TOPOGRAPHY OF THE STATE OF PARANA. 



227 



outlet on the Atlantic. Standing at an altitude of 2,920 feet, Curitiba enjoys a 

 temperate climate, and is surrounded by European settlers who bring to its 

 market the fruits and vegetables of the Old World. It ranks as a capital only 

 since the year 1854, when the territory of Parana was detached from S. Paulo 

 and constituted a separate province. 



A carriage road running to the coast by the town of Graciosa was supplemented 

 in 1885 by the railway, which, after turning the superb Mount Morumby (4,700 

 feet), descends through a series of cuttings, tunnels, and viaducts to the foot of 

 the mountains at 3Io.rretes. The highest point reached stands at the entrance of 

 a tunnel 3,135 feet above the sea, and from the successive terraces and inclined 

 planes magnificent views are afforded of the surrounding mountains, slopes, and 

 lowland tracts, stretching away to Paranagua Bay. 



At Morretes, formerly a centre of the maté export trade, the railway bifurcates, 



Fig. 08. — Feom Cueitiba to Paeanagua. 

 Scale 1 : 800,000. 



4b°40 



12 Miles. 



one branch running north-west to the port of Anfonina, which though shallower 

 than that of Paranagua, is still accessible to vessels drawing 14 or 16 feet. During 

 the floods, which often threaten to inundate the main line between Morretes and 

 Paranagua, the x\ntonina branch offers an. alternatiA'e route for the foreign trade 

 of Curitiba. 



ParcDiagua standing on the north (left) bank of the Itubere (Itibiri) estuarv, 

 is no longer directly accessible to large vessels, which have to ride at anchor at a 

 distance of over a mile to the north-west in the deep waters of the bay sheltered 

 from the east by the hilly Cottnga Inhonl. The town itself is moving in this 

 direction, and numerous new structures already extend along the new harbour. 

 Its export trade is mainly restricted to forest produce, such as araucaria wood 

 and yerba maté, obtained from the ilox corifz/hcNsis, a plant allied to that which 



