Omaha daily bee., 1899-06-11

ural canals forming vast islands Of curious
shapes separated by narrow streams OF
water, which are walled with the wonders
of tropical vegetation. l have seen most or
the great rivers Of the world, but nowhere
else anything like this. Let me give you
some notes which l made sitting in the
PROV of the steamer as we passed through.
We are now on the great delta of the
Amazon. We have left the rushing chan
mel, where the river rolls along in yellow
waves on It's turbid course and are floating
through canals, where the water is as
smooth as FURNISHED steel, but where by
the setting sun it has changed to copper
and to gold. On all sides of us are islands
which seem to float on this copper sea.
masses of rich. dark navy blue and gor'
geous green. Our steamer is passing be-
tween walls of blue, walls of emerald plush
100 feet high, which, cut by other canals,
similarly wooded, make it seem as though
we were travelling through one Of natures
great cities. 1t is a fairy city of the Anna
zon--a city not built by hands, a city popu-
lated by monkeys, jaguars. parrots and
butterflies. 1t is the haunt of the crocodile,
which here grows to its greatest size. 1t Is
the home of the orchid and the palm, OF the
India rubber tree, and of countless other
tropical plants, which would each be a
rarity in the botanical gardens Of Europe.
About Its Vegetation.
Take a look at the trees. What a variety
of palms. Some of them are only as big
around as your arm, but they are as tall as
a six-story house, extending from the ground
to the top without branches, and ending in
a great tassel of leaves. There are others
which sprout out in great punches from
the ground. There are palms loaded with
annt r,,t u dc oman hIak az
big as a foot ball. There are palms which
branch out like fans. and there are royal
palms 100 feet tall, which tower high above
the smaller varieties.
But the most striking trees Of the Anna
zon are not the palm trees. We look in
vain for a forest of palms. Palms grow
among the other trees of the woods, and
you seldom see many palms close together.
The other forest trees in the distance look
much like our trees at home.
When you get close to the shore, however,
you see the trees are matted together with
vines. The bark of many of them is silver
gray and long creepers hang down from
their branches to the ground, so that 1t
would be almost impossible to make your
way through without the aid of an ak.
Some of the trees are The one
which bears the Brazil nut towers high
above the rest, dark green, ana lnlS eAlenus
out in the shape OF a great hill or mound of
green away up there in the air. The Brazil
nuts are like walnuts, only each nut is
about twice as big as a base ball. 1t has a
great husk upon 1t and inside of 1t there
are from fifteen to twenty of the Brazil
nuts of commerce.
Some OF the Amazon trees are covered
with flowers. Oyer there at the right there
is a haystack OF yiolets poised up on the
top OF That trunk, sixty feet high. Further
over you may see a tree whose blossoms
look just like buttercups. Build II you can
in the eye of your mind a stack of butter
cups as big as a circus tent away up in the
air surrounded by green and you have the
effect.
The most beautiful things, however, are
the little things, the orchids which cling to
the dead branches, the fern trees and plants
which have leaves busted with silver and
copper and gold.
Huts of the Amazon.
| have seen but few people on my way up
the Amazon. Para, at the mouth, is the
metropolis of the whole region. 1t has 100,-
600 population and is a big business center.
Obydos has about 500 people. although 1t is
put down in the books as much larger.
There are a few other scattering towns,
such as Santarem and Porte Allegro, but
none have many people.
Along the banks you see here and there