=The Paraguay.= The River Paraguay rises near Diamantino in Matto Grosso receiving a number of tributaries from that State, one of which, the Cuyabá, called the São Lourenço lower down, has its source close to that of the Tapajós branch of the Amazon. COAST RIVERS AND LAKES =Other rivers= flow directly into the Atlantic, several of some importance. North of the Amazon a few small rivers are called auriferous, the Araguary of considerable length. South of the Amazon Delta, some rivers flow north and northeast among the mountain ridges, others directly to the ocean. Of the former the most important are the Parnahyba, 900 miles long, navigable in sections, and farther south the São Francisco, the largest river of the coastal region, navigable 192 miles from the coast to the fine Paulo Affonso Falls, and above these for a much greater distance. The Jequitinhonha, 500 miles long, has 84 miles navigable. The most important river south of the São Francisco is the Parahyba do Sul, 658 miles long, rising in the State of São Paulo and flowing across Rio. It is navigable from its mouth a distance of 57 miles and 90 in its upper course. =The Ribeira de Iguapé.= The only coast river of economic importance south of Cape Frio is the Ribeira de Iguapé which rises on the table-land of Paraná and after receiving several affluents breaks through the mountains near the boundary of São Paulo. Besides a navigable channel of 118 miles it communicates with an inland waterway called the Iguapé or Mar Pequeno, extending many miles along the coast. In Rio Grande do Sul, where the coastal plain extends half across the State, several rivers partly navigable flow into the important Lagôa dos Patos, with which is connected by a navigable channel, 61 miles long, the Lagôa Mirím. =Lakes.= The Lakes of Brazil are few in comparison with the rivers. Those in the Amazon Basin are reservoirs from the overflow of the rivers and rise and fall with these. The coastal section has lagoons and inland channels formed by uplifted beaches; they are usually shallow and some, as in Bahia, are associated with swamps; but on the Alagôas coast the lakes are long, narrow, and deep. The largest coastal lakes are the two in Rio Grande do Sul already mentioned, separated by broad sand beaches from the ocean, with which they communicate by a channel 42 miles long at the south end of the Lagôa dos Patos. This lake is 140 miles long and 30 wide; the Mirím is 78 miles long and at the most 25 wide. Both are navigable, though shallow and with many sand bars. CLIMATE