The MORONA is a tributary to the
Amazon River, and flows parallel to the Pastaza and immediately to
the west of it, and is the last stream of any importance on
the northern side of the Amazon before reaching the Pongo de
Manseriche. It is formed from a multitude of water-courses
which descend the slopes of the Ecuadorian Andes south of
the gigantic volcano of Sangay; but it soon reaches the
plain, which commences where it receives its Cusulima
branch. The MORONA is navigable for small craft for about
300 m. above its mouth, but it is extremely tortuous. Canoes
may ascend many of its branches, especially the Cusuhma and
the Miazal, the latter almost to the base of Sangay. The
Morona has been the scene of many rude explorations, with
the hope of finding it serviceable as a commercial route
between the inter-Andean tableland of Ecuador and the Amazon
river. A river called the Paute dashes through the eastern
Andes from the valley of Cuenca; and a second, the Zamora,
has broken through the same range from the basin of Loja.
Swollen by their many affluents, they reach the lowlands
and unite their waters to form the Santiago, which flows
into the Maranon at the head of the Pongo de Manseriche.
There is but little known of a trustworthy character
regarding this river, but Wolf says that it is probably
navigable up to the junction of the Paute with the Zamora.