El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1912-04-02
BUDGET
Of MAN
5T OF NATURE
AMAZON VALLEY TO BE
CIVILIZATION, De
RENE BACHE.
by Application Of the Same Meth
Made the Panama Canal Zone
Area Of 100000 Square Miles
d Some Day Support a Popula
Equal to That of the Entire
Torld at the Present Time.

available for use as nowhere else. It
affords opportunity for a human pop
ulatiOn more dense and more numer-
Gus than can be found anywhere
else, because II is capable Of prOduc-
ing more 1ood-ct growing more plants
and feeding more domestic animals.
In our own country each acre OF
culttvable lana Is capable Of stain
zOn valley viii support q family of five.
There are in that region at least p
100000 square miles, or 1900 600 600
acres available for human occupancy.
At the present time the population OF
the entire globe Is certainly not more
than 800. 000, 600. Thus il is safe 10
say that the region in question would
affOrd maintenance for a number OF
people equal 10 the worlds population
today.
As the conquest. goes forward. the
genius Of the white man viii not only
eliminate the disease causing organ
isms, but will reconstruct the flora OF
the region creating new KINDS OF
plants and new foods This is no mere
imaginative speculation. Plants are
the most plastic Of living things Take
corn for example. There is in ma
rure no such vegetable as corn Inc
American abOrigines made il from
little mountain plant bearing a few
seeds. each IN a separate capsule
The first descent of the Amazon
was made by the Spanish explorer Or
ellana, in 1871. His party had a bat
tie with the TapuyO tribe, whose wO-
men always help to DO the fighting.
and from personal observation of this
circumstance came the name which he
gave 10 the stream
The Mississippi, giant of waters
though IL be- IS but q small affair
compared with the Amazon, which is
not 50 much a river as z vast reser-
voir. extending from the Atlantic
ocean TO the base Of the Andes. and
varying in width from 5 to 400 miles.
Within its mouth, which is 207 miles
broad, lies an island as big as the
kingdom Of Denmark
Worlds Greatest FIuviaI System.
The Amazon and its tributaries con
stitute incOmparably the greatest flu
vial system in the world. 1t drains
teen huge rivers discharge into the Z
Amazon, and likewise hundreds Of
others which would be called great
Its mouth, as any map VIII show, opens f
directly upon the equator
This mightles OF streams is navi ga
bic for ocean steamers for q distance
of $500 miles from The sea. and for
an additional 4b6 miles for vessels ]
water. Its average depth for over I
1000 miles Is 20 feet During the I
rainy season Il rises from twenty to I.
forty feet inundatinE hundreds OF I
thousands Of square miles, and sub 4
merging immense areas Of forest TO 4
the tree-tops.
Yet with all its fertility. and with /
such unlimited supplies of water in a ]
region where nature offers every eli I
matte encouragement to the growing 1
plants. there are not tOday-mOre than /
four centuries after the discovery OF J
the TWENTY-FIVE square miles OF I
the Amazon basin under cultivation.
The extensive exports of the vast val I
ley are almost entirely derived from 4
products Of the forest
The "heTea" tree, which produces the
Z rHnsaEr ri aaH- in
to The Amazon valley 1t is a large
tree OF slow growth. never found in /
elumps or groves, but scattered
through the tropical forests The
cacao,' which furnishes the chocolate
Of commerce, likewise grows plenti-
fully wild in the same region.
me coI1ee tree IN that part OF the
world yields about four times as
much fruit as in Mexico. But it is
not native 1t was introduced from
Africa In 1880 Brazil exported thir-
teen sacks Of coffee. last year she
exported more than 100000 SACKS
Many delicious fruits grow there
which are unknown to the people of
The United States MandiOca flourish
IS and furnishes a staple food From
It's tuberous root is made the tapi- I
1ca Of commerce, and so prolific Is it Z
that farm of twelve acres viii ptO-
luce $4,000 pounds Of tapioca per al
num-
Forests Fun Of Monkeys.
The forests (fuu Of long-tailed
Monkeys abound in precious woods.
a catalog has been made Of 10000
species Of trees found in the valley
Il the Amazon Most Familiarity known
Ire rosewood, satinWOOd, and she'll
Tood-from which last exquisite
hell-lfke articles are made. The love-
y 'vinhatico." with a shaded yellow
is already used to some ex-
ent for furniture and cabinet work
nd is destined to be far more widely
mployed-
Dwelling in so hot a climate. the
bOriginal natives OF the Amazon val
ey require no clothing worth mention
ng and are accustomed TO dispense /
With IL almost entirely. being among I
he naSedest people in the world.
Along the lower reaches Of the I
Teat river reside the BOtocudOs who /
istend their lips and ear lObes with /
uge plugs of wood. They paint I
heir faces bright red above the !