THE AMAZON.
Sources of the Marañon.—Rapids and cataracts.—Embouchures
of the Amazon.—Its volume, compared with the Ganges and
the Brahmapootra.—Its discovery by Pinzon.—Expedition of
Orellana.—Gold-seeking expedition of Pedro de Orsua.—Settlement
of Pará, and discovery of the Rio Negro.—The Missions of the
Jesuits, and their expulsion.—Discovery of the communication
between the Amazon and the Orinoco.—Revolution of 1835.—Pará:
its streets and public buildings.—Explorations of M. Castelnau
and Lieutenant Herndon.—Tributaries and settlements of the
Tocantins.—Lieutenant Gibbon’s exploration of the Madera.—His
interview with General Belzu.—What is wanted to turn the
stream of tropical South American commerce eastward.—Herndon’s
descent of the Huallaga.—Tarapoto, and its future
prospects.—Chasuta; its trade with Lima and Pará.—Yurimaguas,
and the Cachiyacu.—Steam-boat communication between Nauta
and Pará.—Progress of a piece of cotton from Liverpool to
Sarayacu.—Estimated cost and profit of steam vessels on the
Amazon.—Trade of Egas.—The new province of Amazonas.—Exports of
Barra.—The Rio Negro, and its tributaries.—Communication by the
Cassiquiari between the Amazon and the Orinoco.—Productions of
Amazonas.—Santarem.—The Tapajos, and its tributaries.—Rapids of
the Parú, and the Xingù.—Climate and products of Pará.—Benefits
to be expected from the opening of the Amazon and European
immigration.
Though the Brazilian mission of the writer in connection with the
original object of this volume virtually terminates at the close of the
preceding chapter, his desire to communicate, however cursorily, an
adequate idea of the immensity of extent and natural resources of the
Brazilian empire would be altogether unfulfilled if some additional data
were not offered respecting the illimitable and inexhaustible region
of the Amazon. In conversing with enlightened inhabitants of Brazil,
natives of the capital or elsewhere, on the vastness and fertility of
their country, and on the magnificent destiny it is certain to attain,
they concur with you, as a matter of course, but conclude with an
intimation that you estimate but half of the reality, and a fourth of the
probability of what is in store; for you leave out of your calculation
the wondrous but almost unknown district of the Amazon. _There_,
indeed, they imply, are the germs of marvellous and unmatched natural
greatness to be sought; for, prodigal as nature has everywhere been to
the country in every possible respect, it is there that she has been
most profuse; and there are her bounties most accessible to man, if he
would only make the slightest exertion to secure them. These views are
entertained in a like degree by many of the most intelligent citizens of
the United States, the attention of which country is being drawn in an
increasingly marked degree to the commercial capabilities of the Amazon;
and the frequency of the publications respecting it, and the wide and
general circulation they obtain throughout the Union, attest the interest
wherewith North America regards the locale of what one of their writers
describes as the future inevitably greatest mercantile entrepot (Pará)
in the world. With what justice this anticipation is formed it is the
design of the annexed few pages to exhibit, consisting, as they do, in
a great degree, of a digest of the more influential of the publications
alluded to. Considering the magnitude of the existing relations between
England and Brazil, and how large a share Great Britain will derive from
the enterprises that are now being directed to the opening up of the
Amazon, it is conceived that a summary of the most recent circumstances
connected with the countries and peoples bordering on that mighty stream
will not fail to be acceptable, the more so as, with the exception of Mr.
Wallace’s volume already alluded to, and which is not a commercial, nor
yet geographical, nor descriptive work, there has been in this country no
recent publication of an analogous nature to those of the United States’
writers we shall presently enumerate.
The Amazon, the largest river in the world, traverses the tropical
regions of South America from west to east, discharging its immense
volume of water into the Atlantic, nearly under the equator. The
Tanguragua, or Upper Marañon, is regarded as its principal head-stream,
and rises in the Lake of Llanricocha, 14,000 feet above the level of the
sea, in the region of nearly perpetual snow. For about 120 miles from its
source it flows through a ravine, and is full of rapids and cataracts,
having a fall in that distance of more than 11,000 feet. Near Huary the
ravine opens into a wide valley, through which the river flows gently
for about 380 miles, and is navigable for canoes. Its course is then
interrupted by the rapids of the Pongo Rentema, and turns eastward, in
which direction it runs nearly 180 miles, leaving the mountain region by
the Pongo de Manseriche, a rapid seven miles long. In this part of its
course the current is so strong that it can be descended only by floats;
but from the rapids of Manseriche the river passes through an extensive
plain, its entire length exceeding 3,000 miles.
A great number of tributaries pour their waters into the Amazon in
the lower part of its course. On the north side the first from the
west, below the rapids of Manseriche, is the Morona, and then come in
succession the Pastaça, Tigre, Napo, Iça, Yapurà, Rio Negro, and Oximina.
From the south it receives, proceeding from west to east, the Huallaga,
Ucayali, Yavari, Jutai, Jurua, Teffé, Coavy, Purus, Madera, Tapajos,
Xingù, and Tocantins. Most of these affluents discharge their waters into
the Amazon by more than one mouth, which frequently are widely apart.
