RIVER AMAZONS, THE SAME (Various Authorities) THE Amazon, or Maranon, is the largest river in the world. It takes its rise among the Andes, and consists of two branches, which, uniting and receiving, from the North, the Napo, the Parana, Yupuro, and the Great Negro; and from the south, the Cuchivara, or Araza, and the Madera, runs from west to east nearly the whole breadth of South America: its course is estimated at 2300 miles. The breadth, at the Portuguese boundary, is reckoned one league; but it is generally about two miles, and no bottom found at 103 fathoms. The tide runs up 600 miles from the Sea. It is navigable from the town of Jaen, a distance of nearly 2000 miles.* At the Pongo the stream is suddenly contracted from a breadth of 1600 to 160 feet, and the current runs with proportional rapidity. In those parts of the river a canoe or any other species of boat would inevitably be driven at the mercy of the stream, and would soon be dashed to pieces on the rocks. The greatest danger to which the navigator is exposed, is being carried by eddies out of the current, which he may find it almost impossible to regain. This accident happened to Condamine in the course of his adventurous navigation of this river; and he relates that not a year before, a missionary thus drawn into the vortex was kept in it for two days, destitute of provisions, and might have perished for want, but for a providential swell of the river, which brought him again into the current. Condamine calculated, that in the narrowest part he was carried on his raft at the rate of two toises per second, which is equal to rather more than nine miles an hour. After he had emerged from the jaws of the mountains on this raft, he describes the aspect of the country in the following terms:-" I found myself in a new world, separate from all human in * For a Scale of the comparative length of Rivers, see Museum Asianum. tercourse, on a fresh water sea, surrounded by a maze of lakes, rivers and canals, penetrating in every direction the gloom of an immense forest, which but for them were forbidden to access. New plants, new animals, and new races of men, were exhibited to view. Accustomed during seven years to mountains lost in clouds, I was wrapt in admiration at the wide circle embraced by the eye, restricted here by no other boundary than the horizon, save where the hills of Pongo, soon about to disappear, raised themselves to chequer the constant monotony of the scene. To the crowd of varying objects which diversify the cultured fields of Quito, and which still presented themselves to the imagination, succeeded the most uniform contrast, the whole that was to be seen being verdure and water; for the earth is so thickly covered with tuited plants and bushes, that it is troď, but no perceived; to find a barren space, though but a foot square, reopiring a world of toil. Below Borja, and 401 or 300 tongues beyond, on falling down the river, a stone, nay a pebbie, is an object rare as a diamond. The savages of these countries indeed have no conception of stones, and when, on visiting Borja, they first perceive them, the wonder they occasion is admirable to behold; every gesture tokens surprise; they collect them together, and load themselves with the precious burden, till, beginning to notice their abundance, they finally disregard, and throw them away." The first European who visited the river Amazons was Francis d'Orrellans, who having met with some armed women or Amazons on its banks, gave it from this circumstance its present appellation. He embarked in 1539, on a river in the vicinity of Quito; and being carried by different subordinate streams into the main current of the Amazons, he arrived at the North Cape, in Guiana, after a navigation of more than 5000 miles. In 1569, Pedro de Ursoa fell into this river from a tributary stream on the southern side; but he perished in the course of his voyage by the hands of some of his followers. In 1743 and 1744 it was navigated by Monsieur de Condamine of the royal academy of sciences at Paris, who being provided with accurate instruments, as published a correct map of its course. A vague tradition prevailed for a long time among the Spanish missionaries, that this great river and the Orinoco were joined together by some of their subordinate streams. No clear evidence, however, being brought forward in favour of this remarkable fact, it was at last considered to be an error. But this point has now been determined in the most satisfactory manner by the illustrious Humboldt, who, in the course of his journies into the interior of these regions, penetrated from the Rio Negro, which is known to be a branch of the Amazons, to the Cassiquiari, and ascending its stream, arrived in the course of his navigation into the main channel of the Orinoco. THE great lakes, or inland seas, situated towards the northern extremity of the United States, which they separate from the British possessions, are five in numer; namely, Lakes Superior, Huron, Michigan, Erie, and Ontario. LAKE SUPERIOR, the first and most