These are
not considered prejudicial to health, since both the natives and the
whites sleep in the open air with perfect impunity. While this equable
and bland temperature prevails throughout the lower country, the peaks
and ridges of the vast mountains by which it is dominated, are covered
with perpetual snow. This renders them discernible at a great distance,
shining at times like bright summer clouds, at other times assuming the
most aerial tints, and always forming brilliant and striking features
in the vast landscape. The mild temperature prevalent throughout the
country is attributed by some to the succession of winds from the
Pacific Ocean, extending from latitude twenty degrees to at least fifty
degrees north. These temper the heat of summer, so that in the shade
no one is incommoded by perspiration; they also soften the rigors
of winter, and produce such a moderation in the climate, that the
inhabitants can wear the same dress throughout the year.
The soil in the neighborhood of the sea-coast is of a brown color,
inclining to red, and generally poor; being a mixture of clay and
gravel. In the interior, and especially in the valleys of the Rocky
Mountains, the soil is generally blackish, though sometimes yellow. It
is frequently mixed with marl, and with marine substances in a state of
decomposition.
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