Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1867-02-21


le Of its course the two great tributaries joi
Of it. fone OF them from the table lands
IA }uavema and the low lands betweia
-e the Andes and Gglayama). The III
b Negro 90 its northern shores and tl
= Rio Madila on its southern shore, Whit
b comes from the mountains Of Boliv!
=. and the Andes at that latitude. The,
n two tributaries are so large that froI
b their junction with the main stream tll
4 stream assumes q greater dimensiOI
a The whole basin Is fall OF water after
4 has received these two tributaries, and
, is that mart alone which general
: yoes bv the name of the AmazOnas
q ltphe Rio AmazOnas begins at the juns
. ton of the Rio Negro, and extends 1;
: the Atlantic. Above the junction ,
! the Rio Negro, and through the terTitoI.
! of Peru. il is called the Rio Solimoesl
: and it receives from Peru to Rio Neglf
two very important tributaries on u
r northern side. One is the lea, and th'
! other the Japura. Ga the southern sids
: it receives other tributaries, and thel
comes the Rio Madeira, to which / bav'
. already alluded That part of the ANA,
zon which occupies the middle track q
+ the continent, goes by the name sOf ths
. Solimoes. The upper part, which is ID
: Peru, and which comes down from the
Andes. is called MaTanOn, and it receives
tributaries on the northern side and on
the southern The southern shore of the
Amazon, below the Madeira, receives the
Xingu, Tapai0s and Taeoutius, all three
Of which How from the northern slope oi
the table lands Of Brazil. To the east Ct
the Rio Negro there are q number CT
rivers which are hardly known among
rs by their names, and which are yet
very important and remarkable fOr their
peculiar character very broad, but not
long. One Of them opens into the AMI
EZon with a mouth OF over thirty miles.
Tire Tocantius presents a front Of sixty
1 miles, and it is only one Of the smaller
f. tributaries of the Amazon, so that As yoI
I reach its mouth it seems as if 4 br0ai
ocean were spreading before you and yOl
were passing from the river into an open
/ sea, instead Of meeting an aifiuent OF the
: river on which you navigate. So also the
I Xiua; it Is not over forty miles ia length
and has a width Of over twenty miles, 50
that these rivers are remarkable for their
width. They are recomparatively shallow,
/ and their current is very light The nat
I ural consequence is that they carry little
material in suspension. Their waters are
[ therefore clear, transparent, and sOme-
what tinged By vegetable substance,
/ The waters Of the Topajos are greenish,
! those Of the &inga sre a tinge Of gray,
( those Of the TOcanlius about the same, a
/ little yellowish; but all three are clear
waters, as also are the rivers / have
named before. There are other rivers ef
the same character which are tributary
TO the Madeira, but I need not name
them particularly. Now the Madeira Is
of totally different character. It is IA
l., u 4
carries with it large ~afn0unt Of loose
material, mud and whitish clay, so tina.
its waters are turbid, of a milky color,
and hence the Madeira is called the
white water river.n The same char.
acteristic is shared by all the rivers thar
flow into the Amazon to the west of the
Madeira. The Purus, which Is one Of
the largest of the tributaries, the Jurua
and the Japura, are all three white water
rivers They differ however, from
the Madeira IN one respect that though
they are very deep, they are very tortu'-
Gus their course is not straight, but
they are meauderiHg. They are liter.
ally destitute Of islands, while the Ma
Geira has numerous islands. The cOnse-
quence is that these rivers admit of nav
igation TO a great distance. A major in
the Brazilian army, who was my com
pauiOn during the whole Journey, and
who Is as familiar with the AmaEOu as
our pilots are with the Mississippi, told
me that he explored the principal course
Of the Purus for over 500 miles, and
found the river uavigable for vessels
drawing fifteen to eighteen feet. The
Rio Negro, again, presents 4 very differ
ent aspect. 1t is river which is very
wide, but it is deep and hes . very slow
course. 1t is dark aud transparent;
dark owing to the immense amount Of
vegetable matter held in solution in the
water-sOmewha like those amber
colored streams We find in our
woodlands, which are dark and
yet transparent Such is the Rio Negro,
only that instead Of dark amber lis tint
is so rich chat, seen from above, the
whole river appears As black AS ink.