Thus the two most distant of the four mouths of the Yapurà are more than
200 miles asunder, and the outer embouchures of the Purus are about 100
miles from each other. In the upper portion of its course the Amazon
divides Equador from Peru, between which its width varies from half a
mile to a mile; beyond the limits of Equador it increases to two miles,
and below the Madera (its most considerable tributary, having a course
little less than 2,000 miles in length) it is nearly three miles. Between
Faro and Obydos, to which place the tide reaches, it decreases to less
than a mile; but below Obydos it widens again, and after the junction of
the Tapajos it is nearly seven miles across. The width of the channel
of Braganza do Norte, the northern mouth of this vast river, is 30
miles opposite the island Marajó, and 50 at its embouchure; that of the
Tangipurà channel is 18 miles at the junction of the Tocantins, and 30 at
its mouth. One of the most remarkable characteristics of the Amazon is
the immense volume of water which it discharges into the ocean, which is
ascribable to the forests which cover so large an extent of the immense
region which it flows through, and attract a much greater quantity of
rain than the scorched _Llanos_ of the Orinoco, and the treeless _pampas_
of the Rio Plata. While the principal branch of the Ganges discharges
80,000 cubic feet of water per second, and the Brahmapootra pours forth
176,188 cubic feet per second, the volume of water which flows through
the Narrow of Obydos per second is calculated at 550,000 cubic feet.
Next in importance to the Madera among the tributaries of the Amazon, is
the Rio Negro, which, after a course of 1400 miles, falls into the Father
of Waters twelve miles below the town of Barra, where it is a mile and
a half wide. The Xingù has a course of 1000 miles, the Tapajos and the
Yapurà each 900 miles, and the Napo and Iça each of 700.[61]
According to the best writers, the first expedition up the Amazon
occurred in 1500, when a Portuguese named Pinzon discovered the mouth
of the river, and took possession of its left bank. In 1540, Francisco
Orellana descended the Napo and the Amazon to its mouth, and finding
the native women in arms to oppose him, gave the name of Amazonia to
the country, and conferred his own upon the river, by which it is still
called by some geographers. In 1560, Pedro de Orsua, commissioned to
explore the country in search of gold, descended the Jutai and Jurua, but
was prevented by a mutiny from proceeding farther. In 1615 the governor
of Maranham, Alexandro de Moura, in order to establish the sovereignty
of Portugal, sent an expedition to the Amazon under Francisco Caldeira,
who sailed up the Tocantins, and formed a settlement where Pará now
stands. In 1648 a party of Portuguese discovered the Rio Negro, and
reached Quito overland, which was regarded as a remarkable feat. Shortly
afterwards, the Jesuits commenced their settlements on the banks of the
Marañon; and during the reign of Philip III., when Portugal was united
to Spain, it was seriously contemplated to make the Amazon the means of
transit for the treasures of Peru and Chili, by which the sea-voyage
would be much shortened, and the dangers from English and French cruisers
more than proportionately lessened.
The Jesuits warmly espoused the cause of the cruelly treated Indians,
but, unfortunately, their zeal outran their discretion, and, in 1604,
they were expelled. Several settlements were made about this time on the
Marañon and the Rio Negro, among others that of San José, now the town
of Barra; and in the expeditions which took place between 1726 and 1730,
the communication between the Rio Negro and the Orinoco was discovered.
During the next twenty or thirty years, colonization appears to have made
rapid strides, so much so that, in 1784, a commission was despatched
from Portugal to explore the country for botanical and other scientific
objects. Settlements continued to be formed, but no event worthy of
record occurred until the change of dynasty in 1823. Since then the only
occurrence of consequence has been the revolution of 1835, when the
president of the province was assassinated, the citizens of Pará fled,
and the whole of the province, with the exception of the town of Cametá,
on the Tocantins, fell under the power of the insurgents, who sacked the
towns, and carried off the slaves and the cattle. Quarrels between the
insurgent leaders increased the miseries of the country, and several
presidents succeeded each other. At length, (see memoir of Admiral
Grenfell), President Andrea arrived from Rio Janeiro with a sufficient
force, and succeeded in recovering possession of Pará. The inland places
gradually returned to their allegiance, and though the effects of these
disturbances are still felt in some districts, Pará has fully recovered
its former prosperity.
The province of Pará, though naturally the richest portion of the
immense empire of Brazil, of which it is the most northern part, is
little known, and at present of but little commercial importance.[62]
Pará, the capital, contains about 15,000 inhabitants, and has a pretty
appearance from the river. Most of the houses are white, which, against
the dark green of the forest that surrounds it on the land side, and with
the clear blue sky above, give it a pleasing aspect. The small islands
in the river are wooded to the water’s edge, and canoes are constantly
passing, paddled by negroes or Indians. The custom-house, formerly a
convent, is a large and handsome building, and there are several churches
that will bear comparison with those of Europe. The squares are more
like village greens, being covered with a rank growth of weeds, but
the graceful-looking palms which are planted in their midst impart a
picturesque appearance in the eyes of a stranger. The principal street
is the Rua dos Mercadores (street of merchants), which contains the only
good shops in the town, and this, or rather a part of it, is the only
portion that is paved. The other streets are very narrow, and some not
free from holes.
