Amazon River Facts.
1.Human’s lust for gold was the reason for the discovery of the Amazon River.
The Amazon River drains the king-sized basin and releases more water than any other river in the world.
The Amazon is sometimes called the king of rivers it is 3600 miles in length and with its tributaries many of which are great streams it drains a plain whose area is two-thirds as great as that of Europe.
No other River on the earth pours half so much water into the sea.
So vast it is the quantity that it replaces the color and certain as of the ocean a hundred miles from shore.
The Amazon basin contains about one-third of the continent this basin is in the equatorial rain belt and its rainfall is very heavy.
The wide mouth of Amazon has so strong tidal wave that boats can not outride it.
No towns are situated on the shore swept by this tidal wave.
This is one of the great rivers which make flood plains
The Amazon River is noted for its twelve tributaries, each of a thousand or more miles in length.
The Tide in the Amazon River makes its influence felt five hundred miles from the coast.
The easterly trade winds blow almost invariably upward, so as to be e ready to help the vessel against the adverse currents.
Rising in the Andes it flows across the continent and discharges into the Atlantic Ocean at the equator.
The vastness of the area numerous streams which in any other country e would be ranked As great rivers.
In the wet season which lasts for about eight months, its width varies from 5 miles to 400. No wonder Amazon has been called a gigantic reservoir rather than a river.
Amazon River has been researched by officials since a century ago in 1912 a report was published by officials about Amazon River that the aggregate navigable waters of Amazon and tributaries for all sorts of craft is estimated to exceed 45000 miles.
The average depth is from 40 to 150 feet and the average weight from 6 to 40 miles.
At the mouth near Para, the river is 130 miles wide including the island of Marajo and the northern and Southern outlets full stop the immense volume of water discharged marks a path of yellow water in the blue of Atlantic easily distinguishable for 150 miles creating a freshwater sea while out of sight of land.
This Yellow or Gold colored water uniting with the equatorial current trends to the north and the rate of six miles and our and entering the Caribbean Sea forms what is recognized as the Gulf Stream.
Nile River Facts.
1. The Nile is formed by the union of two rivers, the White Nile and the Blue Nile. The White Nile has its rise in the great equatorial lakes, together with the Victoria and the Albert Nyanza
2. The river courses onto Khartoum, where it is linked by the Blue Nile, which has been a knotty passage for itself through the highlands of Abyssinia.
3. The White and the Blue Nile, thus combined in a single stream, sweep in a circuit through Nubia to form a succession of cataracts in the course of the current.
4. The stream then descends into Egypt under the general name of the Nile River, and flows on till it reaches the Mediterranean Sea through the far-famed Delta.
5. As we have seen, the mystery of the Nile had claimed the attention of mankind for ages. For centuries it had been a wonder not only to those who dwelt upon its banks but to those who came into the country of the Egyptians to profit by their wisdom and learning.
6. Its mysterious waters flowed from unknown regions; for the last thousand miles in its course, not a single drop of water was received from the land on either side of its bed. Only at rare intervals was the blessing of rain conferred.
7.For nine months in the year, the stream flowed between its steep banks, a uniform and majestic flood. ' Almost at a told date each year, for countless centuries, had the river heightened and overspilled its banks and spread its waters over the adjoining country.
8. Each year saw the narrow valley of the Nile transformed temporarily into a vast lake. After a few weeks, the flood subsided and left behind a vast deposit of rich mud which was to fertilize the whole of Egypt.
9. Little wonder, then, that this most ancient of rivers seemed the most marvelous river of antiquity. Within the last quarter of a century, men have looked to the laws of Nature for an explanation of the sources of this double Nile, as it has been called The river with its uniform current is fed from large lakes or reservoirs.
10. These are so immense that their volume of water does not vary much from one season to another. At the time of the inundation, or flooding, of the valley, the stream must receive its increased volume of waters from its various affluents.
11. These affluents have their rise in mountainous sections subject to abundant rainfall during a short period of each year. Immediately after this rainfall, the Nile waters must begin to rise, from the influence of these swollen streams that flow into them.
12. From the earliest annals of history the valley of the Nile was known
as the seat of commerce, the arts, and the sciences.
Egypt might be considered as the light of the prehistoric world.
13. In the glow of her prosperity she formed a strong contrast to the
rest of Africa, which remained almost unknown, shrouded in darkness.
