EIVEES OF PANAMA, 



315 



the direction of the south-west parallel with the shores of hoth oceans. At Cruces, 

 where it has alread^^ collected all its headstreams, it is accessible to small river 

 craft. At Matachin, a little farther down, where at low water it is only 46 feet 

 above the level of the Atlantic, it is joined by the Obispo, which descends from 

 the Culebra heights. Judging from the direction of its valley, the Obispo is the 

 main branch, for below the confluence the united waters flow transversely to 

 the coast- ranges to the Caribbean Sea, where they are obstructed by a bar with a 



Fig. 141. — Gulf of San Miguel. 

 Scale 1 ; 500,000. 





17 7S37e3 y^i^ca^ 



78 ^0 



West oF Greenwicln 



Beach exposed 

 at low water. 



Depths. 



to 16 

 Feet. 



16 Feet and 

 upwards. 



6 Miles 



mean depth of little over 10 feet. The river itself varies from about 14 to 40 

 feet with the seasons, but unusually heavy rains will sometimes cause a sudden 

 rise of 40 feet. Rapid changes of level of 20 feet are frequent, and the railway 

 bridges have been flooded to depths of 14 or even 20 feet. The discharge varies 

 enormously, from '650 to as much as 70,000 cubic feet per second; but the normal 

 difference is not more than 700 cubic feet in the dry season and 2,600 during the 

 floods. Compared with that of European rivers, the mean discharge is very high, 



