LESSON 56 The AmazonStarting from Lima, the capital of Peru, and crossing the Andes in a north-easterly direction for one hundred and twenty miles,the traveller reaches the famous silver mines of Pasco, the most elevated city in the world.Close beside it, in the very heart of the Cordilleras, there is a little lake, nearly 14,000 feet above the sea-level, and just below the limit of perpetual snow.To this little lake belongs the honour of giving birth to the mighty Amazon, the king of rivers.At first a comparatively small stream, it flows in a series of cataracts and rapids,through rocky valleys, northwards, till it reaches the frontier of Ecuador, at a distance of eight hundred miles from its source.From this point the eye of the traveller may range, in imagination, over a vast valley clothed with impenetrable forests, stretching eastwards to the far distant Atlantic.Behind him, on the west, tower the lofty peaks of the Cordilleras; on his left, in a northerly direction, appear the highlands of Venezuela and Guiana;while to the south rise the sierras and table-lands of Brazil.In the valley before him more than half of Europe might be contained;and the tributaries alone of the mighty stream which drains it, exceed in bulk of water all the European rivers put together.
第五十六课 亚马逊河从秘鲁首都利马出发,往东北方向穿过安第斯山脉120英里,就能到达世界上最高的城市帕斯科和其著名的银矿。在科迪勒拉山脉中心地区，紧靠着帕斯科的地方有一个海拔大约14000英尺的小湖，这个湖就在积雪线的边缘。这个小湖是河中之王强大的亚马逊河的河源，何其荣耀。源头的水流相对来说较小，但是水流湍急。水流一路向北，穿过满是岩石的山谷，直到厄瓜多尔的边境，这时离水源地已经有八百英里了。想象一下，从这个地方向周围望去，看到的是无边无际的森林，一直往东延伸到远处的大西洋。在后面，也就是西面，是科迪勒拉山脉高耸的山峰；在左边，即北边，能看到委内瑞拉和圭亚那高原；而放眼南望，则能看到隆起的塞拉山和巴西平原。前面的这片山谷要比半个欧洲都大；而从河流单独分出来的一条支流的水流量就比欧洲所有河流的水流量加起来都要大。
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