Hay-Wines and Spirits-Freights-Seeds-Salt, &c. 555

HAY.-This article, owing to a partial several years previous. We annex a failure in the crop the past year, has statement of prices: ruled higher the present winter than for

The year 1852 will long be remem- trade, indicative of the rapid march of bered and looked to as one of unusual the United States in all the elements of prosperity in nearly all branches of real greatness.

ART. III-VALLEY OF THE AMAZON.
No. II.

B OLIVIA TRIBUTARY TO THE ATLANTIC-FRIENDLY DISPOSITION TO THE UNITED STATESPOLICY OF COMMERCE-FREE NAVIGATION OF THE AMAZON LLAMAS AND WOOL-POTOSIGOLD, SILVER, DIAMONDS AND QUICKSILVER-PERUVIAN BARK-WONDERFUL FERTILITY OF SOIL-HOT SPRINGS AND RUINS-COCOA, ITS MARVELOUS PROPERTIES-SALT-PORTAGE BETWEEN THE LA PLATA AND AMAZON-THE LOST MINES OF URUCUMAGUAN, THEIR FABULOUS WEALTH-GOLD WASHINGS-PORTS OF ENTRY, AND STEAM NAVIGATION UPON THE AMAZONIAN TRIBUTARIES OF BOLIVIA-HEALTH AND LONGEVITY-OPENING THE NAVIGATION OF THE AMAZON-FREE PORTS IN BOLIVIA-CARAVANS OVER THE MOUNTAINS VS. STEAMBOATS DOWN THE RIVERS FOUNTAIN-HEADS OF THE AMAZON AND THE MISSISSIPPI-LAKES ITASCA AND MOROCOCHA, 10,000 MILES APART, THEIR WATERS MEET IN THE FLORIDA PASS PRICES OF PRODUCE ON THE UPPER AMAZON-COTTON CLOTH AND WAX THE CURRENCY OF THE COUNTRY-GOLD. AND HOSTILE INDIANS-GREAT SARSAPARILLA COUNTRYCOURSE OF TRADE WITH THE UPPER AMAZON-PORTS OF ENTRY STEAMBOAT NAVIGATION TO THE ANDES-MINERAL WEALTH-LIEUTENANT HERNDON'S REPORT.

(Continued from May No.)

stream to the sea, where the winds and the currents are such as to require that produce to pass by our doors.

Bolivia understands this, and her President has expressed the most earnest desire to draw closely the bonds of friendship, commerce, and navigation, which are destined to bind his country to this.

BOLIVIA has but one seaport on the Pacific, that is Cobija-an open roadstead, and a miserable village, at the head of the great desert of Atacama. The land transportation between this port and the agricultural districts of the republic is too rough, too tedious, and too expensive, ever to admit of its becoming a commercial emporium. The direction in which Bolivia looks for an Bolivia, we have seen, owns navigaoutlet to market for her produce is along ble streams that are tributary both to her navigable water-courses that empty the Amazon and La Plata. The free air into the Amazon, and then down that of heaven and the glad waters of the

The Upland Nations-Puna Wool-Mines of Potosi, &c. 557

earth were put here by the Almighty for the well-being of mankind. Use without exhaustion is the only condition annexed by the laws of man to the air and water, being considered as the common property of the world.

Have not, therefore, Bolivia and the seven other independent nations that own navigable streams emptying into the Amazon or the La Plata, but which do not own its mouth, the right to follow and to use without exhaustion" each its own navigable waters to the sea?And does not the "policy of commerce" require the enforcement of that right, so far as it concerns any or all of these eight upland nations which may wish to trade with us and the rest of the world through those natural channels and commercial highways?

This is one of the questions that we propose to consider. But before showing who it is that by a Japanese policy here at our doors is shutting out commerce from the finest portions of the world, we wish to show that the free navigation of the Amazon is not an abstraction, but that there are now there, in actual existence, all the elements of a profitable, large, and growing commerce, and that, therefore, the question is one of practical importance. We will, therefore, speak of the productions of this interest ing-we had almost said classic-land. In the Puna country of Bolivia we find the llama, the vicuna, and the alpaImmense flocks of sheep feed in its pastures and lie down upon its hills. Our friend, Lieutenant Gibbon, who about two years ago was sent with Lientenant Herndon by the Navy Department to explore the Amazon from its sources to its mouth, writes that it is a wool-growing country; that immense flocks of sheep are tended there. Indeed, he says, the country is over-populated.

ca.

Speaking, a few weeks since, with a northern manufacturer upon this subject, he informed me that he had then just bought $100,000 worth of this Puna wool, which, instead of coming down the Amazon, in sight of which almost it was clipped, this Japanese policy, that keeps the mouth of that river closed, had compelled it to go up into the region of the clouds, in order that it might cross the Andes and reach the free waters of the Pacific. Its voyage was then around Cape Horn to Boston.

Chuquisaca, or the "City of Silver," is situated, as already stated, on the "divide" between the Amazon and the La Plata.

