Vast Vohwie of the Amazon. 5 



Many great rivers run into the Amazon from the north and 

 the south, most of them navigable, for many hundred miles. 

 The Madeira, its greatest tributary, after running 2000 miles, 

 empties into the king of rivers, without making any perceptible 

 difference in its width or depth. 



This mighty current, rushing into the ocean, meets the equa- 

 torial current and for over one hundred miles keeps on nearly a 

 straight course, when the stronger and mightier oceanic current 

 deflects it to the north. At from 200 to 300 miles from land, the 

 sea is strongly tinged, and in April and May has nearly the clay- 

 yellow hue of the Amazon. And even further north, about 400 

 miles from its mouth, the naturalist on the Amazon tells us, "we 

 passed numerous patches of floating grass mingled with tree 

 trunks and withered foliage ; among these I espied many fruits 

 of the Amazoniaii palm. And this was the last I saw of 

 the Amazon." 



The Rio de la Plata. 



The La Plata, the outlet of the waters of central South 

 America, is formed by the union of the Uruguay and Parana, 

 about 150 miles fi'om the ocean ; a little lower down, at Monte- 

 video, it is 62 miles wide and widens rapidly to the Atlantic, 

 where it discharges more water than all the rivers of Europe. 

 The tributaries of the Parana are fan-shaped. Its most eastern 

 branches rise in the mountains of Brazil, within seventy miles of 

 the Atlantic ocean ; and 1500 miles away, on the other side of the 

 continent, its most western tributaries rise only 125 miles from 

 the Pacific. 



Steamers ascend the Parana, Paraguay and Cuyaba, 2100 miles 

 to Cuyaba, and the river with its branches is navigable for 5000 

 miles. 



The San Francisco. 



The San Francisco, about 1800 miles long, rises near Rio de 

 J.aneiro and flows north about 1200 miles between parallel ranges 

 of mountains, then turns east and forces its way through tlie 

 coast range to the Atlantic ocean. It runs through the gold and 

 diamond regions of Brazil, and has a considerable population 

 along its banks. It has many falls and rapids, and considerable 

 slack-water navigation. 



