TRAVELS IN BRAZIL. 143 



probability of a future extensive inland trade, he 

 is especially attracted by the nature of the country 

 through which it flows. The whole system of the 

 rivers, which it and its collateral, the Paranahyba, 

 receive during the whole of their extensive course, 

 descends from mountains which are distinguished, 

 above many ^thers, as much by their height and 

 extent, as by their especially belonging to that 

 formation which contains such immense quantities 

 of gold. On the east, the picturesque Serra Man- 

 tiqueira forms the principal boundary; towards the 

 north-east the Serra Negra, Da Canastra, Da Mar- 

 cella and Dos Cristaes, constitute the boundary be- 

 tween it and the Rio de S. Francisco. On the north 

 side the principal mountains of Goyaz, namely, the 

 Montes Pyreneos; and their branches, divide the 

 great valleys of the Araguaya and the Tocantins 

 from that of the Rio Grande. All these mountains, 

 which are chiefly composed of quartzy mica-slate, 

 contain on both their declivities the richest stores of 

 that metal. They form the principal stem of all the 

 Brazilian mountains of the interior, and in them 

 arise three mighty streams, the Tocantins, the 

 Rio de S. Francisco, and the Parana, which flow 

 in three very different directions to the sea. The 

 country through which the latter flows, which ex- 

 tends from 17° to 28° S. latitude, and from the 

 meridian of S. Joao d'El Rey (47° 55' W. of Paris) 

 to that of Buenos Ayres (60° 51' 15" W. of Paris), 

 and comprehends a great part of the capitanias of 



