The Jeffersonian. [volume] (Stroudsburg, Pa.) 1853-1911, 1855-01-04

req With stick till 1t granulates into yer,
irregular grains, and is sufficiently toast
ed to drive off all the poisonous qualitie
which it has in crude state. 1t is ther
packed in baskets Qined and covered Will
palm-lcaves) of about sixty-four pounds
weight, which are ge nerally sold, all a
long the river, at from seventy-fve cent:
to one dollar. The sediment of the juice
is tapioca, and is used to make custards
puddiugs, starch, etc. It will surprise
some of our readers to be told that the
juice extracted in the preparation of these
wholesome and nutritive substances is a
powerful poison, and used by the Indians
for poisoning the points of their arrows.
The Huallaga is navigable for vessels
drawing five feet depth of water. 2e5
miles; and forty miles further for canoes.
Our travellers had now arrived at its juno.
tion with the Amazon and their first sight
of its waters is thus described. "The
march of the great river in its silent
grandeur was sublime; but, in the un-
tanned might of its turbid waters, as thcy
cut away its banks, tore down the gigan-
tic denizens of the forest, and built up
islands, it was awful Twas reminded of
our Mississippi at its topmost food, but
this stream lacked the charm which the
plantation upon the bank, the city upon
the bluff, and the steamboat upon the
waters, lend to its fellow of the North
But its capacities for trade and commerce
are inconceivably great, and to the touch
of steam, settlement and cultivation, this
m a. jestic stream and its magnificent wa
ter-shed would start up in display of in
dustrial results that would make thd val
ley of the Amazon one .ofthe most en-.
chantingregions on the faceof the earth"
Lieutenant Herndon speaks of the val
ley of theAmazon in language about as
enthusiastic as that of Sir Walter Raleigh.
"From its mountains you may dig silver,
iron, coal, copper, zinc, quicksilver and
tin; from the sands of its tributaries you
may wash gold, diamonds and precious
stones; from it's forests you may gather
drugs OF virtues the most rare, spices of
aroma the most exquisite, gums and
resins of the most varied and useful prop
critics; dyes of hue the most brilliant, with
cabinet and building woods of the finest
polish and the most enduring TEXTURE
Its climate is an everlasting summer, and
its harvest perennial"
September 9th. The party encamped
at night on an island near the middle of
the river. "The Indians, cooking their
big monkeys over large fire onthe beach,
presented savage and most picturesque
scene. They looked more like devils
roasting human beings, than anything
mortal We ask ourselves, on reading
this, whether some such scene may not
have given rise to the stories of "canni-
balism," which Raleigh and others rec
ord.
They arrived at Nauta, village of
thousand inhabitants. mostly Indians
The governor of the district received
them Hospitality. Each district has its
governor, and each town its lieutenant
governor. These are of European de-
scent. The other authorities Of town
are curacas, captains, alcades and con-
stables. All these are Indians. The Of
fee of curaca is hereditary, and is not
generally interfered with by the white
governor. The Indians treat their curaca
with great respect, and submit to corpor-
al punishment at his mandate.
Sarsaparilla is one of the chief articles
Of produce collected here. 1t is vine of
sufficient size to shoot up & fteen or twen-
ty feet from the root without support. 1t
thus embraces the surrounding trees and
spreads to great distance. The main
root sends out many tendrils, generally
about the thickness of q straw, and FIVE
feet long. These are gathered and tied
up in bundles Of about an arroba, or thir-
ty-two pounds weight. 1t is found on the
banks of almost every river of the region,
but many of these are not worked, on ac-
count of the savages living on them, who
attack the parties that come to gather it.
The price in Nauta is two dollars the ar
roba, and in Europe from forty to sixty
dollars.
From Nauta, Lieutenant Herndon as
cended the Ucayali, a branch of the Am
azon, stretching to the northwest in di-
rection somewhat parallel to the Hualla-
ga. There is the essential difference be-
tween the two rivers, as avenue for com
merce, that the Ucayali is still in the oc-
cupation of savage tribes, unchristianized
except where under the immediate in
auence Of the mission stations, planted a.
mong them; while the population of the
Huallaga is tolerably advanced in civili-
zation. The following sentences will give
a picture of the Indians of the Ucayali.
'These people cannot count, and can
never get from them any accurate idea of
numbers. They are very little removed
above "the beasts that perish. They
are filthy and covered with sores. The
houses are very large, between thirty and
forty feet in length, and ten or fifteen in
breadth. They consist of immense roofs,
Of small poles and cane, tbatched with
palm, and supported by short stakes four