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How did Alexander von Humboldt prove that the Amazon and Orinoco river systems were connected?
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Alexander von Humboldt
Alexander von Humboldt, oil on canvas by Julius Schrader, 1859; in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City.
During his expedition to South America between 1799 and 1804, Alexander von Humboldt and the French botanist Aimé Bonpland proved the connection between the Amazon and Orinoco river systems by traveling along their waterways by canoe.1
After reaching the Orinoco via the Apure River, the pair followed the course of the Orinoco and then navigated the Casiquiare river. By documenting this route, they confirmed that the Casiquiare acts as a natural canal, branching off from the Orinoco and flowing southwestward to join the Guainía River, which forms the Negro River—a major tributary of the Amazon. This arduous three-month journey through dense tropical forests provided scientific confirmation of the link between these two vast river systems.12