Custer weekly chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, S.D.) 1890-1931, 1890-04-05
A GREAT RIVER.


GREAT RIVER.
Tho Amazon One Hundred Miles wide ut
It's Mouth.
The Amazon, if the Para river be in
cluded at 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
river system in the world. 1t is the
commercial depot and distributing
point for 40, 200 miles Of nayigable
water. The Amazon watershed m
braces twenty-five degrees of Longitude.
Its western sources are in the Andes Of
Peru and Ecuador, only a 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 de Pacaraima.
On the south the Madeira has in
Vulnerable sources in the mountain
levels Of Bolivia, while the Tapajos.
the Xingu. and the Tocantine penetrate
the central provinces of Brazil. II 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 the United States. 1t fur
nishes the only means Of communica-
ton between the smaller centers OF
population in fully one-half of the vast
territories of Brazil.
patwaan pnnct ~ its lnaIipn trihy,-
.aries are broad stretches OF impcne-
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 nayigable water
settlements have been made, rubber
farms opened, and magistrates EN-
powered to conduct local administra-
ton. Para, lying at the so~utherumost
ontlet of the Amazon, less than 100
miles from the sea, is the metropolis of
this wonderful valley. 1t is a city with
perhaps 80, 600 inhabitants, and with as
much commercial enterprise rs is
possible under the equator.
The commerce of the Amazon is
uOlsluhlll Ctl lJh Ol dIbtl LlIC DtdLil-
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 a 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
we'll 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 its tributaries which sail under the
Brazilian flag. These sixty steamers
are gradually opening the Amazon
| valley 10 merc 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 fquitos. $3.50
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
rs once or twice n month. This river
trade is almost completely in the hands
of the Portuguese merchants and the
mercantile houses represented al
Para. Manaos. with Il population of
Is, 900, is the most tlourishing 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 o avail
able for commercial requirements. The
finest of rosewood and mahogany are
used there for tirewood. Even if there
were a demand for the hardwood lum-
Der at Para. it could not be logged and
brought to market on n large scale,
owing to the density of the woods and
the lack of roads and clearings. Ike
one tree which is a source of wealtR
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 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 ut certain levels of the river. for
the trunks of the trees are often fifteen
or twenty feet under water after the
rainy easons.
When the conditions are favorable
the bark Of the trees is tapped and the
milk drawn OF in cups TO be compacted
and rolled together layer by layer like
a 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 t 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. II there be
any quarter of the world where nature
seems to command ~inaction and indo-
lence, it is these vast stretches of the
Amazonian forest. Nowhere else a
existence be sustained with so small an
expenditure of effort.