Madeira

Madeira, the great affluent of the Amazons, has its origin in the confluence of the Mamoré (q.v.) and Guaporé (q.v.), at about 12° S. lat., the Beni (q.v.) joining 110 miles lower down. The river then flows north-east to the Amazons, its drainage basin embracing some 425,000 sq. m. From its mouth to its first falls the distance is 578 miles; above this point navigation is broken by a series of nineteen falls, rapids, and cataracts for a distance of 230 miles, and it has been proposed to construct a railway to pass these, and so provide an outlet by the Amazons for the products of Bolivia. See Keller-Leuzinger, Vom Amazonas und Madeira (1873; Eng. trans. 1874).