El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1915-12-11

thousand miles from the Atlantic can
be distinguished The Amazon Is vel
low, and the two streams move side by
side in great yellow and black stripes,
before the black swallowed up by the
Mother of Waters The lea river, an
other tributary Of the Amazon, is
longer than from New York to Chi
cago, and the Mearim longer than from
New York to -JetrOit-
The Amazon altogether has several
hundred tributaries, and 100 OF them
are said TO be navigable- Eighteen
are described as rivers Of the first
rank and six are each longer and more
cOpious than the Rhine.
Many of the southern tributaries rise
in the highlands of Matto Crosse. and
some are so close to the headWaters Of
the Parana system that one can take
canoe and go from the Amazon into
the Parana. Indeed, one can start into
the OrinocO in Venezuela and by slight
portages 90 clear down through the
South American continent by way OF
the Rio Negro and up the rivers that
flow into the Amazon from the south,
and crossing 10 the headWaters of the
Paraguay, come out through the Pa
rama into the Rio de Ia Plata at Monte
videO and Buenos Aires
Ocean Vessels on the Amazon.
The Rio Negro is navigable for 40
miles, the Purus for 1000 miles and the
Tapajos for hundreds of miles. although
interrupted Dl cascades me largest
ocean steamers sail up the Amazon as
far as ManaOs, and one can take ship
at that city and go direct TO New
York one Of the easiest of Out-of-the-
way steamship voyages would be TO
go from New York to Iouitos Peru The
first stage of the trip would be TO
Peru, at the mouth of the Amazon. The
second from Para TO ManaOs and the
third on a smaller steamer from Ma
naos TO Iquitos The latter city is
mNammm
ocean and about 1900 miles fran Ma
naos. The cost of the rip is COMPARE
lively cheap, and il could be made
winter or summer, for the river voyage
IS almost on the line of the equator.
where the climate is much the same
the year around.
Canals of Amazon Delta
The Amazon delta Is cut I'D by nat
ural canals You wind your way past
islands Of curious shapes. between walls
slowly, and the water looks FURNISHED with
steel At sunset it turns to copper and
gold The vegetation is beyond descrip-
ton The great trees reach for zoe feet
above your head, and you steam between
walls Of emerald plush hundred feet high.
The canals make you think OF Holland.
The Islands in some places are so small
that you see to be passing through one OF
the great cities Of nature. a city populated
by monkeys, parrots and butterflies the
resting place OF the orchid and the home OF
the crocodile You are surprised at the
palms There are scores Of new varieties.
Some are as big around as your arm others
are tail six-story house The latter
extend from the ground TO the top without
a limb and end in a tassel Of leaves. Other
palms are all leaves. They sprout from
the earth in great lunches Others are OF
but a single leaf such as the travellers
palm, which has but one stem These
palms grow among the other trees Of the
forest II is only when planted by man
that they are seen close together. The for
est in the distance looks much like our trees
at home
Magnificent Foliage.
1t is only when you get close to the
shores that yon can study the Amazon veg
citation In such places you see that the
trees are matted together with vines. You
observe that the bark is often silver gray
and that much OF the forest is loaded with
flowers Some Of the grandest trees have
the brightest Of blossoms. 1 have seen
some 90 feet high, with branches extending