340 



A JOURNEY IN BRAZIL. 



had SO much "knowledge of botany as would enable him to 

 complete the collections brought in by the Indians, adding 

 to them such parts as might be wanted for a complete sys- 

 tematic description. The specimens ought not to be chosen, 

 however, as they have hitherto been, solely with reference to 

 those parts which are absolutely necessary to identify the 

 species ; the collections, to be complete, ought to include the 

 wood, the bark, the roots, and the soft fruits in alcohol. The 

 abundance and variety of timber in the Amazonian Valley 

 strikes us with amazement. We long to hear the saw-mill 

 busy in these forests, where there are several hundred kinds 

 of woods, admirably suited for construction as well as for the 

 finest cabinet-work ; remarkable for the beauty of their grain, 

 for their hardness, for the variety of their tints and their 

 veining, and for their durability. And yet so ignorant are 

 the inhabitants of the value of timber that, when they want 

 a plank, they cut down a tree, and chop it to the desired 

 thickness with a hatchet. There are many other vegetable 

 products, besides those already exported from the Amazons, 

 which will one day be poured into the market from its fer- 

 tile shores. The clearest and purest oils are made from 

 some of the nuts and palm fruits, while many of the palms 

 yield the most admirable fibrous material for cordage, singu- 

 larly elastic and resistant. Besides its material products, — 

 and of these the greater part rot on the ground for want 

 of hands to gather them, — the climate and soil are favora- 

 ble for the growth of sugar, coffee, cocoa, and cotton ; and 

 I may add, that the spices of the East might be cultivated in 

 the valley of the Amazons as well as in the Dutch posses- 

 sions of Asia." 



Sunday^ Zlst. — Manaos. We had wished exceedingly 

 to extend our excursion on the Rio Negro to the mouth 



