ss than 200 m., only 5 or 6 m.
of which are navigable for small steamers. The Sao Francisco, which
belongs to the inland plateau region, is the largest river of the
eastern coast of Brazil and exists by virtue of climatic conditions
wholly different from those of the coast where it enters the Atlantic.
The tributaries of the lower half of this great river, which belong to
the Atlantic coast region, are small and often dry, but the upper
river where the rainfall is heavier and more regular receives several
large affluents. The river is navigable up to the Paulo Affonso falls,
192 m. from the coast, and above the falls there is a much longer
stretch of navigable water.

From the Sao Francisco to Cape Frio there are many short rivers rising
on the slopes of the plateau and crossing the narrow coastal plain to
the sea. There are also a few of greater length which rise far back on
the plateau itself and flow down to the plain through deeply cut,
precipitous courses. The navigable channels of these rivers are
restricted to the coastal plain, except where a river has excavated
for itself a valley back into the plateau. The more important of these
rivers are the Itapicuru, Paraguassu, Contas or Jussiape, Pardo or
Patype, and Jequitinhonha, of Bahia; the Mucury, and Doce, of Espirito
Santo; and the Parahyba do Sul of the state of Rio de Janeiro. Of the
Bahia group, the Jequitinhonha, sometimes called the Belmonte on its
lower course, is the longest and most important, rising near Serro in
the state of Minas Geraes and flowing in a curving north-east
direction for a distance of about 500 m., 84 of which are navigable
inland from the sea. The Mucury and Doce also rise in Minas Geraes,
and are much broken in their descent to the lower plains, the former
having a navigable channel of 98 m. and the latter of 138 m. The
Parahyba, or Parahyba do Sul, which enters the sea about 30 m. north
of Cape S. Thome, is the largest and most important of the Atlantic
coast rivers south of the Sao Francisco. It rises on an elevated
tableland in the state of Sao Paulo and flows across the state of Rio
de Janeiro from west to east, through a broad fertile valley producing
coffee in its most elevated districts and sugar on its alluvial
bottom-lands nearer the sea. It has a total length of 658 m., 57 of
which are navigable between S. Fidelis and its mouth, and about 90 m.
of its up