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EDITORIAL. 
inquiries  relative  to  the  present  condition  of  the  silver  mines  of  Peru,  and 
to  the  probable  influence  that  the  free  navigation  of  the  Amazon  and  its 
tributaries  would  exercise  upon  the  working  of  them  ?  to  what  extent  these 
rivers  are  navigable ;  and  what  inducements  the  laws  of  Peru  and  Bolivia 
hold  out  to  emigrants?  The  character  of  the  population,  their  trade  and 
productions,  the  productions  adapted  to  the  climate  and  soil  of  various  parte 
of  that  region,  the  state  of  tillage,  the  quality  of  the  laborers,  the  value  of 
labor,  etc.  and  other  information  of  interest  to  a  commercial  people. 
After  crossing  the  Andes  to  Fort  San  Raymon  on  the  Chanchamayo,  one 
of  the  head  waters  of  the  Ucayali,*  he  determined  not  to  descend  that 
river  on  account  of  the  hostility  of  the  Indians,  who  have  complete  possession 
of  that  part  of  the  Montana,  or  broken  country  east  of  the  Andes,  but  to 
take  the  Huallaga.  At  Tarma  he  parted  with  Lieut.  Gibbon,  who  was 
directed  to  pass  to  the  southward  through  Bolivia  to  the  headwaters  of  the 
!Marmore,  and  descend  it  and  the  Madeira  to  the  Amazon,  which  was  duly 
accomplished,  but  not  till  long  after  Herndon  had  passed  down  the  latter 
river.  The  report  of  Mr.  Gibbon  when  ready  will  constitute  the  second 
part  of  the  Exploration.  Our  limits  will  not  admit  of  following  Herndon  in 
his  long  and  tedious  navigation,  nor  of  commenting  on  the  various  interest- 
ing observations  he  has  recorded,  but  we  will  make  a  few  extracts  in  reference 
to  those  productions  of  the  Amazon  Valley  that  interest  the  pharmaceutist 
and  physician.  The  drug  most  extensively  collected  is  sarsaparilla.  It 
constitutes  a  sort  of  medium  of  exchange — a  substitute  for  money.  The 
dues  to  the  Church  are  paid  in  sarsaparilla  ;  the  village  merchant  receives 
sarsaparilla  for  his  wares;  and  speculators  send  expeditions  up  the  various 
branches  of  the  Amazon  after  this  world-renowned  medicine.  The  sarsa- 
parilla, that  from  Para,  is  distributed  to  the  world  by  commerce,  is  the  in- 
gathering from  an  hundred  river  banks  by  thousands  of  petty  expeditions, 
where  collections  pass  from  hand  to  hand  down  the  long  navigation  of  that 
mighty  stream  until  it  reaches  Para.  Hence  much  of  the  so  called  "  Para 
or  Brazillian  sarsaparilla  "  grows  thousands  of  miles  in  the  interior.  Lieut. 
Herndon  says : 
"  Sarsaparilla  is  a  vine  of  sufficient  size  to  shoot  up  from  the  earth  fifteen 
or  twenty  feet  from  the  root  without  support.  It  then  embraces  the  sur- 
rounding trees  and  spreads  to  a  great  distance.  The  main  root  sends  out 
many  tendrils,  generally  about  two  lines  in  diameter  and  five  feet  long. 
These  are  gathered  and  tied  up  in  bundles,  of  about  a  Portuguese  arroba, 
or  thirty  two  pounds  weight.  The  main  root  or  madre  should  not  be  dis- 
turbed :  but  the  Indians  are  little  careful  in  this  matter,  and  frequently  cut 
it  off,  by  which  much  sarsaparilla  is  destroyed.  The  digging  up  of  the 
small  roots  from  the  wet  and  marshy  soil  is  a  laborious  and  unhealthy  oc- 
cupation. 
"It  is  found  on  the  banks  of  almost  every  tributary  of  the  great  streams  of 
the  Montana ;  but  a  great  many  of  these  are  not  worked  on  account  of  the 
savages  living  on  their  banks,  who  frequently  attack  the  parties  that  come 
to  gather  it.  The  whole  Southern  border  of  the  Amazon  from  the  mouth  of 
the  Ucayali  to  that  of  the  Yavari  is  inhabited  by  the  u  Mayorunas '?  all 
*  We  were  in  error  in  stating  that  Lieut.  Herndon  descended  the  Ucayali,  in 
our  last  number — it  was  the  Huallaga. 