What most strikes the observer is the number and size of the public
buildings of Pará, which are far beyond the present wants of the place,
but form a good foundation for its future requirements as the great depôt
of the Amazon. The palace is large and massive, but has no pretensions
to architectural beauty. In its rear is the theatre, unfinished, and
overgrown with vines and climbing shrubs. Near these buildings is the
cathedral, the largest in Brazil, the bells of whose two steeples, with
those of the numerous churches, seem to be continually ringing. Near the
arsenal, and sufficiently removed from the city to be no nuisance to the
inhabitants, is the public slaughter-house, in the neighbourhood of which
many vultures are always to be seen.
Most of the towns and villages of the extensive country watered by the
Amazon, are situated on that river and its tributaries; and the rest is
an impenetrable forest, trodden only by the Indian and the jaguar. Very
little is known of the greater portion of the interior, but M. Castlenau,
who explored the valley of the Amazon in 1843, and Lieutenant Herndon,
of the United States Navy, who descended the ‘King of Rivers’ in 1852,
have supplied considerable information respecting the Tocantins, the
Madera, and Huallaga. The first-named flows through a fertile and healthy
country, and has many flourishing settlements on its banks. Among them
is Salinas, famous for its salt works, near which is the Lake of Pearls,
surrounded by beautiful scenery, and inhabited by numbers of aquatic
birds. The town of Goyaz, with a population of about 7,500, is situated
on the Vermelho, a branch of the Tocantins, and can be reached by vessels
from Pará. The voyage occupies five months, the up freight being about
20s., and the down one fourth, per 100 lbs. Large canoes are paddled up
the river as far as Porto Imperial, and take down hides, which at Goyaz
are worth fifty cents, and at Pará are sold for a dollar and a half. Pará
also trades with the inland town of Diamantino, by means of the Tapajos,
the voyage up and down occupying eight months. The foreign merchandise
that reaches Diamantino by this route is sold at an advance, on the
average, of 850 per cent. on its price at Pará, which is from 50 to 100
per cent. on New York prices. When steam-boats are introduced on these
waters trade will be largely increased, and prices reduced by competition
and the facility of transit, so that both producer and consumer will be
greatly benefitted.
It is a matter which gives a promising aspect to the question of future
commercial intercourse with the interior that the elements of a large
and profitable trade already exist in abundance. Cinchona to the value
of two millions of dollars is annually exported from the eastern slopes
of Bolivia, but, at present, for the want of steam-boats on the Amazon
and its tributaries, it is carried over the Andes on the backs of llamas
and mules to the ports of Peru. Large quantities of wool, clipped on
the banks of the Bolivian tributaries of the Amazon, instead of going
down the river to Pará, for shipment to England or the United States,
are carried over the Andes in the same manner, and have then to make the
voyage round Cape Horn.
The Madera runs through a beautiful valley, clothed with verdure, and
abounding in scenery the most striking and picturesque. It is among
the upper tributaries of this river that the traditions of the country
place the lost mines of Urucumaguam, the riches of which equalled those
of Potosi. When Lieutenant Gibbon, who was sent by the United States
government to explore the valley of the Madera, was at Cochabamba, the
attention of the Bolivian government was called to the establishment,
on the navigable waters of that river, of ports of entry to foreign
commerce, and of steam communication with the Amazon. Belzu, the
President of Bolivia, received him in the most gracious manner, and is
said to have promised to grant privileges to a company for that purpose,
if application were made to him in due form. The course of the Madera
is interrupted by cataracts and rapids, but the former only commence
450 miles from its mouth, and the latter may be passed by canoes. The
cataracts passed, the river is navigable into the heart of Bolivia by its
tributaries, the Beni and the Mamoré, and quite through the Brazilian
province of Matto Grosso by the Guaporé. Mr. Clay, the United States
chargé d’affaires at Lima, was told that a Brazilian war-schooner had
ascended the Madera above the rapids as far as Exaltacion, which is in
Bolivia, above the junction of the Beni.
About one-half of Bolivia, two-thirds of Peru, three-fourths of
Equador, and one-half of New Grenada are drained by the Amazon and its
tributaries. For the want of steam communication, the trade of all these
parts of those countries goes west over the Andes to Callao. There it is
shipped, and after doubling Cape Horn, and sailing eight or ten thousand
miles, it is then only off the mouth of the Amazon, on its way to Europe
or the United States; whereas, if the navigation of the Amazon were free,
and steam-vessels placed on its waters, the produce of the interior could
be landed at Pará for what it costs to convey it across the Andes to the
ports of the Pacific.
Lieutenant Herndon embarked on the Huallaga at Tinga-Maria, the head of
canoe navigation, and 335 miles from the city of Lima, and descended to
its junction with the Amazon, and thence to the mouth of the latter, a
distance of not less than 3,500 miles. The first place he came to was
Tarapoto, situated in a beautiful plain, watered by many rivulets, and
producing cotton, coffee, sugar, cocoa, and drugs in great abundance.
