayas River or estuary. Along the southern shore are occasional estuaries with small river openings and mangrove swamps. THE MOUNTAIN SECTION