The Athens post. [volume] (Athens, Tenn.) 1848-1917, 1854-01-27
TILE AMAZON-

TIE AMAZON.
Lieut. Maury isa scientific man, edged with
a fine border Of poetry, which would De well
enough If the latter did not occasionally get
turned over upon the sobcrcr fabric of his
philosophic Investigations Thus, be took
the fancy that the Amazon was one wide
spread garden of natural products, whose
opening would be for the glory and the GER
climate, in the happy tracings Of the mighty
stream, in the lay of the land and the path OF
the clouds, he read these bright visions of
reward to the commercial daring which should
unlock the watery portals of the Amazon.
Mr.. Fillmore's administration lent favor
able ear TO the Eeutcnants solicitations, and
dispatched Lieutenant Iierndon over the Cor
dilcras to the head Of the Amazonan wa
tcrs in the spring of 1851. lie crossed this
mountain range at an elevation of sixteen
thousand feet above the level of the sea, rode
his mule three hundred miles over the fright
full roads of the Andes, walked thirty to his
place of embarkation on the Hualaga River,
thence he lloated down in "dug-out," over
the falls and rapids that, according 10 his nc
count, have swallowed up many Il drunken
Indian and unwary traveller.
lie spent eleven months between Lima
md Para, travelled near 5000 miles, and, at
Ter having met many adventures by flood and
by field, arrived at home in July, 1862, and
Tehmtted his report to Secretary Kennedy
Fy February of the following year.
= He, too, is POLITICALLY inclined, although a
sharp and honest observer. And while CIV
ing isolated facts which would seem to blight
all the budding commercial glories in Lieut..
Maury's mind, he is, nevertheless, full Of the
"mighty river" "mighty resources" &c And
he does show that the region is Il very fer
tile one in many Indispensable articles Of
rommercc-that the Amazonian trade now
amounts to two millions of dollars and that
steam navigation would easily extend it.
But practically, the river is closed-Brazil
having given the exclusive monopoly of the
trade TO one of her own citizens for 80 years.
The climate is fatally pcstilential to the white
man, and the whole region swarms with all
sorts of nOxious mOnstrosites, in the shape
of vampire bats, deadly snakes, bloated spi
ders, and biting things with innumcrablc legs.
The tropical heat is SO excessive that the
,,,,,,1J La ,,,iIt cd Mt 81
mere appendage of hammocks, and seek
cr after the shady side ofhouses, when shade |
there is none. How it is with the present in
habtants, Lieut.. IIerndon bears ample testi-
mony. They are, he says, contcnted to live,
and TO enjoy, without labor, the fruits which |
the earth spontaneously offers, and imagine
he adds, in the majority Of cases, if Bra
lillian has enough food, Of even the common
est quality, to support lfc,-cofice or tea to
drink, cigars TO smoke, and hammock to
lie in, that he will be perfectly contcnted.
That this springs from surrounding infiu-
enccs, and would prove irresistible to all 9TH
crs, rs well as the Portuguese race, he also |
maintains. "This, of course" he says, lis
the effect of climate. There was n time
when the Portuguese nation, in maritime and
scientific dscoverics-in daring explorations;
In successful colonizaton-in arts and arms
was inferior to no other in proportion to its
strength; and ! have very little doubt but
that the bold and ambitious Englishman, the
spirited and cosmopolitan Frcnchman, and
the hardy, pcrsevering, scheming American,
who likes little that any one should 90 ahead
of him, would alike, in the course Of time,
Weld to the relaxing influence Of climate
that forbids him to labor, and to the charm
of a state of things where life may be sup
ported without the necessity of labor"
The inference, therefore, is, that the de-
sirablcncss Of opening the Valley OF the Am
azon has been greatly over estimated. 1t
might add trfle to our foreign commerce
but the same effort spent in developing our
interior resources and domestic trade would
be infinitely more beneficial. These are the
true sources of national prospcrty-they are
reliable, manageable and lasting! In a nation
al, as well rs social, point of view,
mans best things are nearest him,
Lie close about his feet"