On one side the waters of the Pilcom ayo flow south; on the other, those of the Madeira flow north, on their way to the "king of rivers."

Near by Chuquisaca is Potosi. Here we pass from the regions of gold and diamonds to those of quicksilver and silver.

Since the discovery of the mines of Potosi there have been extracted from them not less than sixteen hundred mil lions of dollars! The vein is said to be as rich now as ever it was; but it is not worked for the want of mechanical force, such as steam and the facilities of commerce alone can give.

It is from the Atlantic slopes of Bolivia that we get the bark for the manufacture of quinine. The cinchona, or the Peruvian bark, as it is called, is gathered there on those navigable watercourses of the Atlantic, and taken thence on the backs of sheep and asses six hundred miles across the Andes to the Pacific.

Two millions dollars' worth of this bark was gathered there the last year. Does not this afford a commercial basis sufficient to support steam navigation up the Amazon to Bolivia? Bolivia has there a thrifty and industrious population of a million and a half, whose commercial wants would be supplied by this new route. One of her cities (Potosi) has been supplied with water, at the cost of $3,000,000 to construct the works. Can commerce with such a people be an abstraction? The productions of the eastern slopes of Bolivia are thus described by Castelnau :

"The productions of the country are in great variety. Sugar-cane, which is gathered eight months after planting, is the staple of the province of Cercado. Coffee, successfully cultivated in this province, as well as in that of Chiquitos, yields fruit in two years after being planted, requiring but the slightest care.— The cacao, recently introduced in these two provinces, bears in three or four years at most. The tamarind, which succeeds in the same localities, but especially in the country of Chiquitos, requires five years.

"Cotton yields annual crops: there are two species-the white and the yellow.

"Tobacco grows, so to speak, without attribute medicinal virtues of every cultivation in the province of Valle- kind. At several points in the departGrande, in which it is the principal ar- ment, especially in the provinces of ticle of trade. Indigo, of which there Valle-Grande and Cordillera, are found are three cultivated species, and one iron, and traces of mercury. Gold is wild, is equally abundant. Maize ri- found in the province of Cercado, near pens in three months, without regard to the Pueblo of De San Xavi. Mines of silseason. It is cultivated more particu- ver were worked in the mountains of Jarly in the province of Cercado. Colchus by the Jesuits. Don Sebastian Rancos, whilst he was governor of Chiquitos, announced to the government that diamonds of a very fine water had been found in the brooks about Santo-Corazon."

"The cassada produces in eight months after planting. There are two species of it-the one sweet, the other bitter; the former is a substitute for the potato, and even for bread itself-the latter serves only to make starch. There are many varieties or species of bananas, which produce a year after planting. They are cultivated especially in the province of Cercado. Two species of rice, white and red, are cultivated, both in the province of Cercado and Chiquitos, yielding crops every five or six months. It is said to grow wild in the country of Chiquitos.

"The vine, which flourishes particularly in the province of Cordillera, where it was cultivated in the missions until the epoch of independence, is not now made use of. It will, perhaps, hereafter, be one of the principal products of that country.

"Wheat, barley, and the potato, could be cultivated with advantage in the provinces of Chiquitos and Cordillera, but at this time they are neglected, except in the province of Villa-Grande. The culture of coca has commenced in the province of Cercado, where it is found wild; so also the quinquina on the mountains of Samaipata. As already mentioned, fruit abounds in this region -oranges, lemons, citrons, figs, papayes, pomegranates, muskmelons, water melons, chirimoyas, (which the Brazilians call fruta do conde,) pineapples, &c. The last mentioned of these fruits grow wild and in great abundance in the woods of Chiquitos. We met with it particularly the day before our arrival at Santa Anna. It is fine flavored, but left such a burning sensation in the mouth that I bitterly repented having tasted it.

"In the province are gathered in great abundance jalap, quinquina bark, sarsaparilla, vanilla, roucou, copahu, ipecacuanha, caoutchouc, copal, &c.

"Dye-woods, cabinet-woods, and building timber abound. The inhabitants gather with care great quantities of gums, roots, and barks, to which they

So anxious is Bolivia for the introduction of the steamboat upon her rivers, that she has offered for it in fee-simple 20,000 square miles of her richest lands.

To add to the interest, the resources' the charms and wealth of this country, there are the hot springs of Tolula with their wonderful properties; the ruins of Samaipata and Tiahuanaco, which, with their symbols and their hieroglyphic records, tell of a people anterior to the Incas, and, in the opinion of Castelnau, as superior to them in civilization as the conquerors were.

The passage through the forest of the Madeira valley, notwithstanding all that he had seen on his way from Rio through Brazil to this point, excited to raptures the imagination of this observant traveler. "The landscape," says he, "was the most beautiful, and the vegetation, changing its aspect every instant, constantly presented new objects to us."