The district is very healthy, and free from annoying insects. Indigo
grows wild, and storax, cinnamon, and gums may be procured of the Indians
in any quantity, and at prices merely nominal. A great deal of good
cotton cloth is made here by the women, and exchanged at Egas for straw
hats and English prints brought from Pará. There is very little money
in circulation, cotton cloth, wax, and balls of sewing cotton being
used instead. English goods brought over the Andes sell in Tarapoto
for four times their value in Lima. All the land carriage is performed
by Indians, for want of roads: an Indian will carry 75 lbs. of goods
on his shoulders from Tarapoto to Juan Guerra, whence he paddles in a
canoe to Tinga-Maria, and there shoulders his burthen again, and carries
it to Huanaco, the distance of which town from Tarapoto is 390 miles.
The population of the place in 1848 was 3,500. Concerning its natural
advantages and future prospects, Lieutenant Herndon thus speaks:—
‘I spoke with an active and intelligent young Spanish trader,
named Morey, about the feasibility of a steamboat enterprise
upon these rivers, bringing American goods and taking
return-cargoes of coffee, tobacco, straw-hats, hammocks, and
sarsaparilla to the ports of Brazil on the river. He thought
that it could not fail to enrich any one who would attempt
it; but that the difficulty lay in the fact that my proposed
steamer would never get as far as this, for that my goods
would be bought up and paid for in return-cargoes long before
she reached Peru. He thought, too, that the Brazilians along
the river had money which they would be glad to exchange for
comforts and luxuries. Were I to engage in any scheme of
colonization for the purpose of evolving the resources of the
Valley of the Amazon, I think I should direct the attention
of settlers to this district of Tarapoto. It combines more
advantages than any other I know; it is healthy, fertile, and
free from the torment of musquitoes and sand-flies. Wheat may
be had from the high lands above it; cattle thrive well; and
its coffee, tobacco, sugar-cane, rice, and maize are of fine
quality. It is true that vessels cannot come up to Shapaja,
the port of the town of Tarapoto; but a good road may be made
from this town eighteen miles to Chasuta, to which vessels of
five feet draught may come at the lowest stage of the river,
and any draught at high water. Tarapoto is situated on an
elevated plain twenty miles in diameter; is seventy miles
from Moyobamba, the capital of the province, a city of seven
thousand inhabitants; and has close around it the villages of
Lamas, Tabalosas, Juan Guerra, and Shapaja. The Ucayali is
navigable higher up than this point, and the quality of cotton
and coffee seems better, within certain limits further from
the equator. But the settler at the head-waters of the Ucayali
has to place himself in a profound wilderness, with the forest
and the savage to subdue, and entirely dependent upon his own
resources. I think he would be better placed near where he can
get provisions and assistance whilst he is clearing the forest
and planting his fields. I am told that the governors of the
districts in all the province of Mainas have authority to give
titles to land to any one who desires to cultivate it.’
Six leagues below Tarapoto is Chasuta, with a population of 1,200. The
annual value of the trade between this place and the ports below is
1,500 dollars; but all articles which can be carried on the backs of
Indians or mules come from Lima. Implements of iron, copper kettles,
guns, earthenware, and glass, come from Pará, and obtain prices which
afford very large profits. Though the distance from this place to the
mouth of the Amazon is above 3,000 miles, a 74-gun ship would find water
enough, during the greater part of the year, to reach it from the sea.
The villages of Yurimaguas, Santa Cruz, and Chamizuras, respectively
24, 35, and 89 leagues below Chasuta, have each a population of about
320, and in the woods around the last, valuable resins and gums abound.
Half a mile below Yurimaguas is the mouth of the Cachiyacu, which is
navigable for large canoes, from January to June, as far as Balza Puerto,
a considerable village, five days’ journey from Moyobamba, between which
and the ports of the Amazon this river is the general route. It also
serves as a means of communication with the many villages which dot the
fine country between the Marañon and the Huallaga, so that Yurimaguas is
probably destined to become an important place in the future. Laguna, 44
leagues below Chasuta, and four above the mouth of the Huallaga, has a
population of 1,044. Urarinas, a village on the Amazon, five leagues from
the mouth of the Huallaga, contains only 80 inhabitants, but the immense
number in the vicinity of the trees which produce gum copal mark it as an
important place in the future. Nauta, on the right bank of the Amazon, 46
leagues below the junction of the Huallaga, has a population of 1,000.
It is to this place that Brazil, by treaty with Peru, has engaged to run
steamers, under the Brazilian flag, from Pará, the contractors to have
the monopoly of steam-boat navigation on the Amazon for thirty years,
with an annual bonus of 100,000 dollars for the first fifteen. The voyage
is to be performed by two steamers, one ascending the Amazon from Pará,
the other descending it from Nauta, and meeting the up boat at Barra.
