Of the mountainous regions, the range forming the boundary line with Venezuela and Guiana on the north with its offshoots and the country between has attracted little interest and been but slightly explored. From Mt. Roraima, 8500 feet, at the corner of Venezuela and British Guiana, the range lowers toward the East, the highest point on the French frontier being about 2600 feet. South of this are broken ranges and deep river courses on the Brazilian plateau, which with an altitude of 2000 feet slopes south and east. Excepting the part near the coast, this section called Brazilian Guiana is semi-arid, on account of the mountains extracting the moisture from the northeast trade winds. Inhabited by a few roving bands of Indians and in the east visited by white mining adventurers, it has been deemed one of the least attractive parts of the Republic. Recent exploration, however, has reported an extent of valuable forest lands and immense areas of open country suited to cattle ranges. A railway from British Guiana is talked of to render this district accessible to the outside world. THE PLATEAU AND MOUNTAIN REGION An important part of Brazil is the plateau region (altitude 1000-3000 feet) south of the Amazon, especially that portion extending along the coastal states. The greater part of the central section was once covered with a thick sandstone sheet, now deeply eroded by numerous rivers which have left high flat ridges between the lower basins. The true mountain systems which rise from the plateau are parallel ranges following the coast, and the Central or Goyana system. An almost continuous range, the Serra do Mar, stretches from Rio Grande do Sul to Cape Frio, just east of Rio de Janeiro; beyond this, farther from the coast, broken sections extend well towards Cape St. Roque in Rio Grande do Norte. The highest point in the Serra do Mar or Coast Range is 7223 feet in the Organ Mountains near Rio, as the capital city is often called for short and may be so understood when here used. A second parallel range runs from Eastern São Paulo northeast and north to the point where the São Francisco River turns east in Bahia; Itatiaiá, 9823 feet, in Rio de Janeiro State, is its culminating point in Brazil. West of the São Francisco River is the Central or Goyaz Range, also in two branches, running from the southern part of Goyaz northeast, one branch across western Minas Geraes, the other in Goyaz with highlands extending far north separating the Tocantins Basin from the São Francisco, and in the south separating it from the Paraná. The highest point is near the city of Goyaz, Mt. Pyraneus, 7750 feet. How the great table-land has been broken down by rivers is shown by the Tocantins-Araguaya Basin excavated northward for 700 miles. From 100 to 500 miles wide, it is from 10 to 1500 feet deep.