New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1879-06-13
navigation, distributed as follows:

Total miles. .-......-.......-...- Zf,off
Twelve thousand miles are actually trayersed by
the vessels of the Amazon Navigation Steamship
Company and other steamers. The b9sin oil the
Amazon is twice as large as the Valley OF the
Mississippi and would hold forty-nine countries
the size o. England" The natural wealth OF the
country for over 100, 900 square miles il in proper
tion with the magnitude of the river. The flora
Of Brazil is as rich as any in the world, ana as
far "a concerns the medicinal alimentary. orna-
mental and industrial uses of the vegetable king
dom has no rival. The mineral wealth OF the
country is seemingly inexhaustible; the lana
Yields almost every product from the diamond TO
the least valuable metal. Bates and Agassz nave
related what wonders Of animal life are seen along
the Amazon. The latter, speaking of fishes only,
says that the river nourshes twice as many specifies
as the Mediterranean. and larger number than the
Atlantic taken from pole to pole. NO less cause Vi
wonder is theintensty with which life is manifested
in these waters All the rivers of Europe, he says
united from the Tagus to the Voga, do not nour-
isb $50 species of fresh water fishes little lake
near Manaos. called Lake Hyanuary the surface OF
which covers hardly 500 square yards. contains
more than 200 distinct species, the greater part OF
which have not been observed elsewhere"
However unmeditative he might be, a traveller
could not forbear speculation upon the prospective
commercial Importance of such a region, and asking
himself: What is to become of this country, TINS
great system of inland navigation, these thousand
nrodnctions of naturei What advantages is North
America to reap from these innumerable riches
living at her very feet By what means can she inn
nrove her commercial relations with this wonderful
world of water and verdurei How far do BrazllIans
avail themselves of the treasures nature has be-
slowed upon their soili To these questions, which
crowd with Others into ones mind, hope to reply,
in succeeding letters after careful personal study
of the country and of such statistics as have been
able to gather from official sources
CHARACTER OF THE POPULATION.
II sbould be stated first of all that though the
traffic on the Amazon has Improved wonderfully
since the introduction in 1853 of steam navigation,
il il vet far behind the worlds expectations and
the degree of development of which the inexhaust-
ible wealth of the country is susceptible. Every
inch of ground is of exuberant fertility. Never
tbsless Para and Amazonas, the northern provinces
of Brazil are not infrequently visited by dearth
of food For the necessities of life their three hun
dred thousand inhabitants are forced to call upon
their fellows in the sister provinces, while
can aud European industry. Agriculture is
at discount on the Amazon. Brazillans
too inherently and wliniiy lazy TO ; become
ity to exertion that would insure comfort. Indeed
tbev cannot conceive how comfort may spring out
of foil. The European immigrants, few IN point OF
Numbers, and mostly Portuguese are. naturally
enough traders, this calling yielding comparative
comfort for the least amount Of work, and being
cnmpaible with their dwelling in cities rather than
in isolated farm-houses. Hardly anything can be
done with the Indians; firstly. on account OF their
incidence secondly because OF their fewness IN
number when compared with the extent of soil that
would demand their services; and lastly, by
reason of the iDda-rubber industry which
absorbs all their attention. Though the cavaliers
of the Alabama" as Orton styles the North Amer
leans who migrated from the Gulf States in 1868 TO
tbe Amazon have proved that the sugar-eane grows
better there than IN Louisiana-attainlng the ex-
traordinary height of twenty feet and yielding for
Ten or twelve years without transpanting and with
very little cutivatiOn-there is not single pound
of sugar produced in the two provinces OF Para ana
Amazonas. They receive their sugar from Bahia
and Pernambuco, paying for 1t e-thlrd more than
fine native production would cost, including large
prot for the producer. All the sugarcane raised III
The two provinces distilled into sort Of whlskey
called cachaca, the quantity Of which IT, however,
Insufficient to meet the enormous demand OF the
inhabitants But it is not my intention IN this
letter TO enter upon a statement OF the commercial
opportuuitles which this vast and splendldly Ell
dowed region offers At another time shall enlarge
upon that topic. MAOhCk MAlhS'
Nar-fork. May l, 1879.