Page:The naturalist on the River Amazons 1863 v1.djvu/131

This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
Chap. III.
FORMATION OF AMAZONS DELTA.
111

river southward and south-westward, a great extent of country is traversed which seems to have been made up wholly of river deposit, and here the land lies somewhat lower than it does on the sea-coast. The rocky and sandy country of Marajo and other islands of the delta towards the sea, is so similar in its physical configuration to the opposite mainland of Guiana that Von Martius concluded the whole might have been formerly connected, and that the Amazons had forced a way to the Atlantic through what was, perhaps, a close series of islands, or a continuous line of low country.