Between the rainless region of the coast and the dripping forests of the Montaña, the country is crossed by three mountain ranges that run parallel through a part of their course, sending out transverse chains at intervals, or joining together in great _nudos_, “knots,” that form high plateaus in the midst of lofty peaks, covered with perpetual snow. By this mountain system, Peru is divided into three distinct regions: the coast, the sierra, and the Montaña, or wooded plains. The coast region extends from the sea inland to the Cordilleras, reaching an altitude of from three thousand to four thousand feet; the sierra attains a height varying from ten thousand to eighteen thousand feet, the high altitude, above the limit of vegetation being known as the _puna_; the Montaña covers nearly two-thirds of the total area of Peru, stretching from the eastern slope of the Andes to the frontiers of Brazil and Bolivia. The coast zone embraces a strip of land about fifteen hundred miles in length, having an average width of from fifty to one hundred miles. From the Gulf of Guayaquil, which forms its northern boundary, to the extreme southern limit of this region the coast line is marked by a succession of bare cliffs and shifting sandhills; though even this dreary prospect has its peculiar charm when seen in the lights and shadows of dawn, or in the still more marvellous colors of the sunset. One is reminded of the glow that spreads over Alpine summits as the great orb vanishes; in the fading light, the waters of the Pacific are as purple at the foot of these rosy rocks as are the deep ravines below the Jungfrau. On this strip of coast land, rain falls so seldom and in such insignificant quantities as to be hardly worthy of mention. The only moisture which the soil receives is derived from the rivers that traverse it on their way to the sea from the Cordilleras, and the mists that prevail during the winter season from May to August, caused by the southeast winds. [Illustration: IN THE VALLEY OF ABANCAY.]