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The National Geographic Magazine 



tion as an explorer by very considerable 

 service in Chile, was sent by the United 

 States Government to explore the valley 

 of the Amazon. He directed his course 

 over the Andes from Lima, Peru, and, 

 reaching the headwaters of that river, 

 followed it to the sea. The object of the 

 expedition was to ascertain the resources 

 and future capabilities for trade and com- 

 merce of that immense watershed. 



His valuable and instructive report 

 was published by Congress and has re- 

 mained ever since as the foundation for 

 different expeditions, some of which 

 will be referred to later. 



He ran a line of soundings from the 

 source of the Amazon, among the moun- 

 tains, to its mouth in the Atlantic 

 Ocean, and found it navigable for ves- 

 sels of the largest class from the sea to 

 the base of the Andes, a distance of 

 nearly 3 , 500 miles. He also determined 

 the geographical positions of important 

 points at many places along its banks. 



His assistant, Lieutenant Gibbon, also 

 of the navy, taking a more southerly 

 route. embarked upon the Mamore River 

 at Cochabamba and descended that river 

 to the Madeira and thence to the Ama- 

 zon. 



On two later occasions the govern- 

 ment of the United States sent expedi- 

 tions for surveying this river, one in 1 878 

 consisting of the U- S. ship Enterprise, 

 under command of Commander, now 

 Rear Admiral, T. O. Selfridge, U. S. N. 

 From the results of this work the Navy 

 Department published navigation charts 

 of the Amazon up to the bar of the Rio 

 Negro, and of the Madeira up to the falls 

 of San Antonio. These charts are now 

 used to navigate the ships of nearly 

 every country of the world which do 

 business in the basin drained by this 

 mighty river. 



The next expedition was under the 

 command of Captain C. C. Todd, with 

 the U. S. ship Wilmington, which vessel 

 steamed up the river as far as the city of 

 Iquitos, a distance of nearly 2,400 miles, 



arriving there on the 23d of March, 

 1899. Captain Todd's report is replete 

 with valuable information of a practical 

 as well as of a scientific character, and 

 the Navy Department has made exten- 

 sive use of it. 



The pathfinder in these waters, Hern- 

 don, ended his life in one of the most 

 gallant and tragic episodes of the navy, 

 going down with the steamship Central 

 America, which he commanded, after re- 

 fusing to get into the last escaping boat 

 lest its capacity might be overfilled. 



EXPLORATIONS IN THE RIO DE LA 

 PLATA 



Commander T. J. Page, U. S. N., in 

 the U. S. steamer Water Witch, with a 

 complement of intelligent officers, was, 

 in the year 1854, engaged in an explo- 

 ration of the Rio de La Plata and its 

 tributaries. The results of his labors 

 and tactful association with the citizens 

 of the valley of that wonderful river 

 was a most valuable contribution to our 

 geographical knowledge of the whole 

 watershed drained by it. 



This great river system had just been 

 opened to commerce, and the results of 

 the voyage of the Water Witch were to 

 prove to the world that ocean-going 

 commerce could ascend the Parana and 

 Paraguay rivers to a point 700 miles 

 above Asuncion, a city that is itself as 

 far from the sea as St Louis is from the 

 Gulf of Mexico. 



During the progress of this important 

 survey daily astronomical observations 

 were made and soundings taken and 

 charted along a length of river bed of 

 3,600 miles, much of the surrounding 

 country was explored, and natural his- 

 tory collections made that were of great 

 value to science, art, and commerce. 



ASTRONOMICAL EXPEDITION TO 

 CHILE 



Lieutenant James Gilliss (afterwards 

 Commodore), U. S. N., who was the 

 founder of the U.S. Naval Observatory 