Passing Omaguas, with its 240 inhabitants, Iquitos with its 227, and
Arau with its 80, the mouth of the Napo is reached; and thirteen leagues
lower down is Pebas, with a population of 387. This place is embosomed
in the immense forest, producing in abundance sarsaparilla, vanilla,
storax, copal, caoutchouc, and wax, which may be obtained from the
Indians in exchange for cotton goods, needles, beads, &c. Thirty-four
pounds of sarsaparilla may be bought for 24 yards of common cotton, and
other articles at a like proportionate price; but the great sarsaparilla
country is along the banks of the Ucayali and the Ahuaytia, where 100
lbs. of the drug, which are worth fully £5 at Pará, and twice as much in
Europe, may be bought for eight yards of cotton.
As an illustration of the circumambulatory manner in which the commerce
of this extensive region is carried on, let us trace the progress of the
cotton goods from the warehouse in Liverpool to the banks of the Ucayali.
The goods have to be carried round Cape Horn to Callao, where duty is
charged upon them, and whence it is conveyed to Lima, and across the
Andes, on the backs of mules. Freight, land carriage, and commission cost
more than the goods, and in about twelve months from the time of their
leaving Liverpool they reach the mouth of the Ucayali, whence they are
sent up by boat to Sarayacu, the centre of the sarsaparilla country, a
distance of 300 miles. It is now exchanged for 100 lbs. of sarsaparilla,
the value of which is 9 dollars at Nauta, 10½ at Tabatinga, 25 at Pará,
and from 40 to 60, according to the markets, in Liverpool. The voyage is
long, tedious, and circumgyratory, but the profits are enormous. Now,
if the navigation of the Amazon were free, and ports of entry, open to
all nations, were established at such places as Chasuta and Nauta, not
only would the trade be considerably increased, to the benefit of both
parties, but the people of Peru and Brazil instead of eight yards of
cotton for 100 lbs. of sarsaparilla, would get three or four hundred
yards. Such will soon be the case.
Concerning the cost and profit of steam vessels on the Amazon, and the
arrangements that would have to be made, Lieut. Herndon says:—
‘I have estimated the annual cost of running a small steamer
between Loreto, the frontier port of Peru and Chasuta,
a distance of eight hundred miles, entirely within the
Peruvian territory, at twenty thousand dollars, including the
establishment of blacksmiths’ and carpenters’ shops at Nauta
for her repairs. According to the estimate of Arebalo, (and
I judge that he is very nearly correct,) the value of the
imports and exports to and from Brazil is twenty thousand
dollars annually. I have no doubt that the appearance of a
steamer in these waters would at once double the value; for it
would, in the first place, convert the thousand men who are
now employed in the fetching and carrying of the articles of
trade into producers, and would give a great impulse to trade
by facilitating it. A loaded canoe takes eighty days to ascend
these eight hundred miles. A steamer will do it in twelve,
giving ample time to take in wood, to land and receive cargo at
the various villages on the river, and to lay by at night.’
Nearly midway between Loreto and Barra, and near the mouths of the
Jurua, the Yapurá, and the Teffé, is Egas, with a population of about
800, which is the most thriving place above Barra. It has eight or ten
commercial houses that carry on a brisk trade between Peru and Pará,
besides employing agents to ascend the neighbouring rivers, and collect
from the Indians the produce of the country. Schooners of between 30 and
40 tons average five months in the round trip between Egas and Pará, a
distance of 1250 miles, the expenses being 150 dollars, including wages
and rations of crew, and a tax of 13 per cent. Sarsaparilla and salt-fish
are the principal exports, which are sold at Pará for double what they
cost at Egas, to which the vessels return with cotton goods, earthenware,
and hardware, all of the commonest description, to be sold at an advance
of 20 per cent. on Pará prices. There are five vessels engaged in this
trade, making two trips a year, so that the annual value of the trade
between Egas and Pará may be estimated at 38,000 dollars. Between Egas
and Peru it is about 20,000 dollars. The vessels engaged in this trade
are not well adapted to it; they are too broad in the beam, and their
sails are two small, so that the voyage occupies a great deal more time
than it might be performed in by clipper-built and properly rigged
vessels.
The Comarca of the Rio Negro, one of the territorial divisions of the
immense province of Pará, has, within the last year, been erected into
a province, with the title of Amazonas. A custom-house will probably
soon be established at Barra, at the mouth of the Rio Negro, for the
collection of the duties now paid at Pará, and there can be no doubt that
commercial enterprise will, in a few years, bring the manufactures of
Europe from Demerara by the Essequibo and the Rio Branco. The president
of the new province, Senhor Joâo B. de F. T. Aranha, is labouring for
the good of the district, and has had many conferences with the chiefs
of the Indian tribes with the view of inducing them to settle and engage
in systematic agricultural labour. Lieutenant Herndon was told that
Brazil would give titles to vacant lands to any foreigners who would
settle there, and the President expressed a wish that he would bring out
a thousand Americans to set an example of energy and industry to the
natives.[63] The value in dollars of the exports of the entire Comarca
in 1840 was as follows:—Sarsaparilla, 12,000; oil of turtle-eggs, 6,000;
salt fish, 4,250; coffee, 1,000; copaiba, 1,000; tobacco, 720; cocoa,
600; heavy boards, 600; hammocks, 500; Brazil nuts, 350; pitch, tow,
hides, tapioca, &c., 1,203; total, 28,323. That the trade is increasing
will be seen by the exports of the town of Barra alone for the year 1850,
the value of which in dollars was as follows: Salt-fish, 7,001; Brazil
nuts, 5,203; sarsaparilla, 3,144; oil of turtle-eggs, 1,818; piasaba,
1,802[64]; ropes, 896; cocoa, 631; hammocks, 785; coffee, 474; tobacco,
616; planks, 250; Brazilian nutmegs, 100[65]; copaiba, hides, tow, &c.,
304; total, 22,975. It will be seen that the exports of Barra alone in
1850 were not in value far below those of the whole province in 1840. It
is probable that the value of the imports is nearly double that of the
exports, so that the trade of Barra with Pará may fairly be estimated at
£15,000 per annum.
