COUNT CASTELNAU. 



181 



From its mountains you may dig silver, iron, coal, copper, quicksilver, 

 zinc, and tin ; from the sands of its tributaries you may wash gold, dia- 

 monds, and precious stones ; from its forests you may gather drugs of 

 virtues the most rare, spices of aroma the most exquisite, gums and resins 

 of the most varied and useful properties, dyes of hues the most brilliant 

 with cabinet and building- woods of the finest polish and most enduring 

 texture. 



Its climate is an everlasting summer, and its harvest perennial. I 

 translate from a book of travels in these countries, by Count Castelnau, 

 (received since my return to the United States,) an account of the 

 capacities of some of the southern portions of this vast water-shed : 



"The productions of the country are exceedingly various. The sugar- 

 cane, of which the crop is gathered at the end of eight months from 

 the time of planting, forms the chief source of wealth of the province 

 of Cercado. 



"Coffee is cultivated also with success in this province, and in that of 

 Chiquitos yields its fruit two years after having been planted, and 

 requires scarcely any attention. Cocoa, recently introduced into these 

 two provinces, gives its fruit at the end of three or four years at most. 

 The tamarind, which thrives in the same localities, produces its harvest 

 in five years. Cotton gives annual crops ; there are two varieties — the 

 one white, the other yellow. Tobacco grows, so to speak, without cultiva- 

 tion in the province of Valle Grande, where it forms the principal article 

 of commerce. Indigo, of which there are three cultivated kinds and one 

 wild, is equally abundant. Maize yields at the end of three months all 

 the year round ; it is also cultivated in the province of Cercado. The 

 cassave produces in eight months after planting ; there are two kinds of 

 it — one sweet, and the other bitter ; the first can replace the potato, and. 

 even bread ; the second is only good for starch. There is an enormous 

 amount of kinds or varieties of bananas, which produce in the year from 

 seed ; they are specially cultivated in the province of Cercado. Two 

 kinds of rice — one white, the other colored — are cultivated in the two 

 provinces of Cercado and Chiquitos. They produce every five or six 

 months ; they say it is found wild in the region of Chiquitos. 



"The grape, which grows well everywhere, and especially in the 

 province of Cordilleras, where it was cultivated in the Missions up to 

 the time of the Independence, is nevertheless made no article of profit. 

 It will some day, perhaps, form one of the principal sources of wealth 

 of this country. Wheat, barley, and the potato might be cultivated 

 with advantage in the provinces of Chiquitos and Cordilleras ; but till 

 now results have been obtained only in that of Valle Grande. The 



