74 
TOPOGRAPHY " 
The country east of the Paraguay Kiver is altogether different 
from the territory west of the river. East of the river the surface is 
undulating, hilly, mountainous, and well watered with many small 
rivers and mountain brooks, well wooded with magnificent forests 
interspersed with beautiful open prairies, and there are some swamp 
areas along the lower courses of the rivers. It is a beautiful country, 
much like the Piedmont section of the Carolinas and Georgia. West 
of the river the country is flat until the foothills of the mountains of 
Bolivia to the west are reached — a country of swamps, alternating 
strips of spiny woods, palms, and prairies becoming drier and semi- 
arid in the west. 
MOUNTAINS 
East of the river there are innumerable sierras or ranges of low 
mountains and isolated peaks well distributed over the country and 
generally extending in a northeast-southwest direction. They are 
usually low and heavily wooded to their summits with magnificient 
trees of fine hardwoods suitable for cabinet-making and construction 
work. The principal mountain range is the Sierra Amanbay, which 
crosses the country from north to south, and the Mbarcayu, a con- 
tinuation of the former, running in an east-and-west direction. The 
height of these mountains is not given, but probably none of them 
exceed 2,200 feet. 
LAKES 
There are many lagoons and lakes, the principal of which are 
Lake Ypoa and Lake Ypacara. Lake Ypoa is about 35 miles south 
of Asuncion and 25 miles east of the Paraguay Kiver. This is about 
25 miles long by 8 miles wide. Lake Ypacara is situated about 20 
miles east of Asuncion and is approximately 18 miles long by 6 miles 
wide. There are beautiful sierras to the east and the small town of 
San Bernardino serves as a winter resort. Many lagoons and swamps 
of large extent are found in the interior and along the water courses, 
which are grown up with swamp grass, cat-tails, reeds, and other 
aquatic plants. 
RIVERS 
Paraguay has two large and many small rivers. The Alta Parana 
on the east and south rises in the mountains of southeastern Brazil 
and flows generally in a southwest direction to its junction with the 
Paraguay, a short distance from Corrientes, which then flows almost 
due south to the La Plata. The Parana is over 2,000 miles long and 
above its junction with the Paraguay it is called the Alta (Upper) 
Parana. Along the border of Paraguay for nearly 700 miles it is a 
broad stream, from one-half mile to 3 miles wide, of clear water 
with a swift current flowing over a rocky or sandy bottom, with 
numerous islands and high, well-wooded banks. It is navigable 
from the falls of Guayra to its junction with the Paraguay, a distance 
of 676 miles. About 100 miles south of the Guayra Falls is the mouth 
of the Iguazu and a few miles up this river are the great falls of the 
Iguazu, which are more than three times as high as Niagara. 
« Bertoni, M. S. Description fisica y economica del Paraguay; mapa del Paraguay Oriental, Llech- 
Augusto de 1915. Asuncion. 
Gasperi, F. E. Atlas general de la Repiiblica del Paraguay ... 1. ed. Buenos Aires, "Casa Jacobo 
Peuser." 1920. 
