210 AMAZONIA AND LA PLATA. 



Above this point the Parana expands to a broad lake with two branches 

 enclosino- a laro-e island, beyond which it tumbles over several falls from 50 

 to 60 feet high, all differing in the character of their rocks and vegetation, as 

 well as in the volume of water precipitated. The Sete Qitcdas, or " Seven 

 Falls," as this group is popularly called, must not be taken in the literal sense, 

 for the stream ramifies in the dry season at times into as many as twenty partial 

 currents, while during the floods all merge in a single liquid mass. In 1631, when 

 the Jesuits had to abandon their missions of la Guayra they lost in these waters 

 over yOO boats, and since then the Sete Quedas have been known by the alterna- 

 tive name of the Guayra Falls. 



Below this point the Parana, after gliding over a few more rapids, gradually 

 enters on its tranquil course, and is here joined by its last great affluent formerly 

 culled the Rio Grande de Curitiba, now better known by its Guarani name Iguazu 

 (Y-guassu). Like the parallel rios, Paranapanema and Tieté, the Iguazu is 

 interrupted by a succession of cascades, terminating at the Victoria Falls with an 

 extreme drop of 140 feet. At this point the Brazilian Government has estab- 

 lished its military colony and arsenal, commanding the navigation of the whole 

 course of the Lower Parana as far as the Argentine waters. The famous Con- 

 quistador Alvar Nunez had followed this route on his daring journey from Brazil 

 to Paraguay in 1542. 



Beyond the Iguazu confluence, the Parana, henceforth free from cataracts or 

 dangerous rapids, passes through several narrow gorges, such as that of Itangu- 

 aymi, where the stream, 4,000 or 5,000 yards broad in some places, contracts to 

 scarcely 460 feet. Lower down the river maintains everywhere a great width, 

 rolling down a vast body of yellowish water studded with low islands and lined 

 by marshy banks. At the Paraguay confluence its volume is often ten times 

 greater than that of the rival stream. 



CiJMATE. 



In a general way the climate of the region resembles that of Minas Geraes, 

 with the essential diflerence that, lying partly beyond the tropical zone, it enjoys 

 a greater diversity of seasons. Here the winters are real winters, characterised by 

 a marked fall of the temperature, by cold polar winds, and at times even by snow. 



But the chief contrast is less between north and south than between east and 

 west, as determined by the varying altitudes. The littoral zone at the foot of 

 the coast range still belongs partly to the torrid region, and merges southwards 

 in subtropical lands resembling Italy both in their climate and their verdant 

 seaward slopes. 



Another parallel zone is that of the "Serra," or "Mountain," marked by a 

 lower temperature, but still under the influence of the moist sea breezes. This is 

 followed by the inner and much broader zone of the Campos, presenting the 

 normal conditions of a continental climate with its great range of temperatures, in 

 some years exceeding 60° or 70" Fahr. 



