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ORLILLE A. DERBY 



and granite rising a few hundred meters above the level of the river, 

 and here the traveler cannot form an adequate idea of the general 

 topographic features of the region, which, however, appears to be 

 considerably higher than that along the first section of the line. 

 The terminal station, Bandeira de Mello, is at an elevation of about 

 300"^ above the level of the sea, in the midst of gneiss and granite 

 hills that rise about as much higher. 



About 20 kilometers to the westward of the end of the railroad 

 begins a region of sedimentary rocks that includes the whole of the 



Fig. 4. — View of Santa Isabel do Paraguassu. 



upper part of the Paraguassii basin. Near the river this region 

 begins at Bebedouro with an escarpment of sandstone and limestone 

 rising some 250™ above the level of the stream to a plateau of a 

 mean elevation of about 600™. Behind this rises a second plateau 

 of sandstone to a mean elevation of 1,000™ or more, and constituting 

 the Serra do Espinhafo proper, or, as it is here known, the Chapada 

 Diamantina ("Diamond Table-Land"). To the northward of the 

 Paraguassii the margin of the serra is marked by the river Sao Jose, 

 which escapes from it near Lenfoes and flows along its base. On 

 the south side of the Paraguassii this margin makes an offset to the 

 eastward as far as Mocambo, thus causing a great bend in the river. 



