THE SHOALS 247 



vista. In the latitude of Riachucho, especially about 

 Bellavista, the cliffs form a series of creeks and capes, 

 in which the west winds create a heavy sea that was 

 dreaded by ships of light draught coming down the 

 river. North of Bellavista, and for more than a 

 hundred miles south of Goya, the main stream is 

 separated from the cliff by a series of alluvial islands ; 

 behind these are lateral arms {riachos) into which 

 pour the rivers of Corrientes. These arms were much 

 used by the early navigators. 



Between Esquina and La Paz the main bed, which 

 is not in touch with the land on either of its banks, 

 flows in a meandering path for some seven miles, the 

 scale of the bends being double that of the meander- 

 ing of the Paraguay north of the confluence. The 

 islands are very small, and are strung in a rosary at 

 the top of each bend. The depth is sixty feet at the 

 top of the bend. The shallows are in a line with the 

 islands at the point where the current runs evenly 

 again before the next curve. The depth here is seven, 

 and sometimes even five feet.^ These shallows change 

 their places quickly, and it is not always the same 

 bad spot that determines the maximum draught for 

 ships that are to be used in this section. This migra- 

 tion of the shallows is very different from the per- 

 manence of the rocky bottom of the stretch between 

 Corrientes and Posadas. 



From La Paz to Parana the main course is outlined 

 by the Entre Rios cliffs. There is no further meander- 

 ing. The cliffs of hard rock offer far more resistance 

 than the soft alluvia over which the river wanders 

 freely. The permanence of the bed in front of the 

 cliffs leads to a depth of as much as eighty feet. Only 

 here and there a fringe of alluvial stuff separates the 



' In point of fact, the ridge is lower at the time of low water, when 

 the current is concentrated in the main channel, so that one always 

 finds one or two feet greater depth there at low water than soundings 

 t^ken at high water would lead one to expect. 



