Gums, Resins, 



486 



[December, 1910. 



One of my early visits was to the 

 Governor, who impressed me as most 

 anxious to give his State a "capable, 

 businesslike administration. I attended 

 all of the functions that made up that 

 notable week from the laying on of the 

 corner stone of the new hvewery to my 

 own lectures in the Theatro Amazonas. 

 I enjoyed official breakfasts, pi-ivate 

 dinners, and " sing songs." But of all 

 the meals, some of which were magni- 

 ficently served, none tickles the palate 

 of my memory like the turtle roasted in 

 the shell with farinha that my hostess 

 prepared for me. It was indescribably 

 delicious. At last I could comprehend 

 how an Indian could stand day after 

 day in a cranky canoe, in the broiling 

 sun, on the off chance of shooting an 

 arrow up into the sky, that it might 

 drop, impale, and secure this most 

 delicious of crustaceans. 



Planting Rubber in a City Park. 



It was my suggestion, and I am proud 

 of it, that I got the Governor, his staff, 

 and a dignified committee out of their 

 beds very early one morning to plant 

 Hevea rubber trees in one of the public 

 parks. It seemed as if in that great 

 city someone ought to know how the 

 tree that produced its wealth looked. 

 Yet few of the business men could tell 

 me whether the leaves of the Hevea 

 brasiliensis grew in clusters of three or 

 thirty-three. So I suggested city plant- 

 ing, and they assented with enthusiasm. 



The Governor planted his tree, the 

 President of the Association his, 1 

 planted mine, then came Dr. Huber 

 with many others, and we sprinkled 

 that beautiful park with thrifty seed- 

 lings that, according to latest advices, 

 " are doing well." 



The other proceedings of the Conven- 

 tion, the eloquent speeches, the discus- 

 sions, the list of prize-winners, the com- 

 mittees appointed— are they not all re- 

 corded in the published report, brought 

 out by the Commercial Association ? So 

 why should I inscribe them here. 



The Transportation System. 

 Manaos has direct sailings for the 

 United States and Europe, and a great 

 fleet of steamers, big and little, that go 

 to all the Upper river?, even to the 

 slopes of the Andes, 



The carrying trade of the Amazou is 

 done, first, by ocean-going boats on such 

 lines as the Booth, Hamburg-American, 

 and Lloyd Brasileiro, many of which 

 visit Para and Manaos only, while 

 others go a thousand miles further 

 up to Iquitos ; second, by a fleet of 

 river steamers, several hundred in 



number, that belong some to individuals 

 and some to companies. The Amazon 

 Steam Navigation Co., Ltd., for example, 

 the oldest, has about forty steamers and 

 many tugs and lighters. Their boats 

 are from 150 to 800 tons burden, and the 

 company is subsidised by both State and 

 Federal Governments to run regularly 

 up some of the great tributaries of the 

 Amazon. 



Time was when the flat bottomed stern 

 wheel Mississippi type of steamer was 

 very generally used, but it has practi- 

 cally disappeared. The twin screw 

 steamer is to-day the usual thiug, that is 

 for the better class of river boats. Some 

 of these are fitted with electric fans, ice 

 machines and excellent accommodations 

 for first-class passengers. The boats are 

 usually two deckers, both being open. 

 The lower deck is for the engine, cargo, 

 animals, crew and third-class passengers. 

 This deck is usually loaded in layers — 

 merchandise, mules and dogs at the 

 bottom, passengers in hammocks just 

 above, with an animated top layer of 

 parrots, monkeys, and insects. The 

 upper deck is reserved for officers and 

 first-class passengers, has a few four bunk 

 cabins and a long table aft where meals 

 are served, and is very comfortable. 



Of the hundreds of individual steamers 

 no two are exactly alike. All types of 

 engines are represented, and of pro- 

 pellers one would not believe that so 

 many patterns had ever been made — a 

 great handicap in repairing. The indivi- 

 dual boats do not pretend to run on 

 schedule time. They leave when they 

 get ready, go where they choose, and 

 arrive when they may. The result is a 

 great deal of wasted effort. It otten 

 happens, on the main river or some of 

 the great tributaries, that a party expect- 

 ing the boat will wait for days and 

 firally go back in disgust to their 

 seringal. Then a week or more later the 

 boat arrives and sends out an expedition 

 to find the seringal and secure its 

 freight. 



According to Brazilian law, any and 

 every boat navigating their waters must 

 carry mail if requested to do so, and 

 that without recompense. A wise old 

 Portuguese sea captain described to me 

 the mail carryiug of some of these smaller 

 boats that went far into the interior. 

 Not being paid for the service the owners 

 were resentful, and sometimes when 

 away from the restraints of civilisation 

 the mail bags were viciously dumped 

 overboard. At other times they were 

 completely forgotten, aud after months 

 of journeying were brought back and 

 delivered to the post-office from which 

 they started. 



