The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1913-06-15
AMBASSADOR BRYCE. q s 4f =: y% 9T vi 0% gn or % Ans&sn A ED Il ss4 fa7 $ $

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its area at $500, 900, square miles
might not be e~xtravagant. It 10 an
almost absolute level 1900 miles long.
from north to south, and 1900 wide.
Those parts which lie along the
great river and its larger tributaries
are 30 low that these rivers when
they ris In the rainy aso spread
out their waters for from sixty to
eighty miles more on each side.
and immense stretches OF country not
actually flooded become impossible
morasses. But away back from the
rivers there are higher grounds, fiat,
but raised sufficiently to- be above the
Iinundations: n on it's western mar
gin the great plain is bordered by a
stretch OF undulating country, before
the foot Of the Andes is reached.
All the country, whether level or
undulating. is covered with forest.
The trees grow so close that there is
no way of travelling except by boat
along the streams. Intense heat and
abundant moisture combine to make
vegetation SO profuse and rank that
ground cleared Of trees is. after three
or four years. covered thick again.
The ,Earth's Largest Unoccupied Fer
tile Space. ;
In this vast area there are. except
in a few trading stations along the
river, only one of them q considerable
town. practically no Inhabitants, per-
haps not a human being to assquare
mile. The few and scattered inhabi-
tants outside these stations r In
dams, nearly all savages, most OF them
heathens. Some are warlike n
skillful in the use of their bows and
Of the long blow-pipe from which they
discharge poisoned darts. but the
greater number are timid and feeble,
an easy prey to the rubber gatherers,
who have in some places shown them
selves more cruel than the widest
Indian.
Here and there in Peru and Bolivia
there are q few cultivated districts in
the ~undulating ground along the base
of the Andes, where some sugar. cof-
fee and cocoa are raised. But tho
only product Of any commercial i'm
portance Is rubber, collected from sew
eral kinds of trees. and exported in
vast quantities down the tributary
RIVERS into the Amazon and thence to
the sea.
The whole region. however. appears
" w Va III u AAAhy aAt1 w 5000
the size of the trees. as we'll as the
p~rofusion Of the vegetation, bears wit
ness. Most of it is covered with vege-
table soil accumulated during many
thousands of years, and has never
been touched by human hand. AS
many of the woods are valuable, there
might be a considerable trade in tim
Der, but the cost of getting out great
logs is practically prohibitive. for the
trees are OF SO many different kinds
tina ii is hard to obtain a large sup.
area, and there has hitherto been no
OF transport, except by water.
Can the Amaxonian Selyas Be Re-
claimed?
Can these Ama2onian Selyas, which
form the largest unoccupied fertile
space on the earth's surface. be re-
claimed for the service Of man?
IL ever, when the world is fuller
than ii is now, il becomes worth
while to attempt the reclamation of
this vast region, the process would
on the more elevated grounds above
the annual humiliation and setting
them to clear away h wood and
cultivate the soil. Hard work would
be needed to keep down the efforts
of { to hold her wi against
man by her tremendous vegetative
power, but hose who know the coun-
try believe that this could be done,
and that the difficulties OF transport
through the lower parts of the forest
TO the banks Of navigable streams
might also be overcome.
Hundreds OF thousands OF square
miles might be in this way rendered
habitable and c~ultivable. assuming
that capital n the proper kind OF
labor could be obtained. To reclaim
the lower land along the banks Of the
rivers by constructing ernbankments
or levees like those along the lower
Mississippi would be a more arda-
ous undertaking, and might involve
an expenditure disproportionate 20 the
results.
Whence would come the capital z
II the country belonged. to some great
and wealthy nation. in which there
many enterprising men seeking
employment for their wealth. the
thing might be attempted or a great
scale, perhaps ever by the nation it
self. Whether capitalists from other
will embark on such an en-
terprtse. which could hardly be car
ried out except by he aid OF q gov
eminent, is doubtful. II attempted
at all. 1t must be on Q large scale.
- HuNn kThQuhl ColOIlLdilDu Vy UCk~
tiers coming in small groups, as would
be the natural process in temperate
regions, is scarcely possible in a u
try where man has so powerful q ma
ture to
Whence tho Inhabitants for the Selvas.
Surprising the capital provided. the
question OF labor would remain. Who
would do the work? And when the
work was done. who would inhabtt
and cultivate the lands reclaimed?
Thirty years ago the fear OF tropical
diseases would have made these re-
gions seem impossible for white men.
as foremen or overseers. Today
the discovery that insects are the
chief poison carriers OF disease has re-
duced our fears. But today it still
remains doubtful whether the men Of
any European race can retain health
and vigor in q climate SO moist and &C
hot. and so far away from sea or
mountain breezes as are the central
parts OF the Selvas. 1t Is at any rate
unlikely that they could do continu-
Gus open-air work there.
II white men cannot be employed,
what other labor would be available ?
As the native Indians are too few
and too feeble to be worth regarding.
1t would be necessary to bring In SOME
race native to h tropics which had
already formed habits OF steady in
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