The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1852-12-04

that river to shut it up and to cut of those hys
6psnish- American republics which own navigssie
tributaries to IL, from commerce with the world,
and all the world from commerce with them.
There are physical agencies at work noon thc
great Atlantic slopes of South America which viii
for ages prevent It's inhabitants from becoming
seafaripg people. The laws of nature have ordained
that the people who dwell upon those slopes shall
be tilers of the earth or keepers ofocks and herds
That wise law giver never intended that man should
forsake land Of milk and honey for the mariner's
calling, when, after toll, hardship, danger and OK
posure. he only gain the means Of frugal sub
sisrepce from the sea-
in the woods and there is tree there, too, which,
being tapped, yields abundantly rich juice which,
the people use instead Of milk. Nature has never
yet put in the heart Of man to forsake such land
The sea from. of these beautiful slopes proclaims
this same law Of nature 1t is writ ZEN In the helds,
whispered in the breeze, and felt in the climate
The sea has no spell by which the enchantmeuts
Of soft climates, fertile soils, cheap lands, and
healthy country, can be broken. 1t Is necessity
sad that. TOO, . necessity that is right stern
which induces man to forsake the land, and take
to the sea for living.
Among the conditions requisite to make tho
people Of any country seafaring people are pecu-
liariies of soil and climate, which make it easier
for the nottingham to earn his bread ct sea than it
is on the land These pesuliarities do not exist in
Brazil, and Brazil has no seamen. Only lock-
whence the sailors come that now do the fetching
and carrying across the seas. They come nom the
North, and not from the sunny olimes Of the South
They come from Old and New England, the north Of
Europe and OF America. Who ever heard Of our.
Western people, who live in the Mississippi valley
: :s;'n1g out their sons before the mast to make
1t is too easy there to earn living out of the
soil. Much easier is it in the valley Of the Amazon.
where the plantsin and the banana the most nutri-
- e. A~en nv.1n Hox<
the table without even the care Of the laborer to
dress the plant the viand where rice grows wild,
the sugar cane ripens every eight months, and
where food enough to support population Of mill
lions annually wasted for the want Of laborers to
gather it How can the people Of such country
ever become . seafaring people? What, short Of
the messengers Of Gods wrath, the famine and tn
pestilenco, could drive people from such land,
induce them to forsake it and follow the sea?
Another condition necessary to the establishs
ment Of seaarng communities is the presence Of the
sea-
Contrast the rock bound coast Of South America
its stiff outlines, its want Of articulation, the
rigid, forbidding front of its Atlantic slopes
with the waving seashores, their magnificent CULTS,
their beautiful bays and narbors with their capeso
promontories, and peninsulas Of the northern marie
time regions Of the earth, and sec how forcibly
nature has proclaimed the fact that the soil and tho
climate of Brazil forbid her people to follow the
! When the dry land first appeared, it was ordained
that power of maritime habits was never to d1eH
| where Brazil is.
! Look at the Baltic sea. the Meditsrranean, and
the Black which, with their arms and CULTS, sretck
up into the heart Of Europe, and by their presence
invite the people to leave those overpopuated dis
tricts and inhospitable cimes to the sea,
and visit the sunny spots Of the earth.
Again, look here in like manner in the northertS
hemisphere at the Red sea, the Persian gulf, jut-
ting. out Hindostan, tipped with the pendant isle Of
Ceylon, the bay Of Bengal, the straits Of Maaccs,
the CULTS Of Siam and Tonquin the Yellow :sa, with
4 the seas of Japan and OchOtsk winding along thu
4 th4maeVeg HA0
far back in the country, and with coast line won
derfully indented. inviting them out to sea-con-'
sider this and then contrast this shore line Of the
north with the shore lines of Africa and New Hol-
land There is no articulation there, and Nature
intended either Of these two continents the
home of . maritime and seafaring people.
The same contrast holds between the bays, CULTS,
bights, and peDinsulas Of North America, when
you come to compare them with the straight lines
which in South America divide the dry land from
the sea. Nature, therefore, is against Brazil with
! her lorgings for maritime consequence. She must
be content to let other nations fetch and carry for
her. She can never have the shipping nor the men
to carry her own produce to market.
All Of Europe, some Of Asia, half of Africa, most
/ of North America, and ninety and nine parts OF
South America, are drained into the Atlantic. The
three largest rivers in the world empty into it, and
the largest of river basins are tributaryto it.
1t is but rs q narrow canal which separates Eu-
rope and Africa from the New World, and this
amount Of back country which through river baslnE
and Atlantic slopes is tributary to this oceanic ca
2 nal, must tor ever SEND down TO IL an immense
amount of produce aud merchandise The Allan
tic ocean is therefore destined to be forever tbs
great scene of this worlds business and of CON-
merce. And the principal feature in this arrange
ment ofland and war, and dist buon Of river basiw
and sea high ways, is the valley of the Amazon.
! The winds and currents Of the are SO ordered
that, wherever the market-place may be, every
sailing vessel, as she passes to and fro between it
and the mouth of the Amazon, must, either in COM
ing or in going, pass by doors.
The Atlantic seaports are the halfway stations
between the mouth of the Amazon and all the mar
kets OF the earth The trade winds and the great
equatorial current of the Atlantic have placed the
commercial mouth Of the Amazon in the Florida
pass, where they have placed that Of the Mississippi
These two unite ut feet, and pour their wealth
along our shores.
For these and other reasons Of import, the frss
navg ation of the Amazon becoaes . matter of deep
interest to the world and Of especial interest to this
country Therefore 1t is incumbent upon this coup-
try to take the initiative in opening the trade aud
navigation of that river to the world. The policy
Of c0mmerce requires it. In my next shall treat of
the means Of accomplishing it, and Of the rights
4 which We have there. INCA.
She field Cutlery made ut Mattewan, Frsh-