Anderson, Robert

See SUMTER, FORT. An'derson, WALTER, D.D., a Scottish divine who flourished in the last century. He wrote a history of the kings of France from Francis II. down to Henry IV. D. 1800. An'derson, in Texas , an E. county, washed by the rivers Trinity and Neches. Area , 900 sq. m. Soil generally fertile. Productions, chiefly cotton and corn. Capital Palestine, which is usually considered the head of steamboat navigation. -A post-village, cap. of Grimes co., abt. 140 m. E. by N. of Austin city. An'dersonburg, in Pennsylvania , a post-village of Perry co. An'derson River, in Indiana, a village of Spencer IMG:content-0225.png:[blocks in formation] Andersonville, in Indiana, a post-village of Franklin co., 50 m. S.E. by S. of Indianapolis. -a post-village of Madison co. - See ANDERSON. Andersonville, in Georgia , a post-village of Sumter co., 65 m. S.S.W. of Macon. This place was a notorious Confederate prison during the rebellion; many you sands of Federal prisoners were incarcerated here at one time, amongst whom the mortality was very great. Henry Wirz, supt. of the prison, was convicted and executed, after the war, on a charge of exce ive cruelty. An'des. [From the Peruvian word anta , copper or metal in general. - Humboldt .] The general name given to the great range of mountains, which runs along the W. side of the continent of S. America. The A. are the highest mountains in America, and next to the Himalaya mountains the most elevated in the known world. The Cordil leras , a name sometimes given to this chain, is properly applicable only to the innermost and highest ridge of the ma . In considering these mountains as a great feature in the physical structure of the earth, we may fix their S. extremity in the rocky islands of Diego Ramirez, off Cape Horn, in Lat. 56° 30′ S., and their N. termination in the 69th of N. Lat., at the mouth of the Mackenzie river. It is difficult to say where the real chain of the A. commences. It continues, however, when once formed, without a break, to the mouth of the river Atrato, or the isthmus of Darien, which pours its waters into the Caribbean Sea, in Lat. 8° 15′ N., a distance, reckoning the whole line, from Diego Ramirez, of 64° 15′ of Lat. The A. of S. America, although in our maps they look like one long single ridge, are by no means so, but are composed of a series of chains of mountains, more or le parallel, enclosing vast elevated plains or table-lands, and of several great groups, like knots or articulations, at distant intervals. The average width of their base is extremely narrow, considering their great length, in comparison with that of most other extensive systems of mountains; for, except where the groups just mentioned occur, the breadth varies only from 60 to 70 m. The greatest extension, from east to west, is between the parallels of 15° and 18° S., in one of the groups, where a base line perpendicular to the axis of the chain would be nearly 400 m. in length. Toward the Straits of Le Maire, the range consists of rocky hills, rising to an altitude of 2,000 or 3,000 feet. Cape Horn itself is a conspicuous rock upward of 3,000 ft. high. Mount Sarmiento is the highest summit, and rises to 6,900 feet above the sea. In the W. part of King Charles's South-land, the range extends over the whole district S. and W. of Ad miralty Bay. Further W. it changes its direction, running to the N.W. as far as the Frith of Sansalid, Lat. 520 S.; Lon. 73° W., from which point begins the uninterrupted chain of the A. It comprehends the Patagonian A. (see Patagonia): the Chilian A. (see Chili); the Bo livian A. (see Bolivia); the Peruvian A. (see Peru); the A. of Ecuador (see Ecuador, Republic of); and the A. of New Granada (see Granada, New). The A. seem to disappear entirely between 70 and 80 N., opposite to the harbor of Cupica on the Pacific; for no mountain range is found on the Isthmus of Panama, where it is narrowest. The famous Chimb or azo, in the A. of Ecuador, rising 21,420 feet above the sea, was, until lately, considered to be the highest summit of the A .; but it is now known that Aconcagua, in the Bolivian A. , rises considerably higher, being 23,910 ft. above sea-level. - Geology. It is very imperfectly known. The A. are mostly composed of porphyry and mica slate. Porphyry is by far the most widely extended of the unstratified rocks of the A., and occurs through the whole range at all elevations, and frequently the highest summits are composed of it. Next to porphyry and mica-slate, trachyte and basalt are most frequently met with. Volcanoes are fre quent in certain portions of the range; but that part of the A. in which volcanic agency is most active, lies between Lat. 32° S., and 2o N. The number of summits where eruptions are recorded, is here very considerable. The farthest N. is that of Puracé, in the neighborhood of Popayan, where the A. begin to divide into three ranges. Glaciers are of rare occurrence, which is partly to be attributed to the relative positions of the summits, which generally form a continuous line, without having other summits on their side; and partly to the considerable distance which is everywhere found to intervene between two summits. Near Lat. 12° S., the line of perpetual snow is at about 18,300 ft. above the level of the sea. Vegeta tion. In the lower grounds, between the tropics, from the level of the sea to the height of from 3,000 to 5,000 ft., ca ava, cacao, maize, plantains, indigo, sugar, cotton, and coffee, are cultivated. The low country is also the region of oranges, pine-apples, and the most delicious fruits. Between the altitude of 6,000 and 10,000 ft., lies the climate best suited for the culture of all kinds of European grain, principally wheat, rye, and barley. Within the same limits is to be found the oak, which from the elevation of 9,200 ft. never descends, near the equator, below that of 5,500 ft. Beyond the limit of 9,000 ft, large trees of every kind begin to disappear, though some dwarfish pines are to be found at the height of 13,000 ft. The gra es clothe the ground at an elevation of from 13,500 to 15,000 ft., and from this to the regions of ice and snow, the only plants visible are the lichens. The most celebrated product of the A. is the Cinchona , or Jesuit's Bark, the better kinds of which are collected between Lat. 5o N. and 5o S., where the tree grows at an elevation of from 10,000 to 14,000 feet above the sea. Animals. The most remarkable kinds of animals are the guanacos, llamas, and vicunas; of birds, condors and vultures. - Minerals. Many of the rivers descending from the A. contain small particles of gold in their sands. Silver occurs in many places of the range between 330 and the equator; but it is more commonly found at an elevation where vegetation nearly ceases, which renders the working of the mines very expensive. Quicksilver, copper, ores of lead, tin and iron are found in many parts. An'des, in New York, a post-township of Delaware co., 70 m. S.W. of Albany,