208 AMAZONIA AND LA PLATA. 



hyba rises at tlie point farthest removed from the fluvial axis, and at first flows 

 due north in the direction of the 8. Francisco. But while still a small stream 

 it bends round north-west and west to the junction with the San Marcos descend- 

 ing from the north. 



Some r2Ô miles lower down the mainstream is joined by the copious Corumba, 

 issuino- from the rocky gorges of the P3^reneos Mountains, and farther on by Meia 

 Ponte and the Kio dos Bois descending from the same watershed. From the 

 opposite side comes the Rio das Yelhas with the contributions of the Canastra and 

 Matta de Corda uplands. At the confluence of the Rio Grande, which rises on 

 the Minas Geraes plateaux, the mainstream talces the narue of Parana, that is 

 " River," in a pre-eminent sense, which it retains for the rest of its course to 

 the Plate estuary. 



The Rio Grande is distinguished from all the other branches both by its 

 greater volume, and by the rugged character of its upper basin. Its chief head- 

 stream rises in the Itatiaya group over 8,200 feet above sea-level, and although it 

 is joined by several large streams, such as the Rio das Mortes and the Sapucahy 

 from the north, and the Rio Pardo from the S. Paulo uplands, its upper course is 

 too steep to be navigable except for short stretches. Here it is interrupted by 

 several grand waterfalls, such as the Maribondo Cascade below the Pardo confluence 

 with a drop of about 65 feet. Other cataracts have been gradually obliterated by 

 the erosion of the reefs which obstructed the current. Thus south of Uberaba all 

 the schistose masses, by which the river was formerly blocked, have been eaten 

 away piecemeal. Nothing now remains of these barriers except some fragments 

 of solid quartz, which form rocky islets in mid-stream. At one point these 

 islets have served as the foundations of a bridge, which the engineers have built 

 across the Rio Grande, and the twenty-five piers of which all stand on these 

 natural supports. 



Both the Pardo and its Mogy Guassu affluent, as well as the Tieté, flowing 

 more to the south, parallel with the Rio Grande, all present long stretches of 

 navigable waterways, thanks to their more gentle incline and to the works that 

 have been carried out to regulate their course. The Mogy Guassu, which winds 

 through the most flourishing coffee plantations in S. Paulo, has a continuous 

 navigable channel of 140 miles, scarcely interrupted by a few rapids which have 

 been improved by lateral weirs. 



Of all the Parana affluents the Tieté has its sources nearest to the Atlantic, 

 some of its headstreams rising within seven or eight miles of the coast, but over 

 3,000 feet above the sea. Being connected by rail with the port of Santos, its 

 valley, like that of the Mogy Guassu, give access to the till recently deserted 

 regions of the Campos of the Parana. Its lower course, however, is obstructed by 

 the Avanhandava and Itapura falls, respectively 44 and 65 feet high. A few 

 miles below the Tieté confluence, the Pcirana itself develops the great Urubupunga 

 (" Vulture ") falls. 



Below the Tieté follow other large tributaries, such as the Sucuryu, Rio 

 Verde, Ivinheima, and Paranapanema, the last-mentioned being nearly as copious 



