Weekly national intelligencer. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1841-1869, 1852-12-04

lOCL.
part by hostile Indians and this it is said is one Of
the causes OF It's rude navigation But the steamboat
would certainly not have fear than these
"eidy huiks OF Brazil, as they go creeping along the
coward shores.
that drain which doubtas rich and
| fertile as this
We are entitled to infer not only by reference to the
as type Of them but reference to the guam
ty OF produce that goes to frem the Amazon that
valleys Of its other tributaries not behind that Of
the Tocantins Produce enough down the Amazon
Para to give that city annual trade Of three millions
of dollars
Bolivia sent last year from her part Of this great water
shed two million dollars worth of Peruvian bark alone
But that went the mountains to the Pacific The
steamboat would have brought it down the Amazon to
the Atlantic, 1t would have brought business to Para
.2S sads Fsssly ssJtAa e ns.'ll end he "a
II certninly xsnr be wisdom in Brazil were she to
make not only &V navigation Of the Amazon free to all
world but it would be peic to throw open foreign
commerce and navigation the Tocantins ALSO and oil her
| other Amazonian tributaries.
The value of the trade up and down the Tocantins
| would be increased MANIFOLD the hostile Indians
which infest its banks and prevent their settlement
would be driven away and lands that proftess
and produce that is valueless would become profitable
We admit the coffee of Brazil into ports duty free
We are her best customer and friend and it is quite time
that Brazil had sgnazed her appreciation of this patron
age and friendship by sign token at least that
she too would be liberal in her policy.
Since the subjects f Brazil themselves have judged
it expedent to put steamer the Tocantns to go up
aft ndrico apd Sc
it certainly would be wise her to permit citizens the
United States, Of France, of England to do it.
They would gladly go up this river after this fine Goyaz
coffee. Her subjects then would receive double the
price they receive for and the of their produce
Those Of them who employed in Transporting this
merchandise to the board by water and by land would
then find more profitable employment in the cultivation
Of the soil Double the price of the staples of country
and you not only double the price of labor but you
greatly enhance the national wealth Increase the sub
of the subject and you increase his power pay
taxes; and this, imagine, is what Brazil wants
But this river Tocantins lies wholly within Brazilian
errory she has the right to open it to the of
the world not, she pleases and her action with
gard to it is just Of complaint offence any
nation.
Not so, however when she keeps closed the Amazon,
and endeavors because she holds the mouth of that ri
4
republics which navgable tributaries to it, from
commerce with the world, and all the world from COM
merce with them.
There physical agencies at work upon the great At
lantc slopes Of South America which will for ages pre-
vent its inhabitants from becoming seaaring people.
The laws of Nature have ordained that the people who
dwell upon those slopes shall be ters Of the earth
keepers Of focks and herds That wise awgver never
intended that should forsake land Of milk and
honey for the mariners toing where, after TOLL hard
ship danger and exposure, he only gain the
of frugal subsistence from the sea.
Bread grows trees in Brazil; honey is found in the
woods and there is tree there too which, being tap
ped yields abundantly rich juice which the people use
instead milk Nature has yet put il into the heart
Of man to forsake such land and take to the
The searont Of these beautiful slopes proclaims this
same law Of Nature 1t a written in the fields whisper
ed in the breeze and felt in the climate.
i The has spell by which the enchantments Of
soft climates, fertile Soils cheap lands and healthy
country can be broken II is necessityand that too
necessity that is right sternwhich induces to for
sake the land and take to the for living
Among the conditions requisite to make the people Of
any country seafarng people pecuarities of soil
and climate which make it easier for the workngman
his bread than ii the land These pecul
arities do exist in Brazil and Brazil has
Only look whence the sailors that do the fetch
ing and carrying the They from the
climates of the extratropica regions Of the NORTH
and not from the sunny cmes of the south They come
from Old New England the north Of Europe and Of
America. Who ever heard Of western people who
live the Mississippi valley sending their before
the mast TO make sailors Of?
1t is too easy there to living out Of the soil
Much easier it in the valley Of the Amazon where the
andf The he of
grow and rpen, and prepared for the table, without
the Of the laborer dress the plant or the
Wand where rice grows Wild the sugarcane rpens eve
ry eight months and where food enough to support
population Of millions is annually wasted for the Of
aborers to gather it. How can the people of such
country ever become seafarng people? What short Of
the messengers Of Gods wrath the famine and the pest
ence, could drive people from such land, induce
them to forsake it and follow the sea
Another condition necessary to the establishment Of
seafaring communities is the presence of the
Contrast the rock bound coast Of South Amsrca-ts
stiff outlines its want Of articulation the rigid, forbid
ding seafront Of its Atlantic slopes with the waving
shores, their magnificent guf their beautiful bays and
harbors, with their capes promontores and pennsulas
Of the northern maritime regions Of the earth, and see
how orcbly Nature has proclaimed the fact that the
soil and the climate Of Brazil forbid her people to follow
the sea- When the dry land first appeared il was or
dained that Power Of maritime habits was never to dwell
where Brazil is
Iook al Rail; tha Mali