The population of Barra in 1848 was 3,848 persons; the marriages in the
year had been 115, the births 250, and the deaths 25. The number of
inhabited houses was 470, so that upon an average of five persons to each
family, there must be nearly two families to every house; but 234 of
the population were slaves, and probably the children exceed the adults
in a greater proportion than the usual ratio of three to two. The Rio
Negro, opposite the town, is a mile and a half wide, and very beautiful.
It is navigable for almost any draught as far as Rio Maraya, a distance
of about 400 miles; there the rapids commence, and the further ascent
must be made in canoes. A few miles above Barcellos is the mouth of the
river Quiuni, which is known to run nearly up to the Yapurá; and nearly
opposite to San Isabel, two days journey from Barcellos, is the mouth
of the Jurubashea, which also runs up to within a very short distance
of the same river. Between these rivers the country is very low, and is
often inundated; it is from this place that the Brazilian nutmegs are
brought. Just above San Isabel great quantities of Brazil nuts are grown,
and a little further up is the mouth of the Cababuri, where the finest
sarsaparilla is produced. Cocoa of very superior quality is produced in
abundance about San Carlos, at the mouth of the Cassiquiari, which is the
frontier port of Venezuela. Most of the vessels which ply both on the Rio
Negro and the Orinoco are built at this place, the Cassiquiari forming a
natural canal connecting those two rivers. Lieutenant Herndon calculates
that a flat-bottomed iron-steamer, constructed to pass the rapids, would
make seventy-five miles a day against the current on the Rio Negro, and
125 miles a day with the current on the Orinoco. The distance from Barra
to San Carlos is about 660 miles, from thence to the Orinoco 180 miles,
from the junction of the Cassiquiari and the Orinoco to Angostura 780
miles, and from Angostura to the mouth of the Orinoco 250 miles. The
voyage between Barra and the mouth of the last-named river might thus
be made by such a vessel in 19½ days, allowing time to take in wood and
receive and discharge cargo; and a canal cut through the isthmus of
Tuamini would shorten the voyage by five days.[66]
The Rio Branco, the principal tributary of the Negro, is navigable for
large craft for about 300 miles from its mouth, but from thence it is
interrupted by rapids, only passable by flat-bottomed boats. Its banks
are very thickly wooded below the rapids, but above them the country
is a wide plain, which affords pasturage to immense herds of cattle.
The downward passage from San Joachim, near the sources of the river,
to Barra, a distance of 500 miles, may be made in twelve days; but the
ascent is very tedious, owing to the rapids and the strong north-easterly
winds.
Scarcely any attempt at regular cultivation has yet been made in any
part of Amazonas; but the natural productions of its teeming soil are
numerous as they are varied and valuable. The forests contain many trees
which afford solid and durable timber, and others that furnish excellent
cabinet woods, among which may be mentioned the beautiful _muirapinima_,
or tortoise-shell wood. There are numerous plants, unknown in Europe,
famous for their medicinal uses; and others which produce valuable
resins and oils. Wild cotton, with a fine glossy fibre, like silk, grows
abundantly, and is used at Guayaquil to stuff mattresses. Some silk
manufacturers in France, to whom specimens of this cotton were sent by
Mr. Clay, the United States chargé d’affaires at Lima, thought that,
mixed with silk, a cheap and pretty fabric might be wove from it.
Santarem, a mile above the mouth of the Tapajos, which is there a mile
and a half wide, is the largest town in the province after Pará. In 1849
the population was 6,768, the number of marriages 32, of births 289, of
deaths 42; but in this return is included the inhabitants of a large
surrounding district. Lieut. Herndon estimated the population of the
town alone at about 2,000. There is a church, and two or three primary
schools. The situation is picturesque, and there are many agreeable rides
in the environs. It is a thriving town, as is shown by the increase
in the exports between 1843 and 1846. For three months of the former
year the quantity of cocoa exported was 12,808 arrobas, and in the same
period of 1846 it was 19,940 arrobas. Sarsaparilla increased from 665 to
4,836 arrobas, pitch from 64 to 933, tobacco from 499 to 3,352, cloves
from 226 to 998, cotton from 24 to 226, oil of copaiba from 427 pots to
3,056 pots, and oil of turtle-eggs from 420 to 1,628 pots. Hides and
piasaba rope appear in the list for the first time in 1846, the number
of the former exported being 664. The trade in farina had considerably
decreased, probably owing to the increased importation of flour from
the United States. The trade between Santarem and Pará is carried on in
schooners of about a hundred tons, of which there were five or six lying
off the town when Mr. Herndon was there. The average passage downward is
thirteen, and upward twenty-five days.
