Weekly expositor. (Brockway Centre, Mich.) 1882-1894, 1890-04-18
A GREAT RIVER.
The Amazon One Hundred Miles wide NJ
Its Mouth.

A, cluded Mt the southern channel is 100
miles wide at its mouth. Para itself.
the northernmOst city of Brazil lies at
the gateway of the most wonderful
:iver system in the world. 1t is the
commercial depot and distributing
point for 10000 miles of navigable
water. The Amazon watershed en-
braces twenty-five degrees of longitude.
It's western sources are in the Andes of
Peru and Ecuador, only few leagues
from the Pacific. Its northern tribu-
taries traverse the borders of Guinea
and Colombia. while midway the head
waters of the Negro mingle with those
of the Orinoco in the western spurs Of
the Sierra dc PScaraima.
On the south the Madeira has in
Vulnerable sources in the mountain
levels of Bolivia, while the Tapajos.
the Xiugu. and the Tocantine penetrate
the central provinces of Brazil. If a
comparatively small group of southern
provinces be left out of the account,
the Amazon, with its tributaries, forms
the water system for an area larger
than that of tho United States. 1t fur
nishes the only means of communica-
ton between the smaller ccnters of
population in fully one-half Of the vast
territories of Brazil.
Between most of its leading tribu-
taries are broad stretches of impene-
trable 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 10000 miles of navigable water
settlements have been made, rubber
farms opened and magistrates en-
powered to conduct local administers
ton. Para, lying at the southernmost
outlet of the Amazon, less than 100
miles from the sea, is the metropolis of
this wonderful valley. 1t is city with
perhaps 10000 inhabitants, and with as
much commercial enterprise rs is
possible under the equator.
The commerce of the Amazon is
nominally carried on under ;he Brazil
ian flag. Foreigners are not allowed
by law to own steamers or sailing
vessels employed in inland navigation;
and hence it is necessary for the En-
glish capitalists who control the carry
ing trade OF the river to assign their
interests to Brazilians. There are
forty steamers owned by an English
line, which receives large mail SUBJ
sidy from the Brazilian government for
plying 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
Us many rs a dozen more on the river
and its tributaries which sail under the
Brazilian flag. These sixty steamers
are gradually opening the Amazon
valley TO commerce. Only the smaller
vessels arc now running beyond Manaos
at the junction of the Negro, but next
year the largest English vessels will
make regular trips to YquitOs. 800
miles from the coast.
Some OF the tributaries are only
navigable for long distances at high
water during certain months OF the
year. but the lower villages on their
banks are visited by steamers as often
as once or twice month. This river
trade is almost completely in the hands
of the Portuguese merchants and the
HOuSCS represented az
Para. Manaos. with a population of
$4,000. is the most 6ourishing town
west of Para. The other settlements,
with few exceptions, are struggling
villages Inhabited mainly by negroes,
Indians. and half-breeds.
The forests of the Amazon, consist
ing mainly of hard wood, are not avail
able for commercial requirements. The
finest of rosewood and mahogany are
used there for iirewood. Even if there
were demand for the hardwood lum-
Der 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. The
one tree which is source of wealth
in these immense forests is the rubber
tree. 1t is found everywhere, from the
low-lying delta opposite Para to tho
Tapojos, the Madeira, and the Negro.
and probably thousands of miles be-
yond those great tributaries. In the
interior roads are impracticable, and
the rubber trees that are MIXED lie
along the rivers, where the farms can
be approached. 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.
When the conditions are favorable
the bark of the trees is tapped and the
milk drawn off in cups to be compacted
and rolled together layer by layer like
SNOWFALL 1t is then cooked or
smoked over a fire made of sticks-a
process that involves contraction in
cooling and imparts elasticity to
the substance. and then it is ready
for shipment to Para and New York.
The operation of such farms and the
opening of new veins of trees in the
trackless swamps and forests require
the employment of native labor under
the most inclement conditions OF
equatorial heat and rains. If there be
any quarter of the world where nature
seems to command inaction and indo-
lence, il is these vast stretches of the
Amazonian forest. Nowhere else can
existence be sustained with so small an
expenditure of effort.
On an acre of cleared land beans can
be raised in sufficient quantity to keep
soul and body together with the adven-
titious aids of nuts and fruit from the
woods. A torpid, sOmnolent existence
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