Show I 1 THE GREAT RIVER OF THE WORLD noi I 1 thi the amason amazon oa one hund hundred red miles wide at I 1 iti its mouth I 1 hew new york tribune 11 the amazon if the para river be included at the southern channel chandel is miles wide at its mouth para itself the northernmost city I 1 i I 1 lies at the gateway of f I 1 of the moat wonderful river system t of the world the amazon watershed 11 1 2 10 embraces twenty five degrees 1 of latitude and and thirty five live degrees I 1 of longitude its western L sources are in the andea of peru and ecuador only a few leagues from the pacific its northern Z tributaries tributa ries traverse the borders of k 1 guinea and colombia while mid r N way the headwaters of the negro mingle with those of the orinoco i in the western spurs of of the r sierra de Paca raima Z anthe on the south the madeira EL has I 1 1 innumerable sources in the in moun oun 4 tain levels of bolivia while the 0 Tap Taps jos ios the xingu and the to 1 fannins cantius penetrate the central brov inces of brazil it a comparatively a small group of southern provinces be lef tout odthe of the account theama iv zon with its tributaries tributa ries forms the I 1 1 I 1 water vater system for an area larger than that of the united states it P furnishes the only means of communication muni cation between the smaller centre of population in fully one I 1 1 half balf odthe of the vast reis of brazil 4 between most moat of its leading tribu baries are broad stretches of impenetrable forests which have never been explored by white men it is the amazon alone that renders 1 s any form of government possible in the heart of south america 1 1 a within the range of miles I 1 of navigable water settlements 1 have been made rubber farans W opened and magi magistrates empower I 1 ed to conduct t ie local I 1 ad administration ministration 1 para pars lying at the southernmost outlet of the amazon less lea t than ban miles from the sea is the 11 lis of this wonderful valley iniss jt is a city with perhaps inhabit r tanti tants and with as much commercial I 1 ll 11 enterprise as is possible under I 1 the equator the rhe commerce of the amazon I 1 A is nominally carried on under the brazilian flag foreigners are not I 1 allowed by law to own steamers or tailing sailing vessels employed ia in inland 1 navigation Lavi gation and hence it is necessary 11 for the english capitalists who 1 control the carr carrying yida trade of the river to assign their interests to i I 1 brazi brazilians I 1 iaus lians there are forty k steamers owned by an english line r which receives a large mail subsidy I 1 from the brazilian government for plying between va various ious porta orta be main tributa tributa 1 riff riet and in return for this financial support it is well satisfied to fly by the national flag another company has eight steamer ete amera 5 under amilar conditions and there are as many as a dozen more on the river and r its tributa tributaries ries which sail under the brazilian flag these sixty steamers P are gradually gradually dually opening the ama ams fra zon val valley ey to commerce only the 1 smaller vessels are now running beyond i ond manaba Alan acte at the junction of the 11 t negro negro but next year the lar largest gerst V pa engleb vessels will make regular f trips to miles from t the coast I 1 some of the tributaries tributa ries are only I 1 I 1 t navigable for long distances at high big I 1 C water during certain months mouths of the 1 year but the lower villages on I 1 their banks are visited by steamer e I 1 as often as once or twice a month 1 this river trade is almost completely I 1 1 ettely in the bands of the 9 guese merchants and the lilo tile bouses houses represented at para iara manaos malaos with a population I 1 a t ion 0 of f 15 1 1 is the most moat flourishing town west of para the other settlements r with few exceptions are a straggling trag gling villages inh inhabited abated main ly by negroes indians and half breeds the forests odthe of the amazon con cons v mainly of hard wood are 1 not dot available for commercial re I 1 1 I 1 I 1 i I 1 t 4 I 1 I 1 I 1 I 1 1 I 1 I 1 the I 1 finest of swo roso wood and mahogany are used there for fire firewood would even if there were a demand fyr for the hardwood lumber at para it could not be logged and brought to market on a large scale owing to the density of the wood and the lack of roada roads and clearing clearings treone the one tree which is a kource our ca of wealth in these immense forests fon sta ia is the rubber tree it id is found everywhere from the low lying delta opposite iara par a to the the madeira and the negro agro a and d probably thousands of miles lullo 1 beyond these gr great eat tributa ries rift I 1 in n the i interior lateri or roada roads are impracticable and the tile rubber trees that are milked lie along the rivers where the farms can be approached the milk can only be drawn at certain levils of the river 1 for 0 r the trunks of the trees are often fifteen orty or twenty enty feet under water after the rain rainy seasons when the conditions are favorable the bark of the trees ia is tapped all and I 1 the milk drawn off in cups to be compacted and rolled together layer by layer like a snowball it is then cooked or smoked over a fire made of sticks a process that involves contraction in cooling and aud imparts elasticity to the substance and then it ai ready for 11 ent t to para and new york the operation of such farm and the opening of new veina veins of trees in the trackless swamps and forests require the employment of native labor under the most inclement conditions of equatorial heat beat and rains rains if there be any quarter of the world where nature seems to 0 command O d inaction and indolence it is in these vast stretches of amazonian forest nowhere ese can existence be fu stained with so stall an expenditure of effort on an acre of cleared land beans can be raided raised in sufficient quantity to keep soul and body together with t the he adventitious aids ot of nuta nuts and fruit from the woods A torpid somnolent existence seems to be the imperious requirement of the climate the indians half breeds and negroes in the villages can live if they choose to do so with what may be described as its the minimum of human labor involved in obtaining a livelihood they instinctively resia ull appeals to am and telf pelf interest tho the ef ef forty of rubber farmers and agent to induce them to share in the dan ian gers bersand and labor involved in exploring the forest and striking new veins veins of rubber trees are ordinarily to futile tile and the em employment t of even the poorest classes of labor is carried on under almost insuperable difficulties |