ARGENTINA 79 



" ( 1 ) The Cordillera of the Andes, wliieh from latitude 25 deg. 

 in N.W. Argentina rapidly widens to its maximum at the 

 Bolivian "massif" in latitude 15 deg., where it almost touches; 

 (2) the central highlands of Brazil, dividing the Amazon and the 

 River Plate systems; and, finally, (3) the coast range of Brazil, 

 which starts between the towns of Bahia and Rio de Janeiro, also 

 in the latitude 15 deg., and terminates in the rounded foothills 

 of Uruguay. 



' ' The Brazilian highlands, as they lie sprawling over the centre 

 of the South American map, may be likened to an ill-formed 

 kite. The head, pointing to the Amazon, is fringed by the 

 aiifluents of that inland sea. The lower sides are stiffened by 

 mountain ranges, that acquire the occasional dignity of 5000 ft. 

 As the tail of the kite, some 600 miles long, passes southward 

 through Paraguay, this height drops steadily to 1000 ft. At' this 

 altitude the range halts finally on the northern boundary of 

 Argentina, overlooking the network of swamps and lazy streams 

 that gives its name to the province of Corrientes. 



' ' In the wide valley between the Andes and the western slopes 

 of this range flows the River Paraguay. Between the east of 

 the same and the hills of the Atlantic coast lies the course of the 

 Parana. Not the plain Parana of the south, but known here 

 in its upper channels as the Paranahyba, or, more generally and 

 simply, the "Alto Parana." 



"It would have greatly simplified the geography of all this 

 watershed if the Parana had been able to keep to the eastern 

 side on which it originally started. It would then have entered 

 the Plate estuary by the present bed of the Uruguay, which 

 would in its turn have figured simply as one of the tributaries 

 entering the great river from the Brazilian coast range. But 

 just north of the spot where their junction would have taken 

 place, a spur of hills juts out, forming a right angle, and almost 

 joining up with the Paraguayan highlands — the tail of the kite. 

 Now, in its hurried upper course, the Parana has carved for 

 itself a deep bed in the soft, red sandstone. But here, in the 

 south, its banks have broadened, and it has lost much of its old 

 impetuosity. It cannot, as in the far-off falls of Guayra, burst 

 its way through the obstacle to pour in a straight flood ever 

 southwards. So at the south-east corner of Paraguay it is forced 

 to swerve sharply to the west, making a 200-mile boundary for 

 the north of Corrientes. Some 100 miles past the bend the river 

 crosses the last vestige of the hills in a short rapid at Itati (the 

 "many rocks"), which prohibit navigation on the Alto Parana 

 for all vessels drawing more than 3^ ft. of water. 



