The miners' express. (Dubuque, Iowa) 1849-1854, 1852-12-29

.Accordingto Hopkins, Paraguay is but anc
er Paradise 4
tOf this country and its commercial resour
9. says he, 81 can speak with the creates
rtain'y from my own personal knowledge
'most divided BY the Tropic Of Capricorn, il
rface is like a chess board, checkered here
Id there with beautiful pastures and marnf
Int forests. Unlike all other lands with which
am acquainied,it seems destined especially
r the habitation o. man.
Here, in the eastern portion Of our own land
e first settlers found the whole Country GOV
ed with woods; west Of The Mississippi the
her extreme exists, in the vast extent of prai
destitute Of timber
On the north of Brazil, in a similar manner,
{ unbroken forests; in its southern parts and
roughout the Banda Oriental, Entire Rios,
orrientes, and the Argentine repIblic, we find
Pntinuous pampas, like our prairies, in many
stances without having the necessary fuel
zen for household purposes. Not so in Para
pav. where added to sufficieney far building
Fcts of thousand steamers, its forests team
it'll every description of ornamental and
beful woods
"Beginning with the head waters of the river
hraguay, we find the productions upon the
aztlian side TO be gold and precious stones,
gar, molasses, hides of extraordinary size,
ir, ta.low, wax, deer and tiger skins, with
Re, corn and the different manufactures, of the
hndioca root in Bolivia, gold and precious
ones, silver, coffee, considered by Judges to
equal 10 Mocha,) and Peruvian bark Though
would undoubtedly draw from these two
|untries many other productions of tropical
tnerica, yet il is in Paraguay that we find the
eatest wealth of all these Valleys
Of medicinal herbs, they yield IN great pro-
sion, "rhubarb, sarsaparila, jalap, Of bezonia
dica sassafras, hollywood, balsam OF copaiba,
PIX vomica liquorice and glnger."t
Here. too, are found dye stuffs of the most
kquisite tin,s. Among these he inclndes coch.
cal, two kinds ofindigo, a vegetable yer.
illlon, saffron, golden red, with other
ants, producing all the ,ints of dark red,
hck and green"
In the forests are found sixty varieties of
pod, valuable for ship building, or as timber
for cabinet work among them are the Isle
! tree, which, swhen green, is spongy and
~ as cork, and can be cut like an apple, but
hen dry is 80 hard as almost to defy the action
steel the palo de vivora, or snake tree,
hose leaves are an infallible cure for the poi
nous bites of serpents the palo de leche, or
Fix tree-may be called a vegetable cow and
|e palo de borracho, or drunken tree, a vege-
|ble distllery. The igica resin is found at the
lots Of trees under ground, and is natural
leh ready prepared to pay the seams Of ves-
.ls''
Many of them are said to yield gems and drugs
the rarest virtues ana of the NEST exquisite
,rfume though coming from far country,
h;ch commerce in her loftest flights has not
i been able to reach, many Of these produce
ms are not yet known to pharmacy or the me-
lanic arts.
They comprise" says Hopkins, "some OF
e most delicious perfumes and incense that
n be imagined. Others, again, are like am
+, hard, brittle, and insoluble in water. Some
dars yield gum equal to gum arabic, others.
natural glue, which, when once dried, ia un. .
ected BY vet or dampness :
Here, too. in those wilds, flourish side by side !.
India rubber tree, the vanilla, with its sweet.
ented bean. and the palo santo, from which =
. gum guiacum Of our commerce is gather :.
Wild, too, in those wonderful forests, grow, :.
ture, and decay annually and in large guam +
es; two or three kinds Of hemp, the nux so =,
tic a, or soap nut, the cocoa, yerba matte of =
per,or quality, two kinds Of cotton, with We. 9 9
able oils and wax IN vast quantities.. n
The pampas are grazed by immense herds of - -
tie and horses, and quantities of shides, hair, :.
ms, bores, tallow, &c, are lost for want of W
nsporialion. Upon the fertile alluvial banks
% many large streams sugar-cane, cotton, to- E
co al a superior quality, rice, mandioca, In
n corn, and thousand other productions,
.eiate with profuslon, whilst seven varieties
he bamboo line the river banks, and dot the
luent lakes with lslets of touching beauty" fir
short, this traveller thus sums up his account pl
his glorious valley: Is
We have found the forest spontaneously pro- L.
ing everything necessary for the comfort and tai
ury OF mankind, from the beautiful cotton tn
. -e> ~. - - e
| his fancy as dye, and from the words nv
! furnish his ship and house, or ornament his
ritoire, to the herb that cures his sickness,
he incense that delights his olfacsores. 1t 'n
My necessary to add that the climate is fav WI
Bile 10 all the useful grains& vegetables, with 'ei
cious fruits to support the frame and crafty
palate -,
lat from the republic Of Paraguay, where ar A.,
pkins was to the mouth Of the La Plata, +,
e were only some 500 miles of river navi- =,
on. Let Us therefore ascend higher up the -
ntiful Paraguay, cross yer into Brazil, this -
= through Me district Dos Diamantes to the -,
of "DiamaRtine,' and thence trace les sssr- -.
up over their beds Of bright jewels and gol- Az
sands to their very fountain-heads as they -. -,
J, spangling and sparkling, from the "Dia- 81,
ID mountains. "Standing on these, we may lie
'ne gsea, v'oe' wncn sepa sui
= hc
de la Plata from the waters Of the ANA. -
in
his ridge extends from east to west over the Mi
ance, in a straight line; of more than 2 900 We;
ute miles. On one side the streams run prc
h, on the other they come north, and on
sides they wash downtown this ridge gold,
nonds and other precious stones. This au. tina
Gus and rich minerall region embraces ma we
legrees oflatltude, and extends through 80 PAL
'ees of longitude. propose to speak of it
Mother time dir
is . question whether the waters Of the La the
a and the Amazon do not unite through VIII
Iral channel, 40 those Of the Amazon and me
noco do through the Casiquiari. and thus af. La
an inland navigation from Buenos Ayres we,
deg. south 10 the mouth Of the Oronoco, 7
re il empties in II deg. north in the Carib- OF
sea. Truly such navig ition would b. san
ging the commercial drainage of the Allan CHI
lopes Of s. America not only at our Fee,
i would be emptyIng its treasures into the
lap into which our own Mississippi pours
waters, its surplus produce, and its wealth =
ny rate, whether there be q natural canal ~,
: now or not, we may look forward 10 the ,,.r
when settlement, steam, and civilization ,,or
have taken root upon the great Amazon mn, mn.
r-shed, to see canals and channels which, ho.
AZURE have not completed, art will, by which ,o,,
- Plafa rvil1 - turuod ,,rsido do,yp ,nJ P'''