UUKUUfl 



AMA7XJNAR 



the end of March to the end of June. This 



1 1. ink that 

 stream of the 

 feeden of the 



dnmiHnn. *pporte strongly Ik* opinioo of UMM who 



Uw U*\n onibi to be sonafatond a* the head atr. 



Th. MM eattortr of UK, southern feed 



I 



" burr-/- their volume of water earlier in the year than the 



lUden; tmt thi* n*ay b* explained by observing that they run 

 tjanmih valley* which have a strongly inclined surface, whilst the 

 country drained by the Madera i* a plain, in moat part* entirely level, 

 and in otk-n very slightly undulating. Water therefore must 

 snimnislin to a much greater extent, baton It can force it* way to 

 ta* river. 



The bank* of UM Amirttf. from it* mouth to that of the Rio 

 Negro an low, cwampy, and subject to annual inundation* : generally 

 to a distance of 10 to 12 mile* and upward*. The southern banks 

 an lower than the northern. Above the month of the Rio Negro the 

 .i hanks an in general higher than UM northern, and rise even 

 UM fntnete above the surface of the river. Smyth, who 

 UM river when it wat full, obterved several place* when 

 UM bank* consisting of red clay-cliff, roe* from 16 to 80 feet above it, 

 and the*, din* extended for many mile* along the river. They rise 

 in most place* perpendicularly ; and as their bane is continually washed 

 by a very strong current, large piece* of earth an frequently detached 

 and fall into the river. The passing vessels an Boole- 



put into danger by that* falling masses, and therefore such 

 i are dreaded by boatmen. The bank* of the Amaaona*, and 

 also thoee of it* confluent* as far a* they flow through allurial ground, 

 are a* it wen lined by a nearly continuoui aerie* of lake*, many of 

 them of considerable extent, a* the Lago da* Campinas, which in 

 40 mile* long, the Lake of Saraoa (west of 60 W. long.), which it 

 70 mile* long, and other*. All theee lakes are united to the river 

 by *iiiiU through which they receive it* waters during the 

 fresh els and which form their ouUeU when the water of the river is 

 on the decrease. 



The countries inclosed within the basin of the river consist of a 

 higher and a lower region, and the line where theee two region* border 

 on one another i* indicated by cataract* in the rivers, which are 

 eocs sinned by their descent from the higher to the lower ground. 

 Between the Varan and the Uoayali a chain of elevated hill* runs 

 north ward, at far as 7 SO' 8. lat, which intersects the western portion 

 of the lower region, and separates the sub-bum of the I'cayali from 

 UM great alluvial plain of the Amazonas. This lower region there- 

 fore extend* along both sides of the Amazonas from its mouth, near 

 BO* W. long, to the embouchure of the Uoayali, near 72 W. long., 

 from east to west about 1800 miles. But its width varied, being much 

 narrower towards the mouth of the river than farther west. In the 

 meridian of the cataract* of the Xingh (4* 30' 8. lat), it probably 

 doe* not reach the equator and hardly exceed* 260 mile* in width. 

 Between UM meridians of 61* and 68' W. long, it extends from 

 the cataract* of the Madera on the south, to those of a Maria in 

 the Rio Branoo, over more than 10 degrees of latitude, and i* more than 

 700 miles wide. The distance between the cataract of Vuelta del 

 Diablo in the Uoayali and the great cataracts of the Yapurh is more 

 than 000 miles. The Burbot of this lower region has an area of about 

 1,000.000 square miles, 



We are rery imperfectly acquainted with the nature of this lower 

 region. The country along the rivers is generally overgrown with 

 Ibreeta of trees, greatly differing in sis* and species, with various 

 boshes and underwood between them, and all theee plants are tied 

 teyillur by numerous creepers, so that they often form a vegetable 

 wall through which it is impossible to penetrate. The water-courses 

 woe are the roads which lead through this wilderness. In some 

 plates however ratt plain* called campo* and covered with long 

 can* grass, line the banks of the rivers for miles. In thoee tract* 

 whieh are not (abject to inundation, and which are more numerous 

 and esteiMlre about UM month of the Rio Negro, toe country is 

 akewi*. covered with Interminable forests, but the trees are of more 



tqoal die, aad 



wood I* wanting, with the exception of some 



an apera. Occasionally *om. treeless tract* of moderate extent occur, 

 covered with rich gnus, intermingled with a few low bushes. Ths 

 abondaae* of water, UM softness of the loll, and th* very small 

 M-iiHtlii af UM surface, bare made some phenomena frequent here 

 which an ran In other countries. Huoh an especially the natural 

 enannsis by whieh two rivers an united. Between the river* Madera 

 and Paras at least two men natural wntey-eoiiimmiieation. exist, 

 tOO mile* distant from on* another. Others occur between the Rio 

 Vcfro and UM Tatmn. In such eases commonly a lake i fnunri 

 MMpyms; UM middle of UM country between UM two rivers, and 

 from UM lake it*M two hannal*. which carry the water, of the lake 

 to the two riven, or at other time, bring it from the riven to th* 

 tak. Tbe*. natural caaal* an narlgabl* for boat*, except daring two 







TH. eotMrtry extending from UM cataracU of UM Yapurk, Rio Negro, 

 and Rio BratMo. to UM northern edg. of UM basin of th. Amaaonas, 

 I* Many unknown a* far west a* W W. long., with UM exception of 

 rteralMyofUMlU.Bfmno. It s~n, moatiy to b* traversed from 

 north to smith by abort oftM. of the Parim* Mountains, wl 



nAa UM nottndary of UM baatn. Th* valley of 

 wide, and extend* between two ridget of the Parim* 



The lower part of it 

 inundated. Then are also several tract* 



tai 



Mountain* Mat and watt 

 swamp*, and is frequently 



destitute of tree* and covered with herbage, hich are called savannah*. 

