Arizona republican., 1899-08-05

4
most important features of the seen
cry. Commander Todd's report is long
and inclu1es reports from his subor-
J tlinate officers. to whom special inves-
| tigaitionS were entrusted.
The valley of the Amazon. according
to Commander Todd. is an Immense
! area of tow-lying hind. interspersed
with innumerabte Waterways which ii:
| the rainy season frcm May TO Decon-
Der. overflow alnHos- all the interven-
ing country. The towns. OF which there
are few of large population. are built
on the higher bluffs along the river.
and at certain points where The coun-
try is above the average high water
level there ar small p,anta ions
where cocoa. grair and vegetables are
grown for local consumption. Nearly
all the native houses as far west as tha
Peruvian boundary are built on piles
70 raise them above the flood level
The valley. Strange as it may seem
does not prOdut.e food sufficient for tlla
SUP port of The people. The foreign
residents Of all the large towns rely
Largely upon canned goods arI 9th, +
inpor;ed foods for Subsistence
The climate was found to be OPP
pressive and humid. The annual
range of the Thermometer is from -
10 81 degrees. and the whole valley is
the seat of fropic malaria. which is
exceedingly dangerous to urncclimated
visitors. Great care WAS taken of the
health of the men on the Ships. Nona
of The officers or men We're allowed to
ra1,airt on shore during the night. The
resU was that the health of the
ships company was good throughout
the. voyage. only few mild cases of
malaria developing.
It was found necessary to engage
river pilots for almost the whole voy.
age. This service was expensive bat
efficient. as thu ocean going steamers
which ascend the river as far as Man
a0s have a fine corps of pilots who
are familiar with he changes of chan
nPl that come with every high water.
The Wilmington grouEiled only once
on the who.e trip Of forty-one hJndred
miles. and returned to Para III condi-
tion to proceed to sea Immediately.
The :reatmen of tha vessel and her
officers by the local authorities was
courteous throughout. although AT one
Point in the Peruvian section of the
upper Amazon. a whole military post.
COMPOSED of six men fled TO he bu.h
Ou Tie Oh Il HHtu-OI1NdG,
ard it was with difficulty tirat. two
of then, could be induced to return
long enough to accord permission for
the Wilmington to proceed Tl1 she riv-
er 20 IquftOs. This city was the high
est point reached by the cruiser. a
though she might have proceeded
about -four hundred miles. farther had
Il supply of coal been accessible.
The most imporant city along the
river above Para is Aaruos. close to
the junction of the Rio Negro and the
Amazon. This is the seat of govern
ment of the state of Amazon. and has
4 population of between 10000 and
10000. II is lhe distributing r9oint for
the iI2ms ns'e trade of the interior Am
aZon basin,and seems destired to grow
in commercial importance. 1t is here
taht the ocean going steam
erS transship their cargoes to
to the smadller river heats,
by which they are distlihred along
the Madira, PuruS. JT!rca. Japara and
Rio Negro. The town does an import
ant trade in rubber. cocoa. and dye.
stUffs from THE interior. and is regard
sd by Commander TODD as an ali i'm
pOrtan- POS. for the American consular
service in view of the opening for i'm
ports.
The difficulty in securing coal also