EXPLORATIONS IN CAPE REGION. 747 



the west side. But in the dry season most of these do 

 not reach the main river in the way of surface water, but 

 there is always a sub- or underflow, which keeps up the 

 water in the main stream. The water in this is every- 

 where taken out for irrigation, but the underflow comes 

 again repeatedly to the surface, so that at the outlet of 

 the " estero " at San Jose there was 500 cubic feet of water 

 running to waste into the ocean in the month of March, 

 while three or four miles up the valley the river had only 

 the appearance of a large ditch, entirely under control 

 for irrigation. But in the rainy season the tributaries to 

 the San Jose River come down like torrents from the 

 Sierra and after an unusual " aguacero " even the San 

 Jose River with its shallow bed, half a mile wide, may be 

 impassable for three or more days, sometimes even for a 

 week. The water for irrigation seldom fails, and only 

 once in twelve years, has it become alarmingly scarce so 

 that crops were a partial failure. This refers also to the 

 annual rainfall with the same force. 



On the east the San Jose River receives no tributaries, 

 on the west however there is a number smaller and sev- 

 eral more respectable ones. The latter are counted from 

 San Jose northward: Santa Rosa; San Lazaro (at Santa 

 Anita) ; San Miguel; Sanlgnacio (atLaPalma) ; Caduaiio. 

 Miraflores and San Bernardo. 



The San Jose River irrigates a great many thousand 

 acres from one end of the valley to the other, but its 

 waters are badly managed and much wasted, and could, 

 if properly cared for, irrigate thirty times more land than 

 at present. 



The only other permanent river in the Cape Region 

 which always reaches the sea is the Todos Santos River. 

 This river heads in the Sierra Laguna and from there 

 runs straight down to the Pacific. It is used for irrigating 