The beautiful valleys of the Cordilleras, which produce the coca plant, were to him objects also of great interest."This vegetable, says he, has properties so marvelous that it enables the Indians, without any other nourishment the while, to perform forced marches of five or six days." It is a stimulant, and by chewing it alone the Indians will perform journeys of 300 miles without appearing in the least fatigued.*

The coca is described by Castelnau as a bush which rarely attains six feet in height, and does not often exceed three; its foliage is of a bright green, its flower white, and its fruit small and red. When the plants are about eighteen inches high

they are transplanted from the seed beds into fields called cocules. The ripe leaves are gathered with

the fingers. They are dried by spreading them in the sun, sometimes on woolen cloths. This operation requires great care; for the plant must be protected from all dampness, which changes its color, and thus diminishes its value. It is then packed in pounds, which are often transported to great dis

bags, weighing from fifty to one hundred and fifty

Madeira Valley-Great Salt Plain-Coca Trade, &c. 559

In the province of Chichos are many mines of silver, and vast herds of cattle.

In the province of Lipaz, where the climate is cold and the agricultural staple barley, llamas, vicuiias, alpacas, with deer and the beautiful chinchillos, abound.Here a kind of copperas called "piedra lipaz" is found; also amethysts and other precious stones; and here, too, is a great plain, 18 by 120 miles, covered with salt already fit for table use.

The Paray, a tributary of the Amazon through the Madeira, is navigable to Cuatro-Ojos, which is thirty leagues only from Santa Cruz, the capital of the republic.

But Lipaz is far to the south. It is of the Amazonian water-shed that we now wish to speak; though the tributaries of the great branches of the Amazon and the La Plata, of the Madeira, the Tapajos, and the Paraguay, so interlap among themselves that it is as difficult to find the "divide" between the Madeira and the Paraguay as it is to find it between the Madeira and the Tapajos.

In 1772 Louis Pinto de Souza caused a vessel of considerable size to be transported from the head-waters of the Madeira to those of the La Plata, that he might thus set the example of an inland navigation. The portage between the navigable waters of the two was only two miles and a half.

It is among the upper tributaries of the Madeira that the tradition of the country places the lost mines of Urucumaguan, with riches equal in value to the fabulous wealth of the gilded city of Manoa.*

tances. The Indians mix the coca with a small

quantity of lime, and constantly carry a small bag of it in all their excursions. They take it from three to six times a day. Dr. Tschudi (Travels in years of age, who was employed by him, and though at very hard work for five days, took no other nourishment, and rested but two hours of the plished a journey of one hundred miles in two days, and said that he was ready to do the same thing again if they would give him a new supply of coca. Castelnau says he himself knew of instances as extraordinary. In the time of the Incas the coca was regarded as sacred.

Peru, page 453,) mentions an Indian of sixty-two

night. Immediately, or soon after this, he accom

The importance of the coca trade, however, is diminishing as the red man disappears. From 1785 to 1789, inclusively, Castelnau represents the consumption of this leaf in the vice-royalty of Lima alone at three millions and a half of pounds, and

worth one million and a quarter of money, and the total consumption of Peru at two millions and a half of dollars.

The question comes up, therefore: May not the free navigation of the Amazon introduce this valuable plant into the commerce of the world?

*Not long before Lieutenant Herndon was in

On the banks of this stream are now found placers, which, using only gourds and calabashes for washers, will give the miner his $2 or $3 per day.

Lakes, too, are found up its tributaries, which yield the most abundant supplies of salt. The rivers abound in fish, and the woods with game.

Lieutenant Gibbon went to Bolivia to explore the valley of the Madeira, and he is now on his way down that river. The Bolivians hailed him as a benefactor, and afforded him every facility in their power.

While he was in Cochabamba the attention of that government was called to the subject of establishing, on the navigable waters of the Madeira, ports of entry to foreign commerce, and of contracting with a company to put steamers on her water-courses. The President of the republic received the proposition in the most gracious manner. Hence the valley of the Madeira becomes an object of special interest at this time, and we may therefore be pardoned for lingering in it so long.

Much of that country is unknown, and the stories that are told of its riches and its productions are so dazzling, that we of a severe climate, accustomed as we are to a stingy soil, from which its fruits have to be wrung by long and patient labor, are disposed to receive eye-witness accounts of them with some degree of allowance at least.

So far, we have made our statements, with regard to this subject, partly upon the authority of intelligent citizens of that and the neighboring country with whom we have conversed, in Peru, and partly upon the authority of M. Castelnau-a man of standing and erudition, who was sent out by the French government especially to examine that country, and with whom, therefore, overcoloring would be a crime; and, finally, upon the authority of officers whom also the government of the United States has sent there for the same purpose.

As being all of a piece with the reports which these give, we quote from the letter of a friend, written from Lima last Summer, and which was before the publication of Castelnau's travels. Speak

Peru, a party of Peruvians, who had been on a gold exploration to the Amazon country, returned. They had nothing but gourds to wash with, and though they met with many untoward circumstances, they extracted seven hundred pounds of gold and returned home with it.