“ SÃO FRANCISCO, a river of eastern Brazil rising in the S.W. part of the state of Minas Geraes, about 20° 30′ S., 46° 40′ W., near the narrow valley of the Rio Grande, a tributary of the Parana, and within 240 m. of the coast W. of Rio de Janeiro. It flows in a general N.N.E. direction across the great central plateau of Brazil to about lat. ”

“ Several of these tributaries are navigable for long distances by small boats—the aggregate being a little over 1000 m. Some authorities give the aggregate navigable channels of the São Francisco as 4350 m. ”