Evening star., 1899-03-11

go in canoes so close to the tributaries of
the Amazon that you can carry your boat
u short distance and go out to the Atlantic
through that mighty stream.
The Parana proper which l left about
300 miles south, at the town of Corrientes,
extends more than thousand miles fur
ther north, bounding south Paraguay and
running on into Brazil. 1t is navigable for
small steamers during part of its course,
but it has 400 miles of rocky rapids, and
in the future it may be one of the great
picturesque routes of the world. 1t has
waterfalls which are said to surpass those
of Niagara. These on the borders of
Paraguay and Brazil, and are known
the Sato Guayra. They are, 1 am told,
far more grand than the falls of Ygvazu,
which sometimes called the Niagara of
South America.
I have already written how in coming 10
AsunciOn l sailed as far as from New
York city to Omaha on large river steam
crs. 1 can go just as much further
by steam into the heart of this
continent. further than from Philadel-
phia to Salt Lake City. The limit of steam
navigation is now Cuyaba, Brazil. the cap
ital of Matto Crosse, and the metropolis of
a vast country of undeYeloped resources.
The first man to penetrate this region by
steam was an American. His name was
Capt. Thomas j. Page. He was commander
Of the steam launch Alpha of our navy,
and upon this little ship in 1859 he pushed
his way inland 2.Ieo miles from the Allan
tic. Today Brazilian mail steamers go over
the same route twice month, and there
are steamers leaving here weekly for Guy
aha. The Paraguay river for half the jour
ney is everywhere twenty feet deep. while
its average depth is said to be forty-fVe
feet.
In the Heart of BraziI.
In going from Asuncion to Cuyaba you
pass through q region which is most pic
turesque. Crossing the boundary of Para
quay, You enter the great province of Mat
to Crosse which is an empire in itself AS
you go north the Paraguay river narrows.
the scenery becomes wild, and you steam in
and out among mountains upon The bases
of which grow fern trees ard giant palms
The banks are covered with wooded mass
of vegetation The trees are tall and bound
together with vines and creepers. You
could not make your way through them
with an ak knife.
There are all kinds of wild birds. and you
get many shots from the steamer. There
are alligators everywhere, and if you rise
early you may now and then see tigers
swimming across the river
Further north. if you throw a dynamite
cartridge into the water the dead fish will
soon rise on all sides of you and YOU can
within few minutes pick up enough to
half fill your boat. Here and there you
pass farm houses cut out of the woods
At some of these the boat stops for fresh
ing them there. There are frequent forests
of palms scattered along the river.
About two days ride above Asuncion,
just over the Brazilian line, a forest-cover-
ed island, thirteen hundred feet high,
springs up ahead of you and seems TO
stop your progress. AS you approach it
you see that there is a channe at the west
side wide enough for the boat to go
through. This island is known as the
Mountain Gate. The land about it is said
to be 50 unhealthy that, one of the au-
thorities states, even the trees are pot
beiiied and dropsical. Some of the human
beings in the neighborhood certainly are.
AS you proceed further the animal life
increases. Deer are frequently seen and
among them some almost pura white. The
birds are of the most gorgeous plGmage,
the toucanS being resplendent in the |
brightest reds and blues. The alligators
now become more numerous. and you are
frequently approached by Indians who have
tiger skins fer sale. A good skin will |
bring from 81 10 $40. In addition to this
there is sometimes bounty Taid for such
skins. There is one man on the river who
has made quite a little fortune by killing
tigers. He has killed 1913 and has received
in the neighborhood of 5000 for them He
got $40 apiece for the skins and the cattle
owners paid him bounty of 81 per tiger
Other things offered for sale are parrots
and monkeys. The prices are low, and