430 SOUTH AMERICA— THE ANDES EEGIONS. 



due to the continual increase of the annual snow and rainfall in the same 

 direction. Thus, despite their short course, the Hapel and the Mataquito are 

 perennial streams, and the latter has to be crossed by ferry. 



The Maule, which formerly marked the southern limit of the Inca empire, 

 discharges a volume ten times larger than that of the Maipo. The Itata is 

 equally copious, while the Biobio, whose basin includes a considerable part of 

 the central plain comprised between the Andes and the coast range, has a 

 discharge twice as large as that of the Maule. One of its tributaries, the Laja 

 torrent, rises in the lake which nestles at the eastern foot of the Antuco volcano, 

 whence it flows precipitously down to the plains. The cascades along the upper 

 course of this stream are the finest in Chili. 



The Rio Cauten, or Imperial, draining a much, smaller area, has also a 

 smaller volume, but at its mouth develops a considerable tidal estuary penetrating 

 15 miles inland. The Tolten, like all the other rivers of South Chili, is fed by 

 the overflow of a lacustrine basin, Lake Villarica. The Valdivia, flowing from 

 another flooded depression, broadens out in its lower reaches, where its numerous 

 navigable channels are accessible to steamers. 



The Bueno, Maui,lin and Palena. 



The Rio Bueno, unfortunately obstructed by a difiicult bar at its mouth, 

 comprises within its basin three of the largest lakes in Chili — the vast island- 

 studded Ranco, the Payehue and the Rubanco — the first of oval form, the other 

 two developing their crescent- shaped contours in narrow valleys. Although 

 exceeded by other Chilian rivers in the extent of its drainage area, the Bueno is 

 the most copious of all, its volume being greater than that of several considerable 

 French rivers, such as the Seine, the Somme or the Charente. 



In the extreme south of Chili proper follows the Rio Maullin ; which, 

 however, is little more than the sluggish and marshy emissary of Llanquihue, 

 largest of all the Chilian lakes. In all these rivers high and low water follow 

 with the regularity of the seasons, rising in the winter months (June, July 

 and August) under the influence of the rains, then subsiding continuously till 

 midsummer (December and January), when they are again swollen by the 

 melting snows. 



Farther south, in the Magellanic lands, a few rapid torrents rush down from 

 the upland valleys of the Cordillera, or else have their source in the glaciers. One, 

 however, the Rio Palena, takes its rise on the eastern slope of the Andes, and 

 forces its way seawards in deep gorges piercing the intervening ridges. Flowing 

 south of the Corcovado volcano, the Palena debouches in the fiords over against 

 the southern point of Chiloe. Inside the bar it may be navigated by boats 

 for a long distance above its mouth. It traverses the fertile district long 

 associated in legendary lore with the mythical city de los Cesares, or the 

 Giudad Encantada, that is, the Eldorado of the south continental regions. The 

 rumblings which are occasionally heard in the mountain, and which are prob- 