14. The ancient Egyptians gave to the Nile a name which signified in
their language " The Genius of the Waters.”The Hebrews gave it a name which, in their tongue, meant " The Black. ”
15. The Nile presents many interesting features as it pursues its course
. Moving fast from Lake Victoria Nyanza like a heavy mountain rain,
it finally loses its rashness, and runs over extensive flats.
16. These flats gradually expand so as to form a body of water known
as the Ibrahim Pasha Lake.
Near Lake Albert Nyanza the Nile forms a series of rapids, between
what is known as the Karuma and Murchison Falls?
17. As the river leaves the lake, it begins its northward journey towards
the Mediterranean Sea.
During this journey, the stream does not expand again into a lake but
retains its character of a river current.
18. At a point in its course between Lake Albert Nyanza and
Gondokoro the Nile makes a descent of several hundred feet,
from an elevation some fifteen hundred feet above sea level.
This decline in the current becomes the reason for a series of rapids
and cataracts.
As the stream leaves Gondokoro it flows tortuously on, winding first to
the northwest, then turning to the northeast, during its journey of five
hundred miles.
19. Later, the river is joined by its first large tributary, the Bahr-el-Gazal, which does not seem to make any noticeable difference in the current
as it enters it from the west. A second tributary, the Giraffe River,
flows into the mainstream from the east.
20. From its junction, with its first great tributary, the Nile flows on for
about eighty miles in an easterly direction. It then converts its path,
winding south for about thirty miles,where it is united by a third tributary, which runs into it from the east.
21. This tributary, the Sobat River, has quite a full, navigable current.
Beyond the junction of the Nile with these tributaries, the river flows on
for a distance of upwards of four hundred miles.
22. It flows through this section in a northerly direction, attaining a width
varying from one to two miles.
At intervals along its course, several streams flow into it from the east
before it reaches Khartoum.
23. The town of Khartoum is situated just at the junction of the Blue
and theWhite Nile streams.
The Blue Nile was for many years supposed to be the mainstream of the Nile. It is, however, organized by the joint of two
rivers, the Abai and the Blue River.
24. The Abai River rises in Abyssinia . Its origin dwells fifty miles from
Lake Dembea.
It gets in the lake from the southwest and comes out from it to the
southeast.
For about ninety miles it streams on in this direction and finally
describes a semi-circular path around the peninsula of Godjam.
25. Leaving Godjam, the river winds on in a northwesterly direction for
about one hundred and fifty miles, where it is joined by the Blue River
from the south.
26. Under the name the Blue Nile, the united streams flow on in a
single current in a northwesterly direction.
During its course, the stream receives two large rivers which run nearly
parallel to each other.
27. We have seen that, at the town of Khartoum, the Blue and the
White Nile unite to form a single stream.
As this stream leaves Khartoum its course is a northerly one for about
sixty miles until, passing the ruins of the ancient Meroë, it forms
It's the first cataract.
28. Here, turning to the northeast, it is joined by its last tributary, which
bears a name signifying “ Black River.”
It is doubtless so named from the quantities of black, unworthy mud
which it carries down in its course, finally to fertilize Egypt.
29. The Nile, from the point where the last tributary joins it, flows
through the thickly populated and fertile district of Berber,
with its many villages.
When the stream exits Berber it comes into the desert.
As it makes a bend to the west it builds the large island of Mograt.
30. Turning sharply in a southwesterly direction, it describes what is
known as “ The Great Bend, " in which there are two cataracts.
31. Entering Nubia the stream turns again to the northwest.
Here, on either bank, is a narrow strip of fertile land, under cultivation.
Again a cataract is formed when the stream bends around to the
northeast to form later the fifth cataract.
32. As the river continues on its course, it gradually grows more and
more narrow, till, later, at Assouan,
it forms its last cataract, as it descends.
33. From Assouan to the Mediterranean Sea the Nile has an average
fall of two inches to a mile.
Its velocity is about three miles an hour as it flows on, watering and
fertilizing the land of Egypt throughout its entire length.
34.The delta, or mouth, of the Nile has an expanse of about
one hundred fifty miles on the Mediterranean.
At the delta, the Nile spreads out into numerous streams to enter the
sea.
35. The length of the Nile is about three thousand three hundred miles
if we measure its wandering course from its exit at the lake to its
entrance at the sea.
36. It is a remarkable fact that from the point where the last tributary
enters the Nile, a distance of some fifteen hundred miles from the sea,
no other waters are obtained to add its volume; yet, in spite of this, the
the stream is able to withstand the hot sun and burning sands of the
The Nubian Desert.
39. Lower Egypt does not become affected by the overflow of the
waters till the latter part of June. Here the inundation does not attain its
full height for about three months.
