Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1899-07-06
THE GUNBoAT WILMINGTON.

caused by the swift currents of such a
body of water, assisted by immense
continents pouring in to, them from
both sides. He concludes. therefore,
that for general information at the
present time the photographic notes
taken and the corrected plans sent to
the navy department will prove of lit
tie permanent value to navigation.
A clever little instrument called a
submarine sentinel was used for con-
tinuous soundings. The principle is
enough for the general reader. A
wire sounding line is used. the length.
of course, varying with the depth. To
this a concave bit of wood like a
trough without ends, is fastened by
two pieces of Irvine kite fashion. The
bit of wood has an iron shoe or bot
tom piece, and the whole affair is
dragged along in an upright position.
As soon as the shoe OF the wooden sen
tiner strikes the bottom, the wooden
part is released and at once comes
to the surface, showing that the bot
tom has Swallowed to the limit arbi-
trarily established Soundings with
the hand lead are then begun and CON
tinued till deep water is again reach
ed. The saving of time effected b.
the use of the sentinel is very great
The Wilmington left Manaos for the
upper river on April and arrived at
Yquitos on the 18th, running day and
night and stopping only twice, first 70
procure fresh meat for the ships COM
pany and again to procure green stuff
for the living animals aboard, all OF
which, representing the fauna of Bra
I'll, will be forwarded to the Geological
Park in Washington city.
AS might have been expected in so
tropical a climate. vegetation was lux
uriant from Para to Manaos and from
Manaos up. The double awnings on
the Wilmington made life tolerable on
the ship and enabled the crew to sleep
out without being exposed to the heavy
dews which in that cline amount prac-
tically to rains.
The general character of the river
from Manaos to Yquitos is practically
the same as that from Para to Manaos
For the first five hundred miles above
Manaos but few people were settled
along the banks, but from that point
onward the number gradually in
creased toward Tapatinga. within &c
miles of which the land above high
water was thickly populated
/ From the Amazon the Wilmington
passed into the Maranon river, upon
which Yquitos is located. Capt. TodC
found not less than seven fathoms OIL
water in this stream Comparatively
little drift was encountered in the Ma
ramon, only grasses and light pieces Of
wood being observed. The banks Of
the Maranon, when the land is high
enough above high water, are much
more thickly settled than in the lower
rivers, and the character of the people
1 changes from Portuguese and Brazil
ian Indians to Peruyians and Peruvian
I
Indians. 1t is also observed that cat
tie ranches, where cattle and sheep are
raised, were much more numerous thar
down below Manaos. Capt Todd states
that one of the first needs o. the Am.
azon valley is meat food and ehe upper
regions seem better suited to meet the
4 demand than the countries below. The
city of Manaos IS often without bee
for couple of weeks at time, ar
unprecedented rise of the river invar
iably destroying vast numbers of cat
tie. The city of Para. with 10000 in
habitants,is fed by cattle brought from
Argentina, 1000 miles away. There il
well nigh an equal scarcity OF vege
tables in the valley ana even though
Peru is said TO be the origin OF oul