PARAGUAY AND LOWER PARANA MARSHES 153 



season, the riparian region is turned into a huge swamp 

 similar to those of Central Africa, on the Nile or the 

 Zambesi. The same type of landscape holds farther 

 south, and is strongly marked on the lower Parana ; 

 thus a broad strip of land extending along the upper 

 course of the Paraguay down to the Apa River, con- 

 tinued in the Chaco west of the Paraguay and expanding 



PIG. 52. Palm Grove in Corrientes, 

 Argentina. 



into Corrientes and Santa Fe down to La Plata, may be 

 detached as a separate region. It consists of vast level, 

 grassy seas or pampas, and equally vast swamps. 



The swamps may be shallow, ' banados ' or deep, ' male- 

 zales ', sometimes deepening into actual lakes : they are 

 overgrown with tall reeds, sedges, and broad-leaf grasses, 

 often six feet high. Along the uncertain shores of the 