From Santarem to Itaituba, a distance of about 200 miles, the Tapajos
is navigable for large vessels, though the current is very strong; but
above the latter place the ascent can be made only by boats, as there are
fifteen or twenty rapids to pass, where the boats have to be unloaded,
and the cargoes carried round on the backs of the crew. At one or two of
the rapids the boat itself has to be hauled over the land. The voyage to
the head of navigation on the Rio Preto occupies about two months. From
this point the cargoes are carried on the backs of mules to Diamantino,
a distance of fifteen miles, and from thence to Cuiaba, the capital of
the rich province of Matto Grosso, a further distance of ninety miles.
In 1850 a nearer route was discovered, by ascending the Arinos, below
the mouth of the Preto, and employing oxen to drag the boat eighteen
miles to the river Cuiaba, which is navigable thence to the town of that
name; but, for some reason or other, the trade is still carried on by the
old route. Cuiaba receives from Santarem salt, iron, wines, arms, and
earthenware, which it pays for with diamonds, gold-dust, and hides. M.
Alphonse M. de Lincourt, who ascended the Tapajos a few years since, says
that the forests, which extend from its banks far away on both sides,
are inhabited by hostile Indians, who paint and tattoo themselves, and
wear caps of feathers, and collars and bracelets of beads, shells, and
jaguars’ teeth. The Mundrucus, the most warlike tribe of the Amazon,
number from fifteen to twenty thousand warriors, and are the terror of
all the other tribes.
Ninety miles below Santarem is the village of Prainha, situate on a green
eminence on the left bank of the Amazon, with a population of about 500.
Fifty-five miles below this place is the mouth of the little river Parú,
our only knowledge of which is derived from the Indians, who report that
the country through which it flows produces sarsaparilla and cloves, but
that its current is very strong, its course broken by rapids, and the
Indians who live on its banks are hostile. Seventy miles below the mouth
of the river, and on the right bank, is the village of Gurupá, with a
population of 300, and a small trade in caoutchouc. Near this place is
the mouth of the Xingù, of which very little is known; but the municipal
judge of Porto de Moz, near its mouth, who met Mr. Herndon at the house
of the military commandant of Gurupá, informed that gentleman that it was
obstructed by rapids within four days’ journey from its mouth, and that
boats could not ascend far up on account of the hostility of the Indian
tribes on its banks.
Thirty-five miles below Gurupá the Amazon spreads out to a width of
nearly 150 miles, but it is divided into numerous channels by a multitude
of islands, the principal of which is Marajó, which contains about
10,000 square miles, and occupies about the middle of the river. The
village of Breves, on this island, exports annually to Pará about 3,000
arrobas of caoutchouc: it has a church and several shops, and has a
thriving appearance. Three days’ sailing lower down is the mouth of
the Tocantins, which falls into the Bay of Limoeiro, a deep and wide
indentation of the right bank of the Amazon. The Tocantins, according
to M. Castelnau, who descended it in 1846, is an almost continuous
succession of cataracts and rapids; but by unloading the boats at three
places, and dragging them with ropes, it can be ascended as high as Porto
Imperial, the voyage to which place from Pará occupies from four to five
months, but, owing to the fall in the river, the downward voyage may be
performed in from twenty-five to thirty days.
The opening of new markets to commercial enterprise must always
tend to increase the prosperity of the countries concerned, and the
free navigation of the Amazon has become a question of the greatest
importance. According to General Villamil, the Secretary of State of
the republic of Equador, the Pastaça is navigable nearly up to Quito,
and nothing is wanting but the removal of the restrictions which have
unwisely been placed upon the navigation of the Amazon to enable the
merchants of Europe and the United States to send the manufactured
goods of their respective countries to the very foot of the Andes, and
take back in exchange the raw produce with which the Atlantic slopes of
those mountains so largely abound. But because the mouth of the river is
within Brazil, she once persisted in shutting out New Grenada, Equador,
Bolivia,[67] and Peru from the advantages which the Creator, in rolling
its broad stream through their fertile plains and teeming valleys,
intended they should enjoy. The reciprocal interests of all nations now
imperatively demand that the barrier which these restrictions present to
the progress of civilization in the interior of South America should be
removed. One of the first results of the opening up of the vast regions
watered by the Amazon and its tributaries to Anglo-Saxon enterprise would
be a large influx of immigrants, and this is precisely what is wanted
to develope the boundless natural resources of those countries.[68]
Brazil is alive to the necessity. Persons unacquainted with the country,
forming their opinion from other tropical regions, are apt to conclude
that the climate is unhealthy, but this is very far from being the case.
