THE RIVER SYSTEM. 153 



another branch here, the Rio Parana. We came down the 

 Amazon to the island of Tupinambaranas, on a government 

 war steamer. These waters had never been navigated by a 

 steamship, and the question was how far it was possible to 

 navigate them ; but the captain, judging from the general sys- 

 tem of inter-ramification of these rivers, had no hesitation in 

 putting into this network of rivers, passing across the island of 

 Tupinambaranas, reaching the river Ramos, ascending the 

 river Manhes, and landing us at the town of Manhes, after a 

 navigation of over one hundred and twenty miles, through 

 regions which have not been explored, which have not yet been 

 sounded. They go there with their steamers as they go into 

 tlie open ocean, so much has the wliole of this valley the 

 character of an open sea, interspersed with islands. 



Now here is another river, the Trombetas, which joins the 

 Amazon near the city of Obidos — a river, the name of which, 

 probably, has hardly been heard in New England, but which is 

 navigable by the largest steamers ; and higher np there are sim- 

 ilar branches, extending in the same direction, with extensive 

 courses, which enable one to come down from the Rio Negro to 

 the Trombetas without entering into what may be considered as 

 the main valley. Now, to give an idea of the dimensions of this 

 network of rivers, I will say that it covers a surface of from 

 one hundred and twenty to one hundred and sixty miles in 

 width. But that is not the only characteristic of these singular 

 watercourses. The main river sends branches to its tributaries ; 

 and no better proof can be given of the slight difference in level 

 which exists between them. After ascending all day, by steam, 

 the Rio Negro, above its junction with the Amazon, we came 

 upon a branch coming from the Amazon itself. See how that 

 could be ascertained without a survey. The Rio Negro is a 

 black water river — that is, a river carrying clear water, darkly 

 colored by the decomposition of vegetation, and not flowing 

 through muddy banks, and therefore in no way turbid — carry- 

 ing no whitish deposits ; while the Amazon itself — the main 

 stream — and the Rio Madeira and some others, carry an immense 

 quantity of mud, and the water is turbid, wliitish — so much so 

 that you perceive the Amazon over a hundred miles at sea 

 before you enter its mouth. Now, after travelling a day up the 

 Rio Negro, suddenly we saw a large stream of whitish water 



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