The central mountainous region belongs of course to the great chain of the Andes. As in the countries previously studied, this section of Ecuador differs greatly from the lowlands. Happily the formation is simpler than in Colombia. Extending from a rather confused mass near the boundary of Peru to another jumble of peaks at the Colombian border, a distance of 300 miles, are two parallel ranges, the East and the West Cordillera, from 20 to 30 miles apart. The plateau region between, which is higher at the north, is separated by two lower transverse ridges called _páramos_ into three shallow basins or plains: those of Quito, Ambato, and Cuenca; the first basin with an altitude of 9500 feet, the second, 8500 feet, the third, 7800 feet. Some of the water from these flows into the Pacific and some into the Atlantic. East and west are the two rows of mountains in a remarkably symmetrical arrangement, sometimes exactly opposite each other. Nowhere else in the world are there two such rows of giants or such a collection of snow crowned volcanoes. Of the 22 great peaks, several are active volcanoes and more are extinct. The main range or Cordillera Real is the eastern, with the larger number of lofty peaks; but the highest of all is in the West Cordillera, Chimborazo, altitude 20,498 feet. This mountain, first ascended by Edward Whymper, a celebrated English climber, in 1880, was formerly supposed by many to be the loftiest of the Andes; but farther south at least a dozen peaks are higher, probably two or three times as many. The volcanic section, as we have seen, extends into Colombia; but not into Peru. Especially noteworthy are Cotopaxi of the East Cordillera, the highest active volcano in the world, 19,613 feet, and Pichincha, the only one historically eruptive in the West Cordillera. The latter, situated very near Quito, has been the source of highly destructive eruptions. Sangay, east of the Ambato Basin, the most southern and among the most active on the globe, does little harm as no settlements are near. The Cuenca Basin, with no erupting volcanoes, contains volcanic material. In the most southern province, Loja, no such signs appear, nor in Peru for some degrees south. ORIENTE The country of the Oriente, with no llanos, is similar to forested southeastern Colombia. The mountains slope down into the forests, which cover their lower eastern declivities and the plain beyond. This inclines toward the region of the Amazon, with slight undulations well away from the mountains; but the nearer sections are broken by lateral spurs from the main chain, or by low isolated ranges separating the basins of the larger Amazon affluents. RIVERS, AMAZON TRIBUTARIES