Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1867-02-21
THE AMAZON,
second Lecture by Prof AEassiE on ti'e
Amazon and its Tributaries

A large audience assembled in the hall
{, Of the Cooper Institute, to listen to the
second lecture Of Prof. Agassizo on Brazil.
4 The special subject Of his lecture was
, the Amazon and its tributaries. The
professor began by giving an account Of
r the facilities that were afforded him both
by individuals and by the Brazilian gov
ernment, for prosecuting his investiga-
tons and explorations. He described the
mode in which they divided their Iabors,
by sending different portions Of the com
pany TO different parts Of the country,
and then said:
The chief point which ] intended 10
: explore was the geographical distribution
OF the aquatic animals. And here ! must
. say what was the reason which induced
b me to make that investigation a special
itv. There is no question now which en-
cages so extensively and so deeply natu-
ralists than that Of the origin Of living
beings Now, before anything can be
done toward the coming in Of this i'm
meuse variety Of living beings which
people the surface of the globe, it seems
natural that we should know the COndi-
tions under which these live in the local
ities over which they are spread, that
these circumstances of their ordinary
maintenance should be brought in ss
one element in the explanation Of the
problem And yet with reference to
aquatic animals our data are eX-
ceedingly meager. OF all the fishes
of South America, the mo t that
has been regarded thus far has been
that they occur perhaps in Brazil, OF in
the northern rivers Of South America,
and the like. Aud 10 more precise in
dication have we of their whereabouts.
From previous investigations I had al
ready learned that within the range Of
the Mississippi, the Ohio, or Of some Of
the Atlantic rivers, the inhabitants OF
these fresh water basins, are not the
same for the whole length of the water
course. That, for iustanceElt the head
waters Of one stream there occur fishes
which are not found in its middle course,
and here sgain others which are different
from those found at its mouth; while
| some species may extend through the
| whole length. 10 became, therefore, par
| ticuIariy desirable for me TO ascertain
how it was with the inhabitants Of the
extensive fresh water basins of South
America; and so ! sent out parties to
1 explore the different basins. One party
was to explore the rivers which
emptied east Of the coast range
into the Atlantic, the Rio Parauba,
the Rio Doce, and others. These are
1 some Of them large streams Of about the
! dimensions of our largest Atlantic rivers
] Another party was 10 follow the pass OF
| the mountain range and explore the head
/ waters of the said region. Another
party was sent into the valley Of the San
] Francisco To make collections there
/ while they were 10 explore the two main
/ tributaries Of that river, the Rio das Vel
I has. and the San Francisco proper; and
/ then they were to follow the river its
/ whole course, when they should divide,
/ and one party course the mountain range
I into the basin of the Paruahiba into the
province of Fiauhi and from there TO
] Maranahao, and to come IN the end IN
4 Para, a. the mouth of The Amazon. 1
/ remained couple of months at Para,
: aud then asceuded the valley Of the Am
/ az0u its whole length as far as It extend
| ed upon Brazilian territory, reaching Ia
/ batinga, which is at the frontier Of Peru, /
| al the end Of the journey. ] did not pene-
/ trate further. | had at first intended TO
/ visit the Andes, but l fuuRd that the
river Amazon alone vas 50 iuii Of inter
I est, and contained so much that was iu-
structiye, that 20 give up what / had
was hardly prudent when / did not
] know how far an expedition in the An .
/ des would be rewarded with success .
during the period of the political agita- |
ton which existed then i'm the lower /
/ provinces of Peru. 50 1 decided to pass |
I nearly a yeaT-teu nOnths-On the AM /
aZan, in order to make myself thoroughly I.
/ familiar with the condition Of that cOun- 4
{ try dHiug almost every season Of the I
wear: 10 explore lhe character Of the /
different rivers, ali 10 study the subject T!
| of the distribution Of the animals within /.
I that basin. II became thus necessary /
/ that | should attend 10 some of the trib- |
utlries and send uuc parties to Others SO 1
{ that we could, as it We're, canvass the 4
rivers simultaneously and make collec- F.
tiuDs at one and the same time in differ I
/ ent regions, so as TO ascertain with precl- /
sion how far the fresh water Inhabitants /
I Of these rivers were circumscribed in I
] their distribution, and how far they were /
I liable to change their habitatioD, and TO |
( wander from one place to another I
/ Every point which / had selected for 1
| examination was visited while going up I
and again while going down, so that
/ there sbuglu be Ru opportunity 70 COM /
{ pare the observations made At one sea I
son with those made az another season
/ / stationed some Of my assistants at FIRST
I ON the Rio TOpai3s, some at first on the
] Niugu, and then aferWard on the To-
/ paios, then later at the mouth of the Rio
I Negro, sending o party up that
! river, and other parties went 10 Taba-
/ tinga, while L myself came back 10 eN
anime the middle course of the river
| and another party a- sent or to the
| Iss, and another went 10 the tcayali, so
that We actually surveyed the principal
/ tributaries Of the Amazon eGith a great
Z deal % care. The Rio from mbetas,
which Is Oue 8f the larger northern
/ tributaries, was also the object OF
/ special examination. 10 thus happens
that could compare the work done in
different parts OF the empire 10y Others
I with that " which J did myself. aud obser-
I vations made in one locality with those
made IN another; and la that manner
tie results were minute, and covered
mucir larger area than could have sur
yeyed alone. and now allow me to call
your attention y moment 20 the cOnhgu-
ration Of that region, that I may be able
with more precision 30 refer to these re-
suits in future lectures. The Amazon, as
sou see, flows nearly parallel 10 the equa-
tor iu q west-easterlY direction, more than
two or three degrees, while It's southern
tributaries rise from Twelve 10 fifteen de-
grees south, and its northern, from six
10 seven degrees north; so that the width
Of the valley at some pDiuts is nearly as
great as its total length. The fact that
this main portion Of the Amazon flows IN
one and the same latitude brings result
very different, with reference 70 climate,
from that which We observe along the
banks Of other large rivers which flow 10
a north-southeIly direction, or in a south
northeFly direction. Our Mississippi be-
gins its course Ia very cold regions and
ends it almost in the tropics. The Nile
begins under the equator, and further
SOUTH and terminates in the Mediterra-
mean where the climate is always tenn
perate. You see, therefore, that those
rivers are, As they row on, under very
changing climatic influences. Not so
with the Amazon, which occupies belt
under the equator, and retains the same
climatic conditions for its whole length,
and would present a great monotony
were Il not foT tGe~peculiar character OF
its tributaries, and for the peculiar econ
Omv Of the waters which iil its basin
Extending its trunk across the whole
continent and seudinEf.s branches north
and south over such q wide area, the
basin OF the Amazon establishes cOmmu-
nication with all the adjoining republics
Of South America. Aud this Is a point
of great Importance with reference TO
the lacJ lnaL tlle AiAal 9h is tuis year 10
be opened to the commerce Of the world
for, in consequence Of the natural
physical relation Of the Amazon, It's trib-
utaries, and the areas draDed by these
tributaries, the opening Of the Amazon
does not only bring the internal COM
merce Of Brasil into immediate contact
with the commerce Of the world, but
also that OF those republics, the surface
of which is mainly drained by the tribu-
taries of the Amazon. Mark how eX-
tensiye this communication is. Here we
bave the Ciuianas-lFench, Dutch and
! - lsniana-fhen the nrnvinne nf