26.04.2013 Views

The universal geography : earth and its inhabitants

The universal geography : earth and its inhabitants

The universal geography : earth and its inhabitants

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS

Create successful ePaper yourself

Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.

304 AMAZONIA AND LA PLATA.<br />

which in some districts is an exotic introduced by the Jesu<strong>its</strong>—hence <strong>its</strong> name,<br />

arbol de las Misiones, " Mission tree."<br />

To the arborescent flora of spontaneous growth the people are indebted for<br />

the staple of their export trade, yerba mate. Besides the forests, which cover<br />

the greater part of the region east of the Paraguay, stretches of savannas occur<br />

Fig. 129.—FoEEBT AND CiMPoa Reoions.<br />

Scale 1 : 7,50(1,000.<br />

186 Miles.<br />

here <strong>and</strong> there, nearly all occupied by waving seas of the maccga grass, which<br />

grows to the height of a man. <strong>The</strong> hard stalk <strong>and</strong> sharp blades of this plant<br />

make travelling extremely difficult, <strong>and</strong> even dangerous.<br />

Like the flora, the fauna belongs to the Brazilian zone. <strong>The</strong>re are three<br />

.species of monkeys, blood-sucking vampires, jaguars, pumas, tapirs, besides

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!