- Japurá River
The Japurá River or Caquetá River also called the "zhepoorä´" in
Latin is ariver of c.1,750 mi (2,815 km) long (some sources say 2,414 km) rising as the Caquetá River in theAndes in the Southwest ofColombia . It flows southeast intoBrazil , where it is called the Japurá. The Japura enters theAmazon River through a network of channels. It is navigable by small boats in Brazil.The river is home to a wide variety of fish and reptiles, including enormous
catfish weighing up to convert|200|lb|abbr=on. and measuring up to six feet in length,electric eel s,piranha s,turtle s, andcaiman s. It also serves as a principal means of transportation, being plied by tinydugout canoe s, larger ones,motorboat s, andriverboat s known locally as "lancha s." These lanchas carry a multitude of cargoes, sometimes being chartered, sometimes even being traveling general stores. The presence ofguerrilla s and soldiers often severely limits river traffic.Much of the
jungle through which the eastern Caquetá originally flowed has been cleared for pasture, crops ofrice ,corn , "yuca" (manioc ), andsugar cane , and in the past two decades, particularlycoca crops.West of the Rio Negro the Amazon River receives three more imposing streams from the north-west -- the Yapura, the
Içá (referred to as the Putumayo before it crosses over intoBrazil ), and the Napo. The first was formerly known as the Hyapora, but itsBrazil ian part is now called the Yapura, and itsColombia n portion the Caquetá.Barao de Marajo gives it convert|600|mi|km of navigable stretches.Jules Crevaux , who descended it, describes it as full of obstacles to navigation, the current very strong and the stream frequently interrupted by rapids and cataracts. It rises in the ColombianAndes , nearly in touch with the sources of theMagdalena River , and augments its volume from many branches as it courses through Colombia. It was long supposed to have eight mouths; butRibeiro de Sampaio , in his voyage of 1774, determined that there was but one real mouth, and that the supposed others are all furos or canos [1] . In 1864-1868 the Brazilian government made a somewhat careful examination of the Brazilian part of the river, as far up as the rapid ofCupaty . Several very easy and almost complete water-routes exist between the Yapura and Negro across the low, flat intervening country. Barao de Marajo says there are six of them, and one which connects the upper Yapura with the Vaupés branch of the Negro; thus the Indian tribes of the respective valleys have facile contact with each other.ee also
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Caquetá Department External links
* [Enviromental information of colombian Amazon region http://siatac.siac.net.co]
References
*1911
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