The universal geography : earth and its inhabitants

EITEES OF AEGENTIXA. 877
over the hard bed of the estuary through the water reaching up to their axles.
The superficial area of the estuary proper, vrhich at the entrance is 60 miles wide,
is estimated at about 5,000 square miles.
Still more extensive is the outer gulf, which is limited on the north side by
Cape Maldonado, and on the south by Cape San Antonio. From the observations
on the marine temperature made by the Gazelle, it would appear that the Platean
Fig. 152.—isGiDmjfB Scen'eet.—VrEW takejt opposite the Collos-Cbea.
waters penetrate in the direction of the south as far as Cape Corrientes. Here
they merge in two other liquid masses, one coming from the tropical regions, the
other setting from the Pacific Ocean round Cape Horn.
Despite buoys and lighthouses, the funnel-shaped Plate Estuary continues to
be extremely dangerous to shipping. The short, chopping seas charged with
sands, the swift and shifting currents, the fierce squalls succeeding each other at