From its southern extremity to the Nevado of Chorolque, in 21° 30ʹ S. lat., the Andes are merely one grand and continuous range of mountains, but north of that the chain intercepts a very elevated table-land, or wide longitudinal valley, in the direction of the chain, bounded on each side by a parallel range of high mountains, rising much above it. These parallel Cordilleras are united at various points by enormous transverse groups or mountain-knots, or by single ranges crossing between them like dykes, a structure that prevails to Pasto, 1° 13ʹ 6ʺ N. lat. The descent to the Pacific is very steep; the dip is also very rapid to the east, whence offsets diverge to the level plains. Unlike the table-lands of Asia of the same elevation, where cultivation is confined to the more sheltered spots, or those still lower in Europe, which are only fit for pasture, these lofty regions of the Andes yield exuberant crops of every European grain, and have many populous cities enjoying the luxuries of life, with universities, libraries, civil and religious establishments, at altitudes equal to that of the Peak of Teneriffe, which is 12,170 feet above the sea-level. Villages are placed and mines are worked at heights as great and even greater than the top of Mont Blanc.[43] This state is not limited to the present times, since these table-lands were once the centre of civilization by a race of mankind which “bear the same relation to the Incas and the present inhabitants that the Etruscans bear to the ancient Romans and to the Italians of our own days.”