CHAPTER YI. 



Amazonia : States of Amazonas and Para. 



VEN when restricted to the section of the fluvial basin claimed by- 

 Brazil, the expression Amazonia covers a space about twelve 

 times the size of the British Isles, but with a population, civilised 

 and savage, of little over half a million. Politically it comprises 

 the two States of Amazons and Para, although a portion of the 



latter lies beyond Amazonia proper. Even its capital, Belem or Para, is situated 



on a lateral channel east of the Amazons basin. 



The Amazons River. 



This river, most copious in South America and in the whole world, is already 

 a great continental watercourse at the point where it enters Brazilian territory, at 

 the foot of the Tabatinga cliffs. Between the Huanuco Andes and this place it 

 has traversed a distance of 1,500 miles, flowing at first in its upland valley 

 parallel with the Pacific coast, then through the pongos or gorges by which it 

 escapes from the Andine regions, and lastly in a winding bed across the Mainas 

 plains. In this upper section it has been joined by several large affluents, such as 

 the Chinchipe, the Paute, jMorona, Pastaza, Huallaga, and TJcayali, this last 

 draining the whole of South Peru. It has also received the Napo from Ecuador, 

 and the Javary, which forms the political frontier between Peru and Brazil. 



At the Javary confluence the volume of the Maranon (Upper Amazons) exceeds 

 that of the largest river in Eui'ope, yet it has still to traverse two-thirds of the 

 continent at its broadest part, and to receive the contributions of such mighty 

 streams as the Japura, the Purus, the Rio Negro, the Madeira, the Tapajoz, and the 

 Xingu, beyond which it expands into a prodigious estuary before finally mingling 

 its waters with those of the Atlantic. 



During its long course from the Andes to the sea the great arter}^ which has 

 everywhere a depth of at least 160 feet, changes its name three times. The 

 Maranon, as it is called within the Peruvian frontier, becomes the Soliraoes, or 

 Alto Amazonas, in the section between the Tabatinga and the Rio Negro conflu- 

 ence, beyond which, that is, throughout its lower course, it is specially known as 