40. The waters remain stationary for about twelve days, and then very
gradually begin to subside. The cultivation of the soil of entire Egypt is
wholly dependent upon its inundation by the waters of the Nile.
41. Its failure would mean drought and total destruction of the crops,
since Egypt is, practically, a rainless country.
Should there be a continuous wind from the south, then Egypt would
be blessed by a year of prosperity.
42. During a good inundation, the rise in the waters varies from forty
feet, about the Tropic of Capricorn, to thirty -six feet at Thebes.
43 Near the delta it is but four feet. If at Cairo, the waters ascend to
only eighteen or twenty feet, there is a deficiency of water.
Should it rise to even twenty- four feet, there is still a deficiency.
44. From twenty-five to twenty-seven feet is counted good for the
welfare of the crops. More of an overflow would cause a flood.
45. This would not only be generative, most likely, of plague and fever,
but the loss of crops and famine would come after their wake. During
the months of a flood, the whole valley is underwater.
46. Here and there the villages rise like islands from the surface of the
waters. Just as the Dutch save their lands from the inroads of the sea,
the Egyptians defend their villages from the inroads of this annual flood
by means of dykes.
Of late years the overspill of the Nile has been higher than for many
previous centuries.
47. We can trace the rise and fall of the waters of the mainstream of
the Lower Nile to the influence of the periodical rains in the mountains
of Abyssinia and in the Lake Nyanza region.
48. In the equatorial regions it rains more or less throughout the year.
The most plenty fall of rain takes place during the equinoxes, as the
sun makes its evident revolution about the earth during her yearly
journey in space.
49. Could we stand upon the banks of the Nile, we should find them
swarming with birds.
We watch the motions of the various water or reed birds as they seek
their food.
50. We should listen to the inharmonic cries of the several birds of
prey hovering over its waters.
51. For here we should find not only such birds as the goose, pelican, and ibis but the vulture and cormorant as well.
52. Standing on the banks of this most ancient of rivers,
we should try to picture some of the scenes of past ages.
Visions of Pharaoh and his daughter and the infant Moses would come
to us.
53. Gazing into the depths of the soft waters, pure and sweet, we
should be brought back to the present, as, with delight, we should find
them teeming with many varieties of the finny tribes that sport beneath
the surface.
54. Searching along its banks, we might hope to discover traces of the lotus,
or Egyptian water lily, that once grew wild in such large quantity, but now
is rarely seen.
55 . It is generally believed that the plant was brought to Egypt from
India.
56. It must have been carried there in the very earliest days of the
history of the people.
57. The Egyptians considered it as the emblem of the Nile. It was to them a sacred plant, a symbol of the creation of the world from the waters.
It was the tradition to cultivate it in tanks.
58. At the Egyptian feasts the guests wreathed their heads with its
flowers, which resemble superb pink tulips.
59. At an Egyptian funeral each guest was presented with one of the
flowers. It was the custom, too, to have the blossoms sculptured upon
the tombs.
60. The lotus has had a very marked influence upon architecture.
We find its leaves and buds appearing in the classic order.
61. In every phase of antique carving we find its flower most frequently
chosen to embellish the work.
62. The lotus has been imported into Japan, and the people seem to
have been more inspired in their artwork by it than by anything else to
be found in the field of nature.
63 • When the petals of the lotus blossom fall, they leave behind a seed
cup three inches in diameter.
64. These seed cups contain immense seeds, of such shape that the
ancient Greek and Latin writers used to speak of them as “ Egyptian beans.”
They were eaten in large quantities by the people of the valley of the Nile.
65. The Egyptians sometimes made a kind of bread of these seeds.
66.Indeed, it does seem amazing that the source of a river, at whose
mouth one of the earliest and most civilized nations of the world had
settled a home should have remained veiled in darkness.
67. The great want of success in uncovering the sources of the Nile
was due, no doubt, to the great length of the river and the problem of
access to the regions through which it took its route.
68. The oddities of climate, too, and the danger from the ignorance,
barbarism and superstition of the native tribe had an impact in retarding the exploration of the Nile.
69. Then, it has been discovered, during the course of the exploration,
that a river may bear as many names as there are different tribes
in the country which it drains. Each tribe speaks a different dialect.
70. Often these tribes are hostile in their relations with one another.
71. Sometimes tribes, if not hostile, hold no intercourse, or have no
means of communication with others.
72. Each tribe, in its own tongue, gives to the principal stream a name
signifying the river.
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