The universal geography : earth and its inhabitants

202 AMAZONIA AND LA PLATA.
between the sources of the Pipiry Guazu affluent of the Uruguay on one and side
of the San Antonio affluent of tbe Iguazu on the other, and should "cover the
settlements and missions of Spain and PortugaL" But the commissioners were
unable to identify these rivers, and after eighteen years of futile attempts to come
to an understanding they ceased to act. Since then Paraguay, one of the heirs
of the Spanish claims, has been excluded by force of arms, and the issues have
been narrowed down to the pretentions of Argentina and Brazil. In 1887 the
question was referred to the President of the United States, who, however, has
to decide in favour of one or the other of the litigants absolutely, without the
option of awarding to each a share of the disputed territory, which has a total area
of about 12,000 square miles, with a scattered population (1890) of 2,000 stock-
breeders owning 40,000 head of cattle.
Physical Features.
South of Rio de Janeiro the Coast Range ceases to present the aspect of a
mountain chain, at least beyond the Bocaina Mass. After ascending the seaward
slope and the slight prominence forming the scarp of the plateau, the traveller
advancing from Santos finds himself on a rolling plain with no apparent limits
except distant ridges of low elevation. The character of the vegetation also
changes abruptly from the tall and leafy trees of the tropical zone to stunted
growths, in many places recalling the heaths of North Germany, and on the
terraces to groups of fine araucarias growing somewhat wide apart and giving
free play to the sunlight.
Although the border ridges are continued regularly along the sea-coast, the
different sections take various names, generally from the towns or villages at
their foot. Above the port of Ubatuba they are known as the Serra de Ubatuba ;
between Santos and S. Paulo as the Serra de Cubatao, from a hamlet lost in the
marshy bush on a creek enclosing the island of Santos. Seen from the coast the
crests seem to run at a somewhat uniform altitude of about 3,000 feet, and
consist of gneiss and granite pierced by eruptive masses of melaphyre. In the
Serra dos Itatins between Santos and Iguape the range would seem to rise to
4,'370 feet ; farther on the Serra de Guarahu presents the same elevation, and in
the State of Parana the Serra Graciosa rises, according to D'Orville Derbj% to
5,000 feet. The Serra do Mar is crossed by the railway from Santos to S. Paulo
at an altitude of 2,620 feet, while the line between Paranagua and Curitiba pierces
the crest through a tunnel 3,130 feet high.
In the State of Santa Catharina the system is interrupted by the broad valley
of the Rio Itajahy, beyond which it develops the superb terraces known as the
Campos de Boa Vista, and the picturesque granite hills of Tubarao. Here paleo-
zoic limestones and sandstones abut on the crystalline rocks of the Coast Range,
and vast stalactite caves traversed bj' running waters occur in many places.
But the goldfields, profitably worked during the last century, have been aban-
doned.