TOPOGEAPÏÏY— JOAZEIEO. 



171 



Farther on, the main route penetrates into a region which abounds in inscribed 

 rocks, dating from prehistoric times. The whole country is at present even less 

 thinly inhabited than at the time of the Jesuit missions, and before the arrival 

 of the whites, it appears to have been the centre of a large indigenous population. 



Fig. 68. — Rio S. Feancisco Basin. 

 Scile : 1,400.000. 



West oF Greenwich 



56° 



to 600 

 Fathoms. 



Depths. 



500 to 2,000 

 Pat horns. 



2.000 Fathoms 

 and upwards. 



310 Miles. 



Joazeiro, on the right bank above the Paulo Afionso Falls, has been chosen as 

 the future terminus of the railway, which runs from the city of Bahia north- 

 westwards to the S. Francisco valley. This riverside port already does a brisk 