There are other rivers which have the
same character, but not so dark. You
see, therefore, that not only in width
and depth and buIk Of water, but also in
the character of the water, every region
Of the Amazon has its peculiarites. The
Amazon is the main stream 10 is a
white water river 10 is the widest Of
all it i5 that which occupies the widest
area, the raminJauOns of which go over
the largest surface, ami which flows most
evenly along its whole course; and as il
flows from tbe mountains, and its main.
tributaries me from the mountains if.
IS for its /}hole course white water
river. TIE large amount Of water which
the Rio Negro throws into the Amazon
hardly tinges it at all, and you
may trace the yellOwish white tin
into the ocean about fifty miles
before YOU see land. the 'front.' OF
the AHdaaOn itself, a. it enters the
Atlantic, Is $50 miles, 50 that it is, as you
may see, the largest aud most volumin-
Gus Of all the rivers knOwB. The banks
Of the river are everywhere clear, and
they rise gradually aboV3 the level OF the
water The rise is hardly over twenty,
thirty, or forty feet in the middle course.
You have frequently banks of about
fifty, sixty, and sometimes 100 feet. n
one region only 10 the Banks rise to 2
greater hight, and back of the river are
hills of 700 or 500 feet, which, owing TO
the even appearance of the whole coun-
try, give the impression to the eyes of q
lofty range these really low hills the
highest not Icing over 1000 feet appear
by contrast with the fiat country, like
our Alpine mountains. OF these hills |
shall have occasion TO say sOEethi1g
more. They 2Te characteristic Of that
region. Their structure is very remark
able, rs they are thoroughly stratilied,
and indicate what deposits formerly
occupied the valley with more precision
than any other feature If the valley it
self. Now as 10 the change Of level Of
this immense stream, it varies within /
limits which are really astonishing
The river may be al times thirty, forty
or fifty feet higher than at other times.
You may conceive what ~ aluOunL of
water llust De condensed from the at
mOsphere, in order TO fill a plain so e.t-
tensive with an amount of water suii
cent to raise the level Of the main
current to such an extraordinary amount /
But this does not take PLACE simUltane- I
OuSy over the whole valley; so that .
there il the most extraordinary distribI- I.
ton of freshets over the whole basil.
The rains begin on the southern side of
the valley in the months Of September /.
and October, aud from the table land OF
Brazil and the noun aims Of Bolivia the .
southern tributaries of the Amazon first
begin to swell atsuch a rate that through .
December they reach wiJh their new .
Hood the valley of the Amazon, the /
greatest rise IN the Amazon being in the .
month of March, when in the region be- .
low the Madeira the rise may be as mui.h /
as foot in twentv-four hours during the (
whole month of March. The rise con 1
tinues on until the end Of June, when I
the river is most fun; so that it takes I
from October to June for the rivers On I
the southern side OF the Amazon 10 Oil .
and discharge their waters into the main .
stream. At a somewhat earlier period .
the Andes send down their contribution 4
to the main river in consequence OF the I
melting OF the snow on the summit Of 1
the mountains in the months Gf August [
and September. The fresbet resulting I
from this melting Of the snow in the I
Ecuador and here is felt in the valley in
October and November; it is felt IN 40 /
vember a. iGW @s Mmuas, so that in con Z
necti0nwith the waters coming down from /
theAndes and the waters coming from the .
table land OF Brazil and the mounta ms I
of Bolivia, the A masOn IS iilled in its
center ana 0n Its southern side, the I
whole river extending northward in con .
sequence Of this swelling-for during
three months ell thd Eivers which come /
to the AmasOn on lis northern side are,
at their lowest stand, as empty as they
ever are. Ia turn, they will swell 10 a
similar hight but in the month Of DE
cember the ncrthera rivers are at their
lowest eDb. The southern rivers fiOw
into them; they push the waters of lbe
main basin 10 a more northern latitude
than during any other Geason. It rains
in toe main valley during the months OF