rah'-zo), is so lofty that it can be seen by moonlight at a distance of ninety miles.
The upper part of the Amazon river in flood time. The current is swift and carries along trunks and branches of trees.
Cotopaxi (ko-to-pax'-e), a near neighbor of Chimborazo, is the grandest of all the volcanoes. Its terrific eruptions sound like the discharge of the largest cannons, and can be heard at a distance of 100 miles.
5. Earthquakes occur very frequently in the countries which are crossed by the Andes.
During an earthquake the ground trembles or shakes, the houses rock to and fro, and often fall. The sea sometimes rushes in on the land, and the people have to run for their lives to the hilltops. Cities and towns are often nearly destroyed, and many lives are lost.
6. Rivers.—The great rivers of South America are the Amazon, the Orinoco, and the La Plata.
These rivers and their tributaries are all on the east side of the Andes, and flow into the Atlantic.
The Amazon, reminds us of our own Mississippi; only, instead of flowing from north to south, it flows from west to east.
It carries more water to the sea than any other river. In some places it is so wide that a vessel sailing on it may be out of sight of land. Steamboats ascend it for 2,200 miles, almost across the continent.
The Orinoco overflows its banks every summer. Its waters teem with alligators, and are the home of the curious fish called the electric eel. The shock given by one of these electric eels is so severe that horses, when fording the pools, are sometimes knocked down by it.
On the Rio de la Plata (lah plah'tah) and its tributaries, steamboats sail more than 1,200 miles into the heart of the continent.
View on the Orinoco river, showing two forts and steamboat.
7. Rainless Region.—If we look at the map of South America, we notice that hardly a single river can be seen along the west coast. Why should there be plenty of water and great rivers on the east side of the Andes, but little or none on the west side? Let us see.
In that part of South America which is in the Torrid zone the winds come mostly from the Atlantic ocean. They carry the clouds westward over the land. The cold air above the mountain-tops cools the clouds and turns them into ruin and snow. But this is done almost wholly on the eastern side of the Andes.
When the winds reach the western side of the mountains they have lost their moisture; the clouds have become rain. Thus it is that on the eastern side of the Andes we find plenty of rain and large rivers; on the west side only a few small rivers, and in some parts not a drop of rain all the year round.
For Recitation.—In what zone is most of South America? What connects North and South America? What have you learned of the surface, of South America? Name the great mountain range of South America. How do people cross the Andes? What are the great rivers of South America?
The falls on the Parana river on the border of Argentina.
