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The Xingu River in Brazil is a tributary of the Amazon River. It was little known until it was explored in 1884 – 1887 by Karl von den Steinen from Cuyaba .
Travelling east, 240 miles, he found the river Tamitatoaba , 180 feet wide, flowing from a lake 25 miles in diameter. He descended this torrential stream to the river Romero, 1300 feet wide, entering from the west, which receives the river Colisu . These three streams form the Xingu, or Parana-xingu, which, from 73 miles lower down, bounds along a succession of rapids for 400 miles. A little above the head of navigation, 105 miles from its mouth, the river makes a bend to the east to find its way across a rocky barrier. Here is the great cataract of Itamaraca, which rushes down an inchned plane for 3 miles and then gives a final leap, called the fall of Itamaraca. Near its mouth, the Xingu expands into an immense lake, and its waters then mingle with those of the Amazon through a labyrinth of eanos (natural canals), winding in countless directions through a wooded archipelago.
Original text from 1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica
Amazon river tributaries
