CAPTAIN JAMES HENRY ROCHELLE
Member of the late Peruvian Hydrographical Commission of the Amazon.
NOTES.
THE AMAZON.
Springing from Lake Laracocha, in the heart of the Andes, the Amazon winds its way through the eastern Cordillera of Peru, a rapid and turbulent stream, until, passing through a narrow gorge in the mountains at the pongo de Manseriche, it leaps into the lowlands and flows for two thousand six hundred and sixty miles in a direction nearly east through the vast plains of Peru and Brazil, fed on its way by tributaries which are themselves great rivers, and finally pouring its immense volume of water into the Atlantic ocean. From the Atlantic up to the Peruvian frontier the river is known as the Lower or Brazilian Amazon, and sometimes as the Solimoens; above the Brazilian frontier the river lies wholly in Peruvian territory and takes the name of the Peruvian Amazon or Marañon, but is commonly spoken of as the Upper Amazon. It is of the navigation of the Upper Amazon that these notes will treat.
RISE AND FALL OF THE RIVER.
The waters of the Upper Amazon and its tributaries begins to rise annually in October, remains stationary for a short time in December, then continues to rise until May, when it commences to fall. November, December, January, February, March and April are considered the months of high water, and June, July, August and September comprise the low-water season. October and May are sometimes months of high and sometimes of low water.