Natural Resoukcks. .351 



Amazons, is 515 feet above the Atlantic, and 2600 miles 

 from it, following the windings of the river, or 29° meas- 

 ured on the equator. Just above it, the Great River breaks 

 through the cordillera in a narrow, crooked channel, about 

 a hundred yards wide (fifty-eight yards at one point), be- 

 tween perpendicular walls of limestone. The Pongo is 

 three miles long, with a current of ten miles an hour, and 

 dangerous eddies. Wertherman lately passed down these 

 rapids at imminent risk, and a loss of one canoe with all 

 on board. Above the Manseriche there are more than 

 forty pongos and cascades, the river between Tomependa 

 and Borja falling 682 feet. The worst rapids are those 

 called " Escurrebragas," situated at the angle where the 

 Maranon sharply turns from a north to an east course. 



Such are the vast capabilities of this gigantic river, fitly 

 called the Mediterranean of the New World. The natural 

 wealth of the country is in proportion. It is impossible to 

 avoid asking the question. What is to become of this great 

 region, this grand system of inland navigation, these thou- 

 sand and one products of nature ? These rich resources, 

 lying almost at our very doors, must soon appeal " to that 

 restless spirit of enterprise and commercial activity which, 

 not content with its past triumphs, longs for new conquests 

 and a wider field of exercise." We know next to nothing 

 of the interior ; but the margins of the main trunk, and 

 especially of the tributaries, abound with precious woods, 

 drugs, dye-stuffs, edible fruits, and other useful products. 

 Among the most important of these for exportation are : 

 Moira pinima, moira piranga, moira coatiara, itaiiba, palo 

 de sangre, massaranduba, sapucaya, jacaranda, cedar, and 

 cumarii ; sarsaparilla, vanilla, copaiba, cinchona and gna- 

 rana ; cacao, coffee, tonca-beans, nuts, farina, tapioca, cot- 

 ton, rice, tobacco, and sugar; rubber, piassaba, pita, and 

 copal, and a host of others unknown to commerce. And 



