Delaware gazette. [volume] (Delaware, Ohio) 1855-1886, 1866-11-23
The Valley of the Amazon.


Professor Agassiz, it has been known
for some time, thinks that the Valley
of thu Amazon will, one day, support
so many millions of pe5Die that the
Valley of the Mississippi viii be moth
ing to it, although the latter lies in
the temperate, and the former IN tor
rid zone. Recently, he gave some of
his reasons for this view In a public
lecture. The facts he presented were
most striking. He set out on his jour
ney with every advantage that wealth,
science and good will could afford
His expenses and those of six assist
ants were paid by Mr.. Thayer, Of
Boston. Other assistants volunteered
and thus sixteen persons formed this
most remarkable of scientific expedi-
tions. The United States Govern
ment sent a circular to our naval Off
GERS on the station, to render the ez-
pedition all the service in their pow
er and the Emperor Of Brazil treat
ed them with an Imperial hospitality
that arranged for the accom- mplishment
of all their desires. A ship of war
was placed at the service of the Pro-
fessor for several months on the ANA
zon. He consumed %, 600 gallons of
alcohol In preserving the specimens
brought away, and was even able to
bring home a fossil palm tree, to en-
able botanists to throw light upon the
former vegetation and climate Of those
American tropics.
The banks of the Amazon form a
peculiar specimen of tropical nature,
quite unlike similar regions IN Africa
or Asia. There are no hills for 1900
miles clear away across the continent
to the foot of the Andes, and the riv-
er is 4. 900 miles long, running from
West to East, the valley being 1,800
miles wide, and Of the most amazing
fertility-full of vegetable matter and
irrigated by rivers where ships of war
can sail for hundreds of miles. The
climate averages but g degrees,
though right under the line-72 de-
grees being the lowest, and 50 degrees
the highest ever known.
The river runs just opposite to the
trade winds, and thus makes this one
of the most mild and healthful Of all
tropical regiOns.-Yet it has a bad
name, owing to the bad arrangements
of the Brazilian Government, which
sends out to these regions young Off
GERS who misrepresent the climate to
get away. All his company went and
returned with comfort, and now en-
joying better health than usual. The
woods are full of timber of the most
valuable varieties-178 different kinds
of timber were counted In a small re-
gion. The river Is not open at present,
but soon will be.
There is not saw mill on this no
blest of rivers. In August aud Sep
tember the SHOWS of the Andes melt,
but the lower section does not feel the
rise till the following March, and the
river is highest from June to October.
The river is from thirty to sixty feet,
sometimes the whole basin Is under
water, and the forests may be naviga-
ted
The river has no delta like the Nile,
! the Ganges, or the Mississippi-nOt
sort Of half-cOffee, half-cream color,
and tinges the ocean far out to sea.
! Instead offorming land, the sea Is con-
stantly encroaching on the shore. The
river once extended three hundred
miles beyond the present mouth, and
/ a belt of that breadth has been swept
away. Whether this Is owing to the
sinking of the coast, or the force of
the CuIIGub uuu6Im1HLlEs as db N ldgtl-
ra Falls, is uncertain but rivers now
empty into the Atlantic that used
clearly to be tributary to the Amazon.
As to the prospect of this river soon
being open to a profitable American
commerce, it must be borne In mind
| that whatever may be the mildness of
the climate for the tropics, yet fevers
would appear certain to prevail. Fish
are abundant in the river, but so are
/ aligators, and serpents, jaugers, bears,
| panthers, and other wild animals are
I equally abundant.
The tides at the full of the moon
are more wonderful than in the Bay of
Fundy. They do not rise so high, but
much more suddenly, sweeping along
like a mighty wave or tongue of water,
ten or twelve feet high, uprooting trees
and sweeping vessels most destructive
! ly Still, where money is to be made
difficulties will be overcome, and the
interests both of the United States
and the Brazilian Governments are
too closely connected with the open
ing up of this vast region to leave any
doubt but that, under the present En-
peror of those vast, rich and important
regions, the valley of the Amazon viii
! be opened to prolific commerce and
settlement.