What is the Amazon?

The Amazon is a river in South America, one of the greatest rivers in the world. It is about 3,900 miles long. The Nile in Africa, and the Missouri and Mississippi rivers together, in the United States, are slightly longer than the Amazon. The Amazon, however, has more water in it than any other river in the world. It flows from the Andes Mountains in Peru, all the way across Brazil to the Atlantic Ocean. Along the way, seventeen other large rivers empty into the Amazon. At its Atlantic mouth, the Amazon is 150 miles wide.

Through most of its length, the Amazon runs through some of the wildest jungles on the face of the earth. In these jungles there are still wild tribes of Indians. The jungles of the Amazon are called rain forests. It is always very damp and hot there. Most of the Indian villages are near the banks of the great river itself. The Indians who live in the jungle wear very little clothing, and their homes are crude, thatched shelters. They travel mostly by river in dugout canoes. It is almost impossible to travel far in the dense jungle. The Indians use big knives to cut their way through the undergrowth. The Amazon is teeming with life. Big and little fish of all kinds swim in its waters. The jungles are noisy with the cries of animals and birds. The Indians are fishers and hunters.

Life is full of danger for them. They must be careful when they go fishing because there are many alligators in the Amazon. There are fierce jaguars and cougars in the jungle. There is danger from other Indians, too. Some of them used to be cannibals and headhunters. In the headhunting tribes, a warrior was judged by the number of heads he had taken. These Indians shrank the heads and kept them.Many strange animals live in the Amazon jungle. The capybara is the largest rodent in the world.

The coati is related to the raccoon, but has a longer nose. The tapir is a hoofed animal about the size of a large dog. The sloth spends its life hanging upside down from a jungle tree. The armadillo has a hard shell and looks like a baby tank. Anteaters use their long, sticky tongues to gather their food. Many kinds of monkeys swing through the jungle trees. Colorful birds fly through the air. There are parrots and macaws and toucans. The Indians use blowguns to catch animals and birds. Some of the darts shot from the blowguns are poison-tipped.