The Tocantins. 271 



Parallel to the Tapajos, and about two hundred miles 

 distant, flows the Xingii. It rises in the heart of the em- 

 pire, has the length of the Ohio and Monongahela, and can 

 be navigated one hundred and fifty miles. This is the last 

 great tributary of the Amazon proper ; if, however, we con- 

 sider the Para as only one of the outlets of the great river, 

 we may then add to the list the grand Tocantins.* This 

 splendid river has its som-ce in the rich province of Minas 

 (the source, also, of the San Francisco and Uruguay), not 

 six hundred miles from Rio Janeiro— a region possessing 

 the finest climate in Brazil, and yielding diamonds and ru- 

 bies, the sapphire, topaz and opal, gold, silver, and petro- 

 leum. The Tocantins is sixteen hundred miles long, and 

 ten miles broad at its mouth ; but, unfortunately, rapids 

 commence one hundred and twenty miles above Cameta. 

 The Araguaia, its main branch, is, according to Castelnau, 

 one mile wide, with a current of three fourths of a mile 

 an hour. 



Here are six tributaries, all of them superior to any river 

 in Europe, outside of Russia, save the Danube, and ten 

 times greater than any stream on the west slope of the 



* We are inclined to hold, with Bates and others, that the Para River is 

 not, strictly speaking, one of the mouths of the Amazon. "It is made to 

 appear so on many of the maps in conxmon use, because the channels which 

 connect it with the main river are there given much broader than they are 

 in reality, conveying the impression that a large body of water finds an out- 

 let from the main river into the Para. It is doubtful, however, if there be 

 any considerable stream of water flowing constantly downward through these 

 channels. There is a great contrast in general appearance between the Para 

 and the main Amazon. In the former the flow of the tide always creates a 

 strong current upward, while in the Amazon the turbid flow of the mighty 

 stream overpowers all tides, and produces a constant downward current. 

 The color of the water is different ; that of the Para being of a dingy orange- 

 brown, while the Amazon has an ochreous or yellowish-cla}' tint. The for- 

 ests on their banks have a different aspect. On the Para, the infinitely di- 

 versified trees seem to rise directly out of the water, the forest-frontage is 

 covered with greenery, and wears a placid aspect ; while the shores of the 

 main Amazon are encumbered with fallen tranks, and are fi-inged with a belt 

 of broad-leaved grasses." — Naturalist on the Amazon, i., p. 3-5. 



