The native Virginian. [volume] (Orange Court House, Va.) 1867-187?, 1870-02-11
THE AMAZON.

Let us. following In brief abstract
the account of Mr.. Orton. touch upon
some prominent characteristics OF this
great ocean river. 1t rises In the little
Peruvian | AXE of Lauric0cha, Just be-
low the limits OF perpetual snow. Eor
500 miles it flows swiftly through a
deep valley. Then, turning sharply
eastward. it runs 2500 miles aci oss the
great equatorial plain. Two thousand
milee above its mouth its width is
mile and half, increasing to moro
than ten miles at the head of the delta.
where it divides and after running 400
miles, presents font of 100 miles upon
the ocean. For a great dista nee it is
bordered by side-channels or 'bayous,'
as they are called upon the iMississlppl
named by the Indians igarapes, or sea
noe path" From Santarem, the prin-
cipal town above Para, one may pad
die thousand miles parallel to the
river without once entering the stream.
For twenty-five degrees of latitude
every river that flows down the eastern
slope ofthe Andes IS an affluent of the
Amazon. 1t is as though all the rivers
from Mexico TO Oregon unite their WA
ters III the Mississippi. a halt score OF
these tributaries are Iarger-the Dan
ubG GtACdDLCu--thi iiftl
out of Russia. The volume of its wa
ters is greater even than the breadth
of the river would Indicate. At Nauta,
2200 miles from Its mouth, the depth is
40 feet increasing rapidly as tap
proaehes the ocean. The largest ocean
steamer could doubtless steam 1000
miles up the Amazon,
The vegetation OF the valley is exu-
berant. There is a bewildering diver
sity OF grand and beautiful trees, wild
unconquered race OF vegetable giants,
draped and festooned by creeping
plants. The moment you land upon
The shore YOU are confronted by solid
wall OF vegetation, through which II
you wish TO proceed you must hew
your way with axe or machetd. Palms,
of VI hich thlrty varieties are neted, con-
stituts the majority OF trees. Then
there are .cow-trees,' hundred and
fifty feet high, yieldinga milk OF the
consistency of cream, used ior tea,
coffee, and custards. The 'caucho, or
'rubber-tree. though of different spe-
cies from that of the East Indies, pro-
duces gum which constitutes most OF
the rubber of eommerce. Agassiz puts
this tree, forty or slightly feet high, IN
the same class with the 'milk-weed' OF
our A merican pastures. or ernalnen-
tai woods there Is no end. Foremost
among these is the MoirGPinina, or
"tortoise- shell wood" the most beauti
ful in grain and color of any in the
world. Il noush 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 VAL
ley must be mainly the products OF its
forests. Yet, strangely enough, tim
Der is now one of the chief articles OF
import at Para. A city of 80, 900 inhab-
itants, lying on the verge OF a 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 trop-
ical 1t is more equal than any other
region OF the world. Year IN and year
out it ranges from 740 to So lair |
mean being 500. From .'The Andes
and The Amazon" bv A. ii. GUERNSEY |
in Harper'S MaQaainefor February.