SOUTH AMERICA. 



168 



narrows its valley considerably, and separates its 

 waters from those of the Parnaiba and other large 

 rivers, which discharge themselves into the ocean, 

 tiorth of Pernambuco in the province of Maran- 

 ham. 



A great proportion of the valley of the Araguaya, 

 consists of plains and steppes, and is even represent- 

 ed as forming an exception to the general fertility 

 of Brazil.^ West of this valley, there is another 

 assemblage of mountains, about the sixtieth degree of 

 west longitude, in which the most considerable rivers 

 of South America take their sources; such as the Pa- 

 raguay, the Madiera, the Chinga, and the Topajos. 

 The district of Mato Grosso embraces the heads of 

 these rivers, compared with which the greatest of Eu- 

 rope are but rills. The south side of the valley of the 

 Amazon, is the least known in South America, hav- 

 ing been visited only by occasional missionaries. All 

 that is known with certainty, is, that it is covered with 

 deep forests, and traversed by a great number of large 

 rivers. 



When I reflect on the myriads of human beings 

 which will swarm along its banks, and on the banks 

 of its southern tributaries, the Jaty, the Jurua, the 

 Tefe, the Carori, the Paros, the Madiera, the Tapa- 

 jos, and Chingu, I am lost in wonder and amazement. 

 That the germ already planted in this empire will ex- 

 pand in magnitude, in a manner never witnessed ex- 



* On the upper part of the Araguaya are situated the Campos 

 I Pareixis, so cal led from a nation of Indians inhabiting them. They 

 I are said to be extensive sand plains, with little or no vegetation , 

 ! except on the borders of the streams, which are said to be numer- 

 ous, notwithstanding the moving sands through which they flow. 



I 



