The Mason County journal. [volume] (Shelton, W.T.) 1886-1927, 1890-04-11
THE AMAZON RIVER.
Body of Water One Hundred Miles wide
ut Its Mouth.

u
The Amazon, if the Para river be In
luded at the southern channel, Is one
undred miles wide at it's mouth. Para
tself. the northernmost city OF Brazil,
les at the gateway of the most won
Ierful river system of the world. 1t Is
he commercial depot and distributing
,oint for 40. 600 miles of navigable wa
-er The Amazon watershed embraces
.wentv-fve degrees of LATITUDE and
,hirtv-fve degrees OF longltwee. ls
western sources are in the Ahoes vi
Perm and Ecuador. only few leagues
from the Pacific. Its northern trlbuta-
r;os traverse the borders of Guiana and
Colombia. while midway the head wa
ters of the Negro mingle Win those Vi
the Orinoco in the western spurs Oh
the Sierra de Pacaraima.
On the south the Madeira has In
Vulnerable sources in the mountain
levels of Bolivia, while the 1apaJos' .,o
Xinpu and the Tocantins penetrate the
central provinces of Brazil. III COM
raratiyelv small group OF southern
,rovinces be left out of the account the
Amazon. with its tributaries, forms the
water system for an as,sH s.la aII
the Unite1 - -. .r.,a laryu.
mecz-eu States. 1t furnishes the only
cans of communication between the
smaller centers of population in fully
one-half of the vast territories of Brazil
Between most of it's leading tributa-
rieS are broad stretches of impenetrable
forests which have never been explored
by white men. 1t is the Amazon alone
that renders any form of government
possible in the heart of South America.
Within the range of the 10, 900 miles Of
navigahle water settl enlents have been
made, rubber farms opened and magis-
trates empowered to conduct local ad-
ministration Para, lying at the south
ernmost outlet of the Amazon, less than
a hundred miles from the sea, is the
metropolis of this wonderful valley 1t
is a city with perhaps so, QUO inhabitants,
and with as much commercial enterprise
as is possible under the equator.
The commerce of the Amazon is
nominally carried on under the Brazil
ian flag. Foreigners are not allowed by
law to own steamers or sailing vessels
hence it is necessary for the English
capitalists who control the carrying
trade of the river to assign their inter-
ests TO Brazilians. There are forty
steamers owned by an English line,
which receives a large mail subsidy
from the Brazilian Government for ply
ing between various ports and villages
on the main tributaries; and in
return for this financial support it
is well satisfied to fly the national flag.
Another company has eight steamers
under similar conditions; and there are
as many as a dozen more on the river
and it's tributaries which sail under the
Brazilian flag. These sixty steamers
are gradually opening up the Amazon
valley to commerce. Only the smaller
vessels are now running beyond Manaos,
at the junction of the Negro, but next
year the largest English vessels will
make regular trips to Yquitos, $3.50
miles from the coast.
Some of the tributaries are only
navigable for long distances at high wa
ter, during certain months of the year,
but the lower villages on their banks
are visited by steamers as often as once
or twice a month. This rive,Atrade is
almost completely in the hang ! of the
Portuguese merchants and the mer-
camille houses represented at Para.
Manaos, with population of $4,000, is
the most fiourishing town west of Para
The other settlements, with few excep-
tions, are struggling villages inhabited
mainly by negroes, Indians and half
breeds.
The forests of the Amazon, consisting
mainly of hard wood are not available
for commercial requirements. The
finest of rosewood and mahogany are
used there for frewood. Even if there
were demand for the hardwood at Para
it could not be logged and brought to
market on large scale, owing to the
density of the woods and the lack of
roads and clearings. Only one tree
which is the source of wealth in
these immense forests is the rubber
tree. 1t is found everywhere, from the
low-lying delta opposite Para to the
| Tapojos, the Madeira and the Negro,
and probably thousands of miles beyond
those great tributaries. In the interior
roads are impracticable, and the rubber
trees that are milked lie along the
rivers where the farms can be ap-
preached. The milk can only be drawn
at certain levels of the river, for the
trunks of the trees are often fifteen or
twenty feet under water after the rainy
seasons.-Para Letter in N. Y. Tribune.