Early Years 



the Amazon, on one of which he immediately noticed the 

 scarcity of trees, while *^ the abundance of every kind of 

 animal life crowded into a small space was here very 

 striking, compared with the sparse manner in which it is 

 scattered in the virgin forests. It seems to force ns to 

 the conclusion that the luxuriance of tropical vegetation 

 is not favourable to the production of animal life. The 

 plains are always more thickly peopled than the forest ; 

 and a temperate zone, as has been pointed out by Mr. 

 Darwin, seems better adapted to the support of large land 

 animals than the tropics.'' 



We have already referred to the fact that at the very 

 early age of 14 Wallace had imbibed his first ideas of 

 Socialism, or how the ^* commonwealth " of a people or 

 nation was the outcome of cause and effect, largely due to 

 the form of government, political economy and progressive 

 commerce best suited to any individual State or country. 

 The seed took deep root, and during the years spent for 

 the most part amongst an agricultural people in England 

 and Wales his interest in these questions had been quickened 

 by observation and intelligent inquiry. It is no wonder, 

 therefore, that during the whole of his travels we find 

 many intimate references to such matters regarding the 

 locality in which he happened to find himself, but which 

 can only be noticed in a very casual manner in this section. 

 For instance, he soon discovered that the climate and soil 

 round Para conduced to the cultivation of almost every 

 kind of food, such as cocoa, coffee, sugar, farinha (the 

 universal bread of the country) from the mandioca plant, 

 with vegetables and fruits in inexhaustible variety; while 

 the articles of export included india-rubber, Brazil nuts, 

 and piassaba (the coarse, stiff fibre of a palm, used for 

 making brooms for street sweeping), as well as sarsaparilla, 

 balsam-capivi, and a few other drugs. 



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