northern, formerly known by the name of Lake Tracy and Lake Conde, is situated between 4610 and 49' degrees of north latitude, and between 84° and 92° 10' west longitude from Greenwich. Its greatest length from east to west, is 410 miles; its greatest breadth from north to south 120 miles; its circumference following its shores and bays is, according to Mackenzie, 1200 miles; and by the calculation of Faden, 1525. Along the northern shore there is a great depth of water. This lake is the greatest body of fresh water on the face of the globe. It receives the waters of forty different streams, (the principal of which are the St. Louis, Nipigon, Pic, and Michipicoton,) which it discharges into Lake Huron by the Straits of St. Mary; but the quantity which escapes by evaporation is so great, that no more than a tenth part (as is conjectured) passes through this channel. The following phenomenon is not uncommon. When the wind blows from the east, the waters are driven against the high rocks of the northern and western shore, where they form a thick vapour resembling rain; and this action of the wind creates an irregular ebb and flow which never exceeds ten or twelve inches; but the strong traces of the water on the rocks of the shore shew that at no very remote period they were elevated six feet above the present level. Soine few years since, the waters suddenly withdrew near the great portage, then rushed back with velocity, and, after rising and falling during several hours, they settled at their usual level. LAKE ERIE. (Howison's Sketches.) LAKE Erie is two hundred and forty-six miles long, and sixty broad, at its widest part. The depth averages from fifteen to eighteen fathoms over its whole extent, and, in consequence of this remarkable shallowness, it becomes rough and boisterous when the wind blows strongly from any point of the compass. At these times a very high and dangerous surf breaks upon its shores, which, in many places, resemble the beach of the sea, being strewed with dead fish and shells, and infested with aquatic birds of various kinds. Often during storms the lake is covered with such a thick mist, that it is impossible to see the distance of ten yards from the shore. The waves then roll with terrific violence from amidst the cloudy obscurity, and suggest to the imagination the appalling dangers which threaten those vessels that are exposed to the tempest; for the navigation of the lake is rendered highly dangerous, by reefs and projecting points of land, and by the nature of the banks, which, towards its western extremity, are so bold and precipitous, that, when a vessel is driven upon them, shipwreck becomes almost inevitable. Scarcely a summer passes in which there is not some shipping lost in Lake Erie. South-west winds prevail inuch during a great part of the year, and often, for weeks together prevent vessels from sailing westward; hence steam boats are the craft best suited for the navigation of this inland sea. When tempests happen upon Lake Erie, its waters sometimes suddenly rise to the foot of these perpendicular sand banks, and beat against them with such dreadful vehemence as entirely to cover the beach. Persons travelling upon it during storms have sometimes perished in the waves, being unable to escape their fury; for the lake often rises with such rapidity, that one has no chance of gaining a place of safety before he is overwhelmed by the flood. At these times the batteux which coast along are so liable to be driven upon a lee-shore and beaten to pieces, that those who are on board often abandon their vessels and cargo, and try to save themselves. A PERSON who resides upon the shore of Lake Erie related to me a very AFFECTING INCIDENT which occurred there many years ago. An Indian woman, and her child, who was about seven years old, were travelling along the beach to a camp a few miles distant. The boy observed some wild grapes growing upon the top of the bank, and expressed such a strong desire to obtain them, that his mother, seeing a ravine at a little distance, by which she thought she could gain the edge of the precipice, resolved to gratify him. Having desired him to remain where he was, she ascended the steep, and was allured much farther into the woods than she at first intended. In the mean time, the wind began to blow ve~ hemently, but the boy wandered carelessly along the beach, seeking for shells, till the rapid rise of the lake rendered it impossible for him to return to the spot where he had been left by his mother. He immediately began to cry aloud, and she, being on her return, heard him, but instead of descending the ravine, hasten. ed to the edge of the precipice, from the bottom of which the noise seemed to proceed. On looking_down she beheld her son struggling with the waves, and vainly endeavouring to climb up the bank which was fifty feet perpendicular height, and very slippery. There being no possibility of rendering him assistance, she was on the point of throwing herself down the steep, when she saw him catch hold of a tree that had fallen in |