The Greatness of the Great Kiver. 357 



Anglo-Saxon capital and Anglo-Saxon enterprise, is des- 

 tined to assume proportions commensurate with the mag- 

 nitude of the river.* 



* The following note, corroborating some of the foregoing statements, is 

 from the pen of Colonel George E. Church, who has traveled extensively in 

 this region : " South America contains seven millions of square miles. The 

 Amazon River drains over one third of this vast area. Its basin is more than 

 twice the size of the valley of the Mississippi. It would hold forty-nine coun- 

 tries the size of England. Only by floating upon the majestic tide of the 

 Amazon does one get an idea of its mass of waters. The Mississippi River, 

 poured into it near its mouth, would not raise it six inches. In Bolivia, on 

 the Beni branch of its Madeira affluent, two thousand miles from its outlet, 

 it is 170 feet deep ! It presents still more astonishing soundings the same 

 distance up the main stream. With its branches, it offers not less than 15,000 

 miles of waters suitable for steamboat navigation. The Bolivian affluents of 

 its main branch alone count 3000 miles of river navigation. One half of this 

 is suitable for steamers drawing six feet of water, and the other half for craft 

 drawing three feet. " 



