GEOGRAPHICAL EXPLORATION- AND DISCOVERIES IN 1870. 



327 



Wallace, nro almost the only Europeans who 

 have explored it during tin- pivs,-nt century, 



veil they !i:nl not penetrated through the 

 i-ntiro rogion visited by our youthful oxph 

 Tlu-ir iiiirrativo is roploto with interest, and 

 throws much light upon tho natural history as 

 \vell a-* tin- physical geography of this tropical 

 n. Tho great cataracts of the Orinoco at 

 Atiin-i ami Maypiirus arc remarkable for their 



I grandeur and sublimity. Tho scarcity 

 i'f animal life on and around tho black waters 

 <f the Rio Negro, while it is so abundant and 

 annoying in almost every other part of this 

 tropical region, is a singular fact, but has been 

 previously noted on tho lower portion of that 

 river. To what cause it is attributable seems 

 uncertain. The soil along the banks of tho 

 river is extremely fertile, tho foliage abundant, 

 and tho country not unhealthy. 



In British Guiana, in April, 1870, a remark- 

 able cataract was discovered by Mr. 0. B. 

 Brown, chief of the Geological Survey of Brit- 

 ish Guiana. It was on the Potaro, an affluent 

 of tho Essequibo River. Tho river just above 

 tho fall is 134 yards in width and makes a 

 single leap at this point of 817 feet, blossoming 

 soon after leaving tho edge of the precipice 

 into a fine foam, or spray, in which all sem- 

 blance of water disappears, and descending in. 

 the well-known rocket-like forms of the Staub- 

 bach and the cataracts of tho Yosemito. Be- 

 tween this fall and the entrance of the Potaro 

 into the Essequibo, there are five other cata- 

 racts, all of considerable size, two of them in- 

 accessible. The Kaieteur fall above described 

 was visited, in July, 1870, by a party of scien- 

 tific gentlemen from Demerara, and its height 

 and volume carefully ascertained. 



Tho Peruvian Government, not satisfied with 

 its progress and communications on the Pacific 

 slope, is seeking an outlet for its commerce 

 and productions through the affluents of tho 

 Amazons. For several years it has been ship- 

 ping a portion of its products by this route, 

 bat it has not intermitted its explorations to dis- 

 cover some navigable tributary of the great 

 river which should approach nearer to its cap- 

 ital than those as yet in use. The region in 

 which these streams became navigable, though 

 within from 150 to 800 miles of Lima, is 

 occupied by wild Indian tribes, some of whom 

 are warlike and ferocious, and all, or nearly 

 all, are averse to any intercourse with the 

 whites. In several of these exploring expedi- 

 tions the parties have been attacked by tho 

 Indians and some of them killed, while others 

 were seriously wounded. It was therefore 

 very gratifying to the Peruvian Government 

 when, on the 26th of October, 1870, they re- 

 ceived a favorable report from the command- 

 ing officer of the expedition to examine the ca- 

 pabilities of the River Perene, and the country 

 adjacent. Tho Perene is a tributary of the 

 Ucayali, and is navigable for steamers to a 

 point only 58 leagues from Lima, and reached 

 by a route available for railway construction. 



The report of tho exploration states that the 

 sounding.-* in tin- 1'urana gave from 3 to 5 

 fathoms in depth and !<<) yards in width. It 

 traverse* the country of tho Chnm-humnyoB, a 

 largo family of Indians, many of tho tril 

 which are hostile and little known. In the 

 valley of tho Chunchumayo the forests < 

 of trees of an extraordinary size, the population 

 is numerous, and, according to Padres Ami-!i 

 and Sobrevielo, two Catholic missionaries 

 among those Indians, belongs to the tribe of 

 tho "Amages." One of the objects oft! 

 petition was, to find out and fix the situation 

 of tho Salt Mountain. Following a path which 

 seemed to lead in that direction, they camo 

 upon an Indian camp, in which was a house 20 

 yards long, 18 yards broad, and 15 yards hi^rh. 

 In this they found an oven for niching iron- 

 ore, of a square form, about 2 yards high, and 

 1} yard wide each way, constructed of bricks 

 half a yard long. The fire was furnished with 

 double bellows, the fuel used being coal and 

 wood mixed with pounded ore. The anvils had 

 been removed from tho trunks of trees, which 

 still remained. There were from twenty to 

 thirty quintals of cast-iron, two tanned hides, 

 tanks for water, which was brought from a 

 height in canals made from the bark of trees. 

 They also found a variety of other objects, all 

 of which excited admiration that Indians, called 

 barbarians, should possess so much skill and 

 industry. They were not molested by the In- 

 dians, who seem to have retired farther back. 

 The party that was sent out to discover tho 

 salt-mountain followed a path leading north- 

 east from the foundery above described. On 

 the way they observed many huts and planta- 

 tions of cocoa and Indian corn. On the banks 

 of the river they found fishing-huts, nets, and 

 apparatus, evidently for catching and salting 

 fish. Farther on they came to some huts on 

 an elevated spur of tho mountain, from which 

 they could see that the course of the river was 

 very tortuous. To the northeast were various 

 bare hills, one of which was thought to bo tho 

 Hill of Salt (Cerro do Sal). From this point of 

 observation they noticed that they were stand- 

 ing on a stratum of soft sandstone, and, sup- 

 posing that this might be a portion of the 

 ramification of the vein of salt, which, accord- 

 ing to Padre Sobreviela, was three leagues in 

 extension, they examined its formation and 

 found it consisted of earth, with particles of 

 salt and some crystals of quartz. Digging still 

 deeper, they found the salt to increase. Be- 

 yond this the path ceased, and the party re- 

 turned, though they felt assured the "Cerro do 

 Sal" could not be far off. 



The Indians use the bow and arrow, but 

 seemed much afraid of fire-arms. 



Prof. 0. F. Hartt, who was attached to Prof.- 

 Agassiz's expedition to tho Amazons, has re- 

 visited Brazil, and daring the summer and 

 autumn of 1870 was engaged in tho explora- 

 tion of some of its southern affluents and the 

 rivers which discharge their waters into the 



