AMAZON 



221 



AMAZONS 



THE COURSE OF THE MIGHTY AMAZON 



Some of its tributaries are among the great streams of the world. The smaller map, In its black 

 portion, indicates the part of South America which appears in the larger space. 



zon receives over 200 tributaries, the most 

 important of which are treated elsewhere (see 

 JAITRA, JURNA, MADEIRA; Rio NEGRO; TAPAJOS; 



TOCANTINS; XlNGU). 



Much of the Amazon is really a great basin 

 rather than a river, and the lower section, at 

 least, was once a gulf of the ocean. After it 

 leaves the Andes, there is a scarcely perceptible 

 fall. Where it leaves Peru and enters Brazil 

 it is already a mile wide, but is only 300 feet 

 above the level of the Atlantic, and in the 

 last 400 miles its average fall is only one- 

 eighth of an inch per mile. Yet so enormous 

 is the mass of water which the river receives 

 from its tributaries that it flows at the rate 

 of two and one-half to three miles an hour and 

 discharges at iia mouth between 4,000,000 and 

 5,000,000 cubic feet of water per second. In 

 a single day this discharge would make a lake 

 twenty-five miles long and four to five miles 

 wide, with a uniform depth of 100 feet. 



Throughout most of its course the banks of 

 the Amazon are little higher than the stream. 

 In the rainy season the river floods the low- 

 lands, sometimes covering several hundred 

 thousand square miles. Though the true 

 course of the river is from four to six miles 

 wide, there are numerous side channels, which 

 it is possible to ascend for hundreds of miles 

 without even entering the main channel. Be- 

 low Obidos (see colored map, SOUTH AMER- 

 ICA), the river widens gradually, until, at its 

 mouth, it reaches a maximum of 207 miles. 

 Lying in the mouth is the island of Marajos, 

 which i< I ,rner than the combined areas of 

 Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island, 

 and is about equal in size to the kingdom of 

 Denmark. The river current is noticeable in 

 the ocean 200 miles from shore because of the 

 discolored water, and at high tide the current 



is reversed for 400 miles inland. The inrush 

 of the tide is so great that it frequently 

 creates a bore or pororoca, a wall of water 

 from twelve to twenty-five feet high (see 

 BORE). 



For the plant and animal life of the Ama- 

 zon basin, and the character of the commerce 

 carried on the river, see BRAZIL. W.K 



Consult Mozans' Along the Andes and Down 

 the Amazon; Lange's In the Amazon Jungle. 



AMAZONS, a race of warlike women who, 

 according to ancient Greek tradition, either 



AN AMAZON 



Thin illustration is of a statue of an Amazon. 



In the Royal Museum, Berlin. Germany. The 



it ruled to convey an Impression of the 



ry. strength and daring of these women nf 



trad It 



permitted no men to reside among them, or 

 kept them in a state of slavery. They are 

 generally supposed to have inhabited the 

 region on the banks of the river Thcrmodon, 



