J. C. Branner — The Serra de Jacolnna. 385 



Art. XLII. — The Geology and Topography of the Serra de 

 Jacohina, State of Bahia, Brazil ; by John C. Bkanner. 



The Serra de Jacobina, taken as a whole, is the most beauti- 

 ful and most majestic mountain range in Bahia, and one of the 

 finest in all Brazil. The range is known at different places by 

 more than a dozen different names, these names, in accordance 

 with the popular ciistom in the interior, being taken from the 

 various cities, towns, villages, and estates situated along its 

 base. 



For the sake of geographic and geologic clearness it seems 

 best to call the range as a whole the Serra de Jacobina, for 

 that is the name by which it is most widely and most appro- 

 priately known in Brazil, though it is called the Serra de Saude 

 in Barao Homem de Mello's Atlas do Brazil. The local names 

 may well be left for the various high peaks in the range. 



The profile given by Dr. Allen in Hartt's Geology and 

 Physical Geography of Brazil, at page 310, gives an erroneous 

 impression of the topography about the city of Jacobina. This 

 impression has been further deepened by the other erroneous' 

 idea that there is one great moiintain-range — the so-called 

 Serra do Espinhago of Eschwege — extending across this region.* 

 As a matter of fact there are two very distinct ranges at and 

 near Jacobina, to say nothing of others farther west, while, so 

 far as the Serra do Espinhago is concerned, a field examination 

 of the topography and geology of the region lends little or no 

 support to the theory of the existence of such a range in this 

 part of the state of Bahia. 



The southern extremity of the Serra de Jacobina is nearly 

 three hundred kilometers on an air-line northwest of the city 

 of Bahia. Its southern end is on the north side of Bio Jacuipe, 

 just southeast of the village of Canna Brava, and some thirty- 

 five kilometers south of the city of Jacobina. From this point 

 it runs nearly due north past Jacobina, Saude, Campo For- 

 moso, Yilla Nova, and Jaguarary, and ends just west of the 

 station of Jurema, on the Bahia and Sao Francisco railway — a 

 total distance of 225 kilometers on a line. Though it widens 

 considerably at some places, its average width is only about six 

 or seven kilometers. The altitudes of the highest points in 

 the range have not been measured. The writer has determined 

 the altitudes of a few prominent peaks, but none of the peaks 

 climbed by him was the highest. The highest peak ascended 



*0. A. Derby. The Serra do Espinha90, Brazil, Jour. Geol., xiv, 347-401. 

 This article reproduces Dr. Allen's profile and sketch of the Serra do Tom- 

 bador. 



