mountain range that forms the Brazilian border with French Guiana and Suriname. An eastern extension of the Acarai Mountains, the range extends for about 180 miles (290 km) in an east-west direction and attains elevations of 2,800 feet (850 m). The range constitutes part of the northern watershed of the Amazon River basin. During the Spanish colonial era it was thought to hide El Dorado, the fabulous country of gold. The area, however, was little explored until the 20th century, and it was only in 1952 that the Francis Mazière expedition made the first recorded crossing of the range from French Guiana into Brazil.