Small streams are called Brooks, Rivulets, and sometimes Creeks. In the study of the maps they are called branches of rivers.
Many small streams, being formed in the mountainous and other elevated parts of a country, flow together, and form a large current of water which takes the name of a river, and is constantly augmented in its course, by other brooks, &c. and by rain, until it discharges itself into an ocean, sea, lake, or some other river.
The length of rivers has not been so definitely ascertained as the height of mountains. The length of the same river varies in the statements of different geographers, and this difference is owing to the principles on which their measurements are made, some measuring the windings of the river, and others only the valleys through which they flow.
The longest and largest river in the world is the Amazon, in South America. It is more than 150 miles wide at its junction with the Atlantic ocean. The body of water is so great that it constantly flows into the ocean, and is not affected by tides. The commotion caused by the meeting of the tide and the current of the river, sometimes renders navigation dangerous.
The longest rivers in North America are the Missouri and Mississippi.
The longest river in Asia is the Kian Ku. In Europe, the Volga. In Africa, the Nile.
The Missouri flows into the Mississippi about 1300 miles from its mouth, and is, in fact, the main river. And the length of the Missouri is given, in the opposite table, from its source to the mouth of the Mississippi.
The Missouri and Mississippi rivers, taken together, have no rival in the world, for length of course, the size and number of their tributaries, and the vast extent of country through which they flow. The Mississippi is called by the native Indians the ‘Father of Waters,’ and the Missouri, the ‘Mother of Floods.’
COMPARATIVE LENGTHS OF RIVERS,