The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1868-10-17

l.
the last cataract, which is one hind sS
and sixty miles above Santarem. anf
Is the end ofnaYigation to saiiina YES
sells. Thence 10 the Amazons f. ia
htIle current and no depth.
faralIel TO the Tapsjos, and abou
w nunohed miles distant, flows tn
Atngu. It rises in the heart Of the am
pire, has The length of the Ohio Id
monongahelas and can be nayigateC
one hundred and fifty miles. This Il
the last great tributary ofthe Amazon
proper; IT. however, we Consider m
Tara as only one of the outlets OF tn,
great river, We may then add to the lis
sne grand Tocantins. This SPLENDID
river mas Its source in the rich proyeuc,
Of Minas (the2 source also. of the Sar
francisco and Uruguay, not six hun.
dred miles from Rio Janeiro; a repior
possessing the finest climate in Brazil
ana yielding diamonds, gold, silver anC
petroleum. The Tocanfins Is sixteer
hundred miles long and ten miles broad
at us mouth, but unfortunately rapids
commence one hundred and twenty
miles above Cameta,
here are six tributaries, all of them
superior TO any river in Europe out.
SIDE OF Russia, save the Danube,
and ten times greater than any stream
on the west slope Of the Andes. While
the Arkansas joins the Mississippi four
hundred miles above New Orleans, the
madetrsI of equal length, enters the
AmaZons nine hundred miles from
/ cara. But vast as are these tributary
streamsI they seem to make no impress
sion on the Amazons; they are lost like
prooks IN the ocean. Our ideas of the
magnitude OF the great river are won
dertu!ly increased when we see the
Madeira coming down two thousand
| miles, yet its enormous contribution
tmperceptible half way across the giant
river on the dark waters of the Negro
creeping along the shore and becoming
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS five miles from its
mouth. Though the Amazons carries
larger amount of sediment than any
other river, 1t has no true delta, the
archipelago of islands in Its mouth not
being the alluVial formation, but hav-
ing a rocky base. The deltoid outlet is
confined to the tributaries, nearly all of
emptying themselves by innumerable
embouchures. To several tributaries
the Amazons gives water before 1t re-
ceiYes their tribute. Thus ascending
the Negro sixty miles we have the sim
gular spectacle OF water pouring in
from the Amazons through the Guariba
channel.
The waters of this great river system
are of divers tints. The Amazons, up
to the mouth of the Ucayali, is OF a
pale yellowish olive; the Madeira,
PuruE, Jurua, Jutahe, Javare, Ucayali,
Napo, Issa and Japura, are of similar
color. The Amazons above the Ucayali
Is blue, passing into a clear olive green;
likewise the Pastassa, Hauliaga, Ia
paios, Xingu and Tocantins. The Me-
gro, Quarry and Tede are black. Hum
boldt observes that ia cooler atmos-
phere, fewer mosquitoes, greater salu-
brity and absence OF crocodiles, as also
fish, mark the region of these black
l FiUpFa ~ Frhfa nlfnnnfhnF
The Amazons throughout is healthy,
being swept by the trade winds. The
branches, which are not so constantly
refreshed by the ocean breezes, are &C.
casionally malarious; the white
watern tributaries, except when they
have slack current in the dry season,
have the best reputation, while inter
mittent feYers are nearly confined to
the dark colored streams. Much of the
sickness on these tropical waters, how
ever, is due to exposure and want of
proper food, rather than to the climate.
The river system of South America will
favorably compare, in point OF salu-
brity, with the river system of Its con-
tinental neighbor. - -
AS we might expect, the volume of
the Amazons is beyond all parallel
Half million cubic feet of water pour
through the narrows of Obidos every
! second, and fresh water may be taken
up from the Atlantic far out of sight OF
land. The fall of the main easterly
trunk of the Amazons Is about six and
q half inches per mile, equivalent to a
slope OF twenty.one seconds-the same
as that of the Nile, aud one-third that
of the Mississippi. Below Jaen there
are thirty cataracts and rapids; at the
Pongo de Manseriche, at the altitude of
one thousand one hundred and sixty
| feet, 1t bids adieu to mountain scenery.
Between Tabatinga and the ocean the
average current is three miles an hour.
It diminishes toward Para, and is
everywhere at minimum in the dry
season; butt always has the Swing" OF
a mighty river. Though not SO rapid
as the Mississippi, the Amazon is deep
err. There are seven fathoms of water
at Nanta (two thousand four hundred
miles from the Atlantic) eleven at Ia
batinga and twenty-seven on the aver
age below Manaos. - at'
The AmaZons and its branches are
subject to an annual rise of great fegu
larity. 1t does not take place simalta
neously over the whole river, but there
is a succeion of freshets. at the foot of
the Andes the rise commences in Janu-
ary; at Ega It begins about the end of
February. Coinoiding with this con-
tribution from the west, the October
rains on the highlands of Bolivia and
the Brazil swell the southerns tributa-
ries, whose accumulated floods reach
the main stream In February; and the
latter, unable to discharge the avalanche
of waters, mandates vast area, and
even crowds up the northern tributa-
ries. As the Madeira, Tapajos and
Purus subsIde, the Negro, fed by the
March rains in Guiana and Venezuela
presses downward till the central
stream rolls back the now sluggish
therefore, a rhythmical correspondence
| in the rise and fall of the arms of the
Amazons, so that this great fresh water
sea sways alternately north and
south; while the onward swell In
the grand trunk is progress
i've undulntion eastward. AS the
| Cambridge professor well says: In
/ This oceanic river the tidal action has
an annual instead of daily ebb and
| flow; 1t obeys a larger orb, and Is ruled
| by the sun and not the moon" The
| rise Is gradual, one foot per day. One
| lowland after another sinks beneath
| the flood; the forest stands up 10 lie
middle in the water; and shady dells
| are transformed into nayigable creeks
| Swarms of turtles leave the river fol
the inland lakes; hocks of wading birds
Il migrate to the banks OF the Negro anC
| Orinoco to enjoy the cloudless sky o
i the dry season; alligators swim where
a short time before the jaguar lay II
wait for the tapir; and the natives, IN
h able to fish, hubble in their villages Il
spend the Swinter Of their discontent.'
The lower Amazons is at its minimum
In September or October. The ris
Eaboye this lowest level Is between
seven and eight fathoms. If we con
slider the average width of the Amazon
two miles, we shall have a surface OF a
!, least 5000 square miles raised fifty fee
I by the inundatioD. An extraordinar.
) freshet is expected every sixth year.
} The Atlantic tide Is percepible a
Ohidos. four hundred and fifty mile