Marshall County Republican. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1856-1878, 1870-02-17
The Amazon.
let us. following in brief abstract the ac-

Let US. following in brief abstract the ac-
count of Mr.. Orion, touch upon some
prominent characteristics of this great
ocean river. 1t rises in the little Peruvian
Lake of Lauricocha, just below the limits
of perpetual snow. For 500 miles il flows
swiftly through deep valley. Then,
turning sharply eastward, it runs $500
miles across the great equatorial plains.
Two thousand miles above its north its
width is mile and half, increasing to
more than ten miles at the head of the
delta, where it divides, and, after running
400 miles, presents front of $50 miles up
on the ocean. For o great distance it is
bordered by side channels or ebay. us," as
they are called upon the Mississippi,
named by the Indians iqarapss, or canoe
paths"
From Santarem, the principal town above
Para. one may paddle thousand miles
parallel to the river without once entering
the stream. For twenty-five degrees OF lat
itude every river that flows down the east
ern slope of the Andes is an aff1uent of the
Amazon. 1t is thought all the rivers from
Mexico to Oregon united their waters in
the Mississippi. A half score of these
tributaries are larger-the Danube excepted
than any European river out of Russia.
The volume of its waters is greater even
than the breadth of the river would indi-
cate AT Nauta, 22O0 miles from its mouth,
the depth is 40 feet, increasing rapidly as
it approa the ocean. The largest
ocean steamer could doubtless steam 1000
miles up the Amazon.
The vegetation OF the valley is exuber-
ant. There is a bewildering diversity of
grand and beautiful trees a wild. uncon-
N afala zia
TONED by creeping plants. The moment
you land upon the shore you are confronted
by solid wall of vegetation, through
which, if you wish to proceed, you must
hew your way with Ak or machda. Palms,
of which three varieties are noted constr
tute the majority of trees. Then there are
''cow-trees," hundred and fifty feet high,
yielding milk of the consistency of cream,
used for tea, coffee, and custards. The
''caucho, or rubber tree, though of diff
ferent species from that OF the East Indies,
produces gum which constitutes most of
the rnbber ofcommerce. Agassiz puts this
tree, forty or eighty feet high, in the
same class with the milk weed" of our
American pastures. Or ornamental
woods there is no end. Foremost among
these is the "Moira- Pinima, or tortoise
shell wood" the most beautiful i'm grain
and color of any in the world Enough of
this is wasted every year to veneer all the
dwellings of the civilized world For
many years to come the exports Of the
Amazon Valley must be mainly the pro-
ducts of Its forests. Yet, strangely enough,
timber is now one of the chief articles of
import at Para. A city Of IS, 9O0 inhab-
itants, lying on the verge of great forest,
buys pine boards from far-away Maine
This folly will in time come to an end.
Contrary to all that we might expect, the
climate of the Amazon Valley is temperate
rather than tropical 1t is more equal than
In any other region of the world. Year in
and year out it ranges from "a to 81 de-
grees-the fair mean being 80 degrees
From "The Andes and The Amazon" in Hm-
Der's Mdocztae