Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1866-10-16

OF all this Is C0at Cne main stream lnCredSPS
in bulk from October to june, and. falls
again from June to October. Th44 risa Is
never less than thirty feet, and is ire
auently fifty. The result may be imagined
in a country where the highest inequali-
tics of surface are from fifty to sixty and
seventy-fve feet. There are times, it may
be said, that the whole land is under wa
ter, and when the forest is actually naviga-
BILE. You can sail through the forests in
every direction, and the Indians have an
expression signifying 'boat-path." You
may 90 on large river or q small river on
a boat path of considerable dimensions, or
so narrow that all the boat can do is to
proceed among the dank vegetation. The
whole surface not occupied by wa
ter is primitive forest, and it Is al
most impossible to penetrate through
the dense vegetation. There is variety
in the vegetation which is wonderful. The
waters of the main stream are turbid,
somewhat like a mixture of coffee with a
large amount of milk, and they carry along
an immense amount of sediment, which
subsidies the moment the water is still. The
mouth ofthe Amazon where it enters the
ocean is 100 miles wide, and 1t is all fresh
water. The turbid waters can be seen long
before the land is visible, and it is main
tanned fifty miles beyond its mouth. All
the great rivers which flow into the ANA
zon from the high mountain share in this
color; but. on the contrary, all the rivers,
however large, which rise in the woody
plain are black, containing in solution
large amount of vegetable substance. Not
Withstanding the amount OF black water
poured into the Amazon, it does not be-
come black. There is no other water sy s.
TEN in the world like this. You may com
pare the Mississippi, the st. lawrence or
the large rivers of Europe and Asia with
the Amazon, but all are rivers which re-
ceive limited amount ofsupply from their
head waters or from the head waters of their
tributaries, and they do not drain such an
immense extent of land as does the ANA
/ zon-a basin 1000 miles long and about
l.2O0 miles wide. The climate of this re-
gion is most delightful. 1t is by no means
hot by no means unbearable as the deserts
of Africa or the regions of Asia. BY rea-
son of the trade winds and the character of
the land, the AmazOn running from west
to east to the Atlantic, cool breeze goes
up river all the time, so that the average
| temperature is 81 degrees. The maximum
| temperature of the whole region is 02-the
| lowest 72 degrees. The average depression
| of the thermometer during the rainy sea-
son is 73 degrees, so that the changes OF
temperature are rs much as 10 degrees, the
| maximum not being more than 80 degrees.
nor the minimum below Is degrees, and a
| fresh breeze being felt every evening very
| sensibly. The circumstances of climate
would, therefore, render it one Of the most
pleasant and desirable tropical regions but
no country has q worse administration, ow-
ing to the Government of the provinces and
the mode of life ofthe inhabitants. Young
| men, who have no experience Ill Govern
ment, are general Nsent as Governors; and,
| 4,
| they consider it place from which they
| desire to get away as soon as possible, and
they misrepresent the country. The Pro
fessor said, that when he expressed de-
sire to enter that region, he was warned
that he was running into region of death
| but there were no dangers, and hardly any
discomforts to be met with. .r. ..
| After referring to the superior water
| communications with every part OF the
valley, the speaker mentioned that another
difficulty in regard to the region was that
the people were indolent, with no ideas OF
improving the land. The Indians have
been made almost slaves to the few white
men. This country might be made para
disc, so rich is it in natural productions
and immense wealth is to be obtained there
Twenty millions of men could live there
with more of the facilities which we enjoy
| bVdeyeloping thaC which has hardly ye
been brought to market. A better future
for the country could not be conceived thai
for some of our Eastern lumbermen to eX
plore the forests, which are full of timber
in such exquisite variety, that we have M
idea of such richness. At a provincial eS-
| hibition in Para, there was exhibited col
lection of III different kinds of costly tim
ber, gathered from piece OF land half {
mile square. And yet in the whole AmazoI
i tnfn ntt.trD mil 10
| in length and 1900 wide, there is not ont
saw-mll. Large trees are cut down anC
chopped off with hatchet in the form o
a hoe to make plank one inch in thick
ness. There is a want of skill ant
sagacity in the population. The ANA
Zon is still q closed country, but i
soon to be opened to the commerce o
the world. One of the great feature
of the Amazon, which is very remarkable
is that the great river has no delta, fol
which other great rivers are remarkable
Yet it carries an immense amount of mut
more than any other stream. This wa
owing, the Professor said, to very singu
lar combination of circum stances, whicl
he had not quite unraveled; but one thin!
was certain--that the ocean encrOaches up
on the continent, and at fearful rate
This encroachmcnt has gone on for ages
like the rpceding of Niagara Falls iron
Lake Ontario toward Lake Erie, and thre
hundred to four hundred miles of the out
line has already disappeared from befor
the present mouth of the. river. The fac
of the encr)achm mt is unmistakable
whetherOwing to tue sOftiiess ofthe materia
upon which it works, or by the subsiding o
the land, in addition to the direct action o
the sea, lie was unable to say. The Profes
sor treated at some length upon the geo
graphical character of the river valley, il
connection with this theory of the en-.
croachment of the ocean upon the land, ant
! concluded his address by expressing hi
appreciation of the very valuable assistanc
he had received from Major Continho.
Brazilian engineer, who, for twelve years
has been exploring the valley of the ANA
zon, aud surveying some of its waters 81
that the lecturer had only, as it were, Il
reach out and take up the information
which had been gathered. ''' ~
Letter from Hon. w. T.. Sharl<ey
I of MississipPi-He Opposes th,
COnstitutiOnaI Amendment. ,..'
The Hon. w. L. Sharkey, United State
Senator elect from Mississippi, writes from
Washington, september 18th, 1866, t,
Governor Humphreys, of that State, ad
vising the Legislature to. assemble on th,
10Th to repeal it. He says: 1a dT
L do not believe the amendment was
recommended by two-thirds of the Con
gress of the United States. The constitu
tional House of Representatives consists o
members chosen Hby the people of the sew