4 QO THE TRIBUTARIES OF THE AMAZON. 



wide, and the whole delta nearly 200 miles across, 

 from shore to shore." * The depth of its waters is 

 also very great, and " in some places exceeds 50 fa- 

 thoms" f (=300 feet) ; its mighty flood continually 

 moving steadily seawards, with swift and silent majesty, 

 until it mingles with the ocean where it stains the 

 waters " for 600 miles from its mouth" the river 

 current being distinctly perceptible in the ocean for 

 more than 200 miles from the shore." ** 



We have endeavoured thus briefly to convey some 

 idea of the extent and magnitude of this great river 

 system, and shall now supplement it with a few words 

 respecting its principal tributaries. The head stream 

 is either the " Ucayle" or the "Maraiion," both large 

 rivers, and the Amazon is navigable for vessels of 

 the largest size up to the confluence of these rivers, 

 at a point some 2,200 miles from the sea. The fol- 

 lowing are a few of its principal tributaries, most of 

 them, as the reader will see, being as we have said 

 of enormous magnitude. From the north there are: 

 the Napo and the Putumayo, each about 700 miles 

 long; the Yapura, 1000 miles; the Rio Negro, 1400 

 miles ; and others of less importance. From the south : 

 the Madeira of nearly 2000 miles ; the Tapayos, 1200 

 miles; the Xingu 1300 miles; the Tocantino (an 

 immense river), 1200 miles; and many others, ff Many 

 of these rivers are very imperfectly known, and later 

 information seems to show that even these large 

 dimensions are in some cases considerably below the 



* Encvclop. Brit., gth Edit., Vol. i., p. 654 (Article "Amazon"). 

 f Ibid. 



Brazil, the Amazon and the Coast, by Herbert H. Smith, 1880, p. 3. 

 ** Encvclop. Brit., gth Edit.. Vol. i., p. 654 (Article "Amazon"). 



