298 
TOPOGRAPHIC TERMS OF SPANISH AMERICA 
still used for the line of hills forming the scarp of the plateau region of 
Texas, between Austin and the Rio Grande. 
NAMES APPLIED TO STREAMS AND STREAM VALLEYS 
The Spanish language, judging from the application of the 
terms, is exceedingly rich in appropriate names for both stream 
courses and the forms of the stream basins. The following are 
a few of the words ajiplied to the streams proper : 
Rio. — flowing river; the arterial trunk of a drainage system. 
Cala. — A creek, corresponding to the laterals of the main drainage. 
Calela (leading into). — This is a useful word for the ultimate and small- 
est headwater ramification of a cala or lateral. It is synonymous with the 
term “ draw,” used in the middle Plains region of the United States, the 
“ coulee” of Montana, and “ drain” as used in Colorado. 
An-oijo. — A streamway, ordinarily dry, in which water occurs only im- 
mediately after a torrential rainfall. 
Tliere are also many terms describing certain characteristic 
acpteous conditions I’requently met wuth in our arid region, such 
as ojo, agua, tinaja, cieuega, ensenada, laguna, etc. 
The Spanish language likewise presents a rich assortment of 
appropriate terms descriptive of the form of the stream valley or 
drainage basin. 
Barmncn. — .V gorge of the first magnitude in a mountain region. The 
valley of the Arkansas through the Rockies is a barranca ; the Royal gorge 
is a canon in the lower portion of the barranca. 
Cation. — A generic term for a streamway having very steep walls and 
a narrow gorge. Its use conveys two ideas, verticality of wall and nar- 
rowness of the valley. 
Cajon. — A canon having vertical walls like the sides of a box. 
Tijera. — A cafion with angular walls having the profile of a letter V. 
CanoncUa. — A small canon. 
Canada . — The smallest cafion. 
Plaza. — The plaza described under the general head of plains belongs 
also under the head of drainage valleys. It resembles the cafion in that 
it is bordered by subvertical walls, but diflers in that its bottom instead 
of being narrow is of great breadth. 
Rincon. — Literally a corner ; a short, wide arm of a plaza indenting a 
mesa, receiving drainage at its inner end, and opening into a plaza. 
(^aebrada. — This word literally means a ravine, and is extensively used 
in Guatemala and other Central American states. 
Boca (mouth). — Where a stream way suddenly leaves a barranca, tijera, 
canon, or other precipitous gorge, and debouches on a plain, the point is 
called a boca. The bocas of Spanish America are conspicuous and inter- 
esting features. 
Foao (a ditch). — A streamway without conspicuous banks or bluffs. 
Calltjon . — A deep and narrow pass through a sierra. 
Angostura. — A nari’ow pass through a ceja. 
