Brazil and Her People of To-day: An Account of the Customs, Characteristics, Amusements, History and Advancement of the Brazilians, and the Development and Resources of Their CountryWinter, Nevin O. (Nevin Otto)
History
Brazil and Her People of To-day: An Account of the Customs, Characteristics, Amusements, History and Advancement of the Brazilians, and the Development and Resources of Their Country
Winter, Nevin O. (Nevin Otto)
Brazil
_Tocantins._ This river empties into the Amazon near its mouth, and some
have disputed its right to be named as an affluent of that river. James
Orton says this river “flows over a bed of diamonds, rubies, sapphires,
topazes and opals” on its way to the sea. With its branches, the Maranhão
and Araguay, it reaches out in a southerly direction for hundreds of
miles, and carries an immense volume of water.
_Xingu._ “The Xingu,” says an eminent authority, “receives fourteen
tributaries on its right and sixteen tributaries on its left bank,
the principal of which is the Iriri.” Any of these feeders would be
considered large rivers in any part of Europe.
_Tapajoz._ The source of this river is in the great state of Matto
Grosso, where it is formed by the union of the Arinos and Juruena. It
is eight hundred and twelve miles in length, but it is interrupted by a
number of cataracts. In some places the width of the Tapajoz is as great
as ten miles, but where it joins the Amazon it is only a trifle more
than a mile from shore to shore. Santarem, an ancient Indian village, is
situated on this river near its mouth, and has now grown into a town of
several thousand inhabitants.
_Madeira._ One of the largest of the rivers which flow into the Amazon
is the Madeira, which means the river of wood, owing to the number of
uprooted trees which float along its course. At low water these trees
are oftentimes thrown up on the sand banks, where they accumulate in
great masses. It is formed by a number of Peruvian and Bolivian streams.
This river is said to have a course of three thousand one hundred and
twenty-five miles, most of which is navigable for small boats at least.
_Purus._ This river is more than a mile wide at its mouth and has an
entire length of two thousand two hundred and eighty miles. Even in the
dry season it is navigable for almost a thousand miles. A dozen or more
rivers empty their contents into this stream, the names of which are
known to but few, and yet they are goodly rivers in themselves.
_Jurua._ There is a regular service of steamers up the Jurua for nine
hundred and thirty-eight miles of its one thousand two hundred and fifty
miles. This river was known to the early discoverers, and had been fully
explored nearly four centuries ago by those adventurers.
_Japura._ Yapura and Yapuru are other names of this river which serves as
a boundary between Brazil and Colombia for a distance. A regular service
of steamers is maintained on it also for several hundred miles.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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