 West of 66* the basin of the AmimMnn is not inclosed by a ridge of 

 hills or mountains, but a plain 600 or 600 mile* acroas extend* from 

 the western side of the Parime Mountain* to the eastern declivity of 

 the And** of New Oranada and Ecuador. In it* lower eastern district* 

 UM highest portion of the plain nowhere exceed* 1100 feet above the 

 sea-levrd, but at the foot of the Andes it linos to more than 2000 feet. 

 The surface of this plain is rather level, and in part* swampy; 

 but then occur several tract* covered with rocky hills, which how- 

 ever rarely rise more than 800 or 400 feet above their base. The 

 eastern diatriota of it an covered with interminable forests, but along 

 the base of th* Andes a great part of the country is said to bo clear, 

 and to form extensive savannah*. Nothing shows more clearly that 

 this country is very little elevated above the adjacent regions than that 

 then exist natural water-communication* crossing it from north to 

 south, and uniting the Orinoco with the Rio Negro. Thus the Caati- 

 quiari, a very considerable river, branches off from the Orinoco, 

 between 86* and 67 W. long., and running in a southern direction 

 joins the Rio Negro after a course of about 100 mile*. The native 

 tribe* also state that between 71* and 72 W. long., a similar river 

 branches off from the Ouaviari, an affluent of the Orinoco, and after 

 a course of more than 100 miles joins the Uapea, one of the principal 

 feeden of the Rio Negro ; and it it added, that this river has been 

 navigated by a Portuguese called Cubuquena, whence it is called 

 Canal de Cubuquena. 



That portion of the basin of the Amaaonas which lies beyond the 

 cataract* of the riven Tooantins, Xingh, Tapajos, and Madera, presents 

 quite a different character. The numerous cataract* which occur in 

 all these riven where they approach the alluvial plain, show evidently 

 that the country in these part* mutt rise suddenly, and to an elevation 

 of several hun.lr. .1 i. t. It continues to rise, though slowly, in 

 advancing farther south, until it reaches the mountain-ranges which 

 form part of the water-shed between the Parana and the Amazonas, 

 and which occur at the source* of the Tooantins, between 18 and 19 

 & lab, and at those of the riven Xingh and Tapajos, near 16 S. lat 

 Near the source* of these riven the country may be between 2500 and 

 8000 feet above the sea-level, and the mountains south of them rise 

 only from 1000 to 1500 feet higher. The surface of this country is 

 furrowed by broad open valleys, and traversed by wide broadbacked 

 ridges from 1000 to 2000 feet high above the valleys, and of gentle 

 ascent Both valley* and ridges run south and north. The upper 

 part of the ridges is mostly bare, or covered only with a coarse scanty 

 grass ; their declivities are overgrown with bushes, or short crooked 

 trees, and the aoil is nearly everywhere bad. Tall trees occur in this 

 region only in the narrow valleys where the riven have deposited a 

 more fertile soil. In the level parts of the valleys the soil is commonly 

 rich. Towards the western boundary of this region, about the sources 

 of the numerous feeden of the Tapajos, and in the centre of the 

 South American continent, is a sandy desert, nearly without vegetation, 

 which is called Campos Parcels. 



In this description the sub-basin of the Madera is not included. It 

 has quite a different character, being a level plain, which extend* from 

 the western branch of the Brazilian Mountains, which is called Serra 

 Oeral or Chapada do Matto Oroseo, to the foot of the Bolivian Andes, 

 and thus forms a communication between the great plain of the 

 Amazonas and the Pampas. The most elevated portion of thin plain 

 occurs between 18* and 20 S. lat., and divides the feeders of the 

 Madera from those of the Paraguay, a tributary of the Parana. This 

 plain is said to be almost entirely covered with water during the rainy 

 season, and its surface is nearly a perfect level ; it remains in a very 

 swampy condition even at the end of the dry season. These swamps, 

 called Pantanae'8, are either covered with graas and short herbage, or 

 with canes and rushes. It it supposed that during the rains, and 

 shortly after them, there exists a water-communication between 

 the river* of this plain and the Laguna de Xarayes, a similar tract of 

 country situated on both side* of the upper course of the Paraguay. 



Notwithstanding the vast extent of the basin of th* Amauuias, the 

 great fertility of the soils of by far the greatest part of it, it* numerous 

 natural productions, and the navigability of the principal river and 

 it* affluent*, which (though at some places interrupted by cataract*) 

 an navigable almost to their source*, very few establishments have 

 been forme,! in it. so few indeed that the aggregate population of all 

 of them hardly amount* to 400,000. The beet settled portion is that 

 which lie* in the mountain-region of the Andes above the Pongo de 

 Mansericho ; this tract, together with the valley of the Huallaga, may 

 contain half the population ,,f the basin. East of the Huallaga, a* far 

 M the mouth of the Rio Negro, only a very few small settlements have 

 bean made, the intervening country remaining chiefly in the possession 

 of the native tribes. There are numerous small settlements on the 

 Kio Negro, occupied in agriculture and other branches of industry, 

 but the population hardly exceed* 40,000. On the Madera, T 

 Xingii, and Tooantins, a few colonies have been settled near 

 confluence with the Amazona*, and a few ot hers are on the first and 

 last mentioned riven toward* their sources, but they are some hundreds 

 of miles apart Below the mouth of the Rio Negro the settlement* 

 on the Amatona* an more numerous, but if the town of Gram Park 



