THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 51 



that in many respects the civilization of Europe or the United 

 States does not show a greater degree of intellectual refinement 

 or any more progress in the arts and sciences than the people of 

 Mexico, Central America and Peru were acquainted with. The 

 same is true of Egypt, and we cannot contemplate these wonders 

 to-day without being impressed with the belief that civilizations, 

 like tides, ebb and flow, their rise and fall being dependent upon 

 change of climate, revulsions of nature, or protracted wars, 

 though measured by centuries. 



THE AMAZON RIVER. 



THE wonders of South America do not, however, cluster 

 around the ruins of a past civilization, for one of the greatest 

 of natural wonders is the mighty Amazon River and its marvel- 

 lous effect upon the vegetation and animal life of Brazil. This 

 remarkable stream was discovered by Yanez Pinzor in the year 

 1500, and was first navigated by one of Pizarro's officers named 

 Orellana, in 1541. The word Amazon is supposed to be derived 

 from the story of Orellana' s fight with a body of Amazons a 

 nation of female warriors, although some declare it is from an 

 Indian word, Amassona boat destroyer which is decidedly 

 improbable. The men who opposed Orellana wore long tunics 

 and parted their hair in the middle, which fact, aided by the 

 fabled Amazons of the Caucasus, doubtless led him to believe 

 them women. 



The total length of this gigantic stream, as estimated by 

 Lieutenant Herndon, is 3,944 miles, and its average depth forty- 

 three feet, quite enough to float the largest ocean steamers, but 

 owing to the numerous falls and rapids it is really navigable for 

 steam vessels only about 500 miles from its mouth. A singular 

 feature of the Amazon is its abrupt banks, there being no shoal 

 water near the shore as in other rivers, soundings taken from 

 the bank often showing fifty feet or more, equaling the greatest 

 depth of the mid-stream. Like nearly all tropical rivers, the 

 Amazon is subject to periodical inundations. The banks, which 

 are generally high, are overflowed and vast tracts of land 

 flooded to such an extent, indeed, that its freshening effects are 



