Northern Wisconsin advertiser. [volume] (Wabeno, Wis.) 1898-1925, 1902-07-24
UNKNOWN SOUTH AMERICA
North American Ignorance of the
Countries South of the lsthmus.

North American Ignorance of the
Countries South of the lsthmus.
Oh E. Armstrong in Ainslees' y
The United States was the first nation
to recognize the independence of the
South American republics, and over
them it raised the aegis of the Men
roe doctrine almost so years ago; yet,
compared with the Europeans, we in
America are profoundly ignorant
about South America. We know al
most nothing of its scenic wonders.
for we do not visit them; our share
in it's exploration is Insignificant;
what information the world has of it's
flora and fauna has been CLEANED by
Europeans mainly; our knowledge of
its ethnology also comes from them.
and the same may be said of the his
tory of it's people in the 18th century
from American sources almost no
account of the rise of the Spanish
republics can be had; and it is Euro
pean, and not American, capital that
has opened up it's wilderness, built it's
NAtAtS anu anu SStdDllSlCu
its industries. How many Americans
have seen Ecuador's avenue of vol
Canoes" 20 of whose mighty crests
exceed $4,000 feet? How many Ameri-
cans have heard of the Paulo Alfonso
falls on the Rio San Francisco with
their descent of 800 feet and volume
of 100000 cubic feet per second; or
of the seven falls of Guayra, on the
Parana, which in combination during
the rainy season challenge the
grandeur of Niagara?
How many Americans are familiar
with Gen. San Martins achievement
in making the passage of the Uspala-
ia pass 1900 feet above sea level,
with an army of 5000 men, infantry
cavalry and artillery, in the war of
independence in 1917? The Great St
Bernard, over which Napoleon led an
army, is 5000 feet lower than Uspa-
lata. And writ in water, so far as
most of us are concerned, is the heroic
defense of the Paraguavans in the
war of 1S65-70 with Brazil, Argentine
and Uruguay, when the population of
Paraguay declined from 100000 to
225, 1000, and none but women, old men
and children were left of a people dis
for their gentleness and
For the American naturalist, botan-
list, hunter and traveller, no part of
the world should have more attrac-
tions. Brazil alone has 100 species
of birds, many of splendid fridescent
plumage; no less than so kinds of
apes; 80 varieties of snakes, includ-
ing the water boa, which swallows
horses and men; eight species of alli-
gators, the yacareguaza q feet long;
"a bats, including the loathsome YAM
pire (Phyllostoma SPECTRUM two feet
in wing stretch, that kills cattle and
fastens on sleeping children; and
1900 distinct marine creatures. Eight
thousand species of beetles have been
recorded in Ecuador; in the caaambo
it has snake which is domesticated
and trained to patrol gardens, and in
the fiautero bird whose song so re-
sembles the sound of flute as to de-
ceive the practiced ear. Among the
apes Of equatorial South America is
the bowler, which has developed a
kind of tribal organization under
chief who leads a chorus of dismal
music, unlike that of any other animal
and heard for miles at dawn and sun
set. A curiosity of the plant world in
Peru is the Tamai caspi, or rain tree,
which grows to hight of 60 feet
and absorbs the humidity of the at
in such abundance that in
drouths water drips from it's branches.
So many strange things that are in
the animal and vegetable kingdom of
South America that no prudent person
would do more than suggest the
wealth of them. In the first quarter
of the 10th century most Of the explo-
ration and exploiting of South Amer
lea will be done by citizens of the
United States, because the CONNER
cial interests Of this country will
point the way. The political are
growing in Importance.