Georgetown weekly news., 1854-11-02
Amazon Valley.

Travellers are very apt, in their descrip-
tions OF countries, to give eoloring which
proceeds oftener from the region of the i'm
aginatin than that of fact. 1t is very nat
ural that one interested in a country which
he attempts to describe, and possessing a
taste for the beautiful, should tinge, with
the coloring Of his fancy, that which he
would not have appear disagreeable to his
readers. Those who have read the reports
of Lieuts. Maury and Herndon upon the
valley Of the Amazon, must, at times, at
least have been struck with the idea that
there was a little, if not more. OF romance
in them. We have seen a criticism from a
Rio Janeiro paper, in which these reports
are spoken of as, for the most part, illusory
and tending to produce false impression
of the character of the country they pur-
ported to describe
The report of Lieut.. Gibbon, which is a.
bout being published, is said to convey a
rather different idea of the Amazon basin
from those of Lieuts. Maury and Herndon,
and to rob the latter of much of their gor-
geous beauty.
We have seen some of the notes of Lieut..
Gibbon, from which we make the following
extracts:
at has been q matter of surprise that an
European population should have been lin
gering on the banks Of the Amazon for cen
turies. The experience of a single India
rubber gatherer teaches us that the climate
soil, timber, animal and vegetable life, are
not such as to encourage the IabOring white
man.
If we consult the narratives of travellers
and notes Of actual settlers for years long
past, we find less industry among the whites
of the present day. than was known among
the Portuguese and Spaniards at their first
settlement. A large white population have
passed the entrance of this rich and produc-
tive basin, and proceeded to the south tenn
perate zone. Spain France and Portugal
have been drained of some surplus popuIa-
ton by Chill, South Brazil, and the Argen-
tine Confederation.
Slave owners, native to the soil of Bra
I'll, prefer any other port of the empire to
that of the valley of the Amazon; and since
the abolition Of the African slave trade the
demand in the southern provinces has been
partly supplied from the province of Para
So far as the black race have been employ
ed in the valley of the Amazon, they, and
they alone, have proved adapted to its eli
mate, soil and productions. They thrive
better on the tropical fruits of this fertile
valley than their wild African ancestors
The idea of 1t. Gibbon appears to bc
! that it is not from mere accident that thu
broad and well watered valley of the ANA
zon, rich as it undoubtedly is in vegetable
and mineral wealth, should have remained
during the centuries since its discovery al
most wilderness, while the territory al
round it was settled by the white race, whC
left the Amazon valley to the negroes ono
wild beasts.
Without doubt the valley of the Amazor
is rich in silver, gold, diamonds and India
rubber; but we do not believe that a large
laboring white population could exist there
and this is plainly stated as his opinion, b,
1t. Gibbon. Emersons idea of "compensa
tion," doubtless, is as correct in regard tt
that region as it is to most of those rich il
the products of nature. California is ont
of the very few exceptions to the genera
rule, that countries particularly rich in ag
ricultural and mineral wealth are usually
unhealty, while here we have halreadv haC
ample evidence that our climate is as salu
brious as our mountain gorges are rich il
gold; and the soil of our valleys and plains
agriculturally productive. Alta Cal.