Similarity of latitude by no means produces similarity of climate; for
England and Labrador are under the same parallel, but how different the
climates of the two countries. The elevation of a country is a better
means of estimating its climate than its latitude, and the extent of wood
and water have also to be taken into account. The province of Caxamarca
which is watered by the Peruvian tributaries of the Amazon, is one of
the most healthy portions of the globe. Mr. Edwards, who, as already
observed, ascended the Amazon in 1846, and resided some time at Pará,
says:—
‘It seems singular that, directly under the equator, where,
through a clear atmosphere, the sun strikes vertically upon the
earth, the heat should be less oppressive than in the latitude
of New York; this is owing to several causes. The days are but
twelve hours long, and the earth does not become so intensely
heated as where they are sixteen. The vast surface of water
constantly cools the air by its evaporation, and removes the
irksome dryness that, in temperate regions, renders a less
degree of heat insupportable. And, finally, the constant winds
blowing from the sea refresh and invigorate the system.’
He adds that the temperature is so equable, that the climate is
peculiarly favourable to health, that no form of epidemic disease is
known, and that the average duration of life is probably as high as in
New York. The salubrity of the climate,[69] therefore, the fertility of
the soil, its mineral riches, and the number and length of its navigable
rivers, combine to render the region watered by the Amazon and its
tributaries a most eligible field for the emigrant.[70] All that the
country wants is increased facilities for commerce and for developing its
immense natural resources, and these would be given to it by the opening
of the Amazon and immigration.[71]
ON BRAZIL: ITS CLIMATE AND PEOPLE.
BY ROBERT DUNDAS, M.D.,
PHYSICIAN TO THE NORTHERN HOSPITAL, LIVERPOOL; FORMERLY SURGEON TO
HER MAJESTY’S 60TH REGIMENT; AND FOR TWENTY-THREE YEARS MEDICAL
SUPERINTENDENT OF THE BRITISH HOSPITAL, BAHIA.
Climate of Brazil.—Its salubrity.—Proofs of, causes of,
objections to.—Northern, southern, and central provinces.
—Equability of temperature.—Heat.—Humidity.—Rain.—Winds.—
Electricity.—Hail.—Ice.—Tropical heat and light.—Influence on
Europeans.—In health and in disease.—Acclimatization.—Increase
of certain diseases.—Others modified.—Insanity.—Yellow
fever.—Its probable disappearance.—Ancient writers on
the epidemics of Brazil: Rocha Pita, Père Labat, Fereira
da Rosa.—Physical, social, and moral condition of the
Brazilians.—Habits and religion of the people.—Prophylactic
measures.
In a publication like the present, any elaborate disquisition on the
climate and people of Brazil would be obviously misplaced, at the same
time that a brief notice of these important subjects should not be
altogether omitted. The Brazilian empire placed chiefly in the southern
hemisphere, extending from 4° 20″ N. lat. to 33° 55″ S., is widely
intersected by lakes rivers and mountains, and bounded by the South
Atlantic, by the highest mountains, and by the two most magnificent
rivers in the world: it enjoys, beyond dispute, one of the finest
climates of the globe, and may be fairly designated as ‘the Italy’ of
the New World. The heat, intense at Pará on the equator, moderates as
we approach the central provinces of the empire, and becomes altogether
European on reaching the southern regions of Rio Grande and the Uruguay;
whilst the climate of the entire line of coast is tempered by a cool
and never-failing breeze. It should however be borne in mind that
climate cannot be justly measured by latitude, and that we must, in all
instances, take into consideration the position and the elevation of the
district, the nature and surface of the soil, and its consequent capacity
for the absorption and the radiation of heat. First, then, as regards
heat, which may be termed the distinctive element of the climate of
Brazil.
The mean heat of Brazil ranges from 88° to 81° F., according to the
different seasons of the year.
RIO GRANDE DO SUL.—The summer temperature is 87° to 88°; the winter, 40°
to 44°.
SAINT CATHERINE.—The summer heat never passes 90° in the sun; and
descends to 54° in winter—June and July.
SAINT PAUL.—Mean temperature, 72°.
MINAS GERAES.—Max., 84° summer; min., 54° winter.
RIO JANEIRO.—The mean temperature of 30 years was 73°: in December, the
max., 89½°; min., 70°; mean, 79°; in July (coldest month), max., 79°;
min., 66°; mean, 73½°.
BAHIA.—Summer: 74° morning; noon, 80°; evening, 75½°.
PERNAMBUCO.—Summer: Varies from 77° to 86°, with a slight decline in the
rainy season.
CEARA.—95° in the hottest months; 83° in the coldest.
MARANHAM.—St. Louis reaches 93°; and Pará, on the line, maintains about
the same temperature.
The hottest period of the day, on the sea coast, is about 11 a.m., when
the sea-breeze commonly sets in and moderates the temperature. The
thermometer ranges in the northern provinces on the coast, at midday, 75°
to 77° from March to September, and 77° to 85° from September to March;
whilst at forty to fifty miles inland a high range of temperature almost
invariably prevails. The barometrical variations are less extensive than
those of the thermometer; but the range of the hygrometer is considerable
in the southern provinces. The object, however, of the present work
prohibits our entering minutely on these questions, or on the geology
of Brazil; and we must therefore refer our readers to the scientific
labours of M.M. Eschwège, Sellow, Spix and Martius, and Saint Hilaire,
and especially to the valuable and more recent investigations of M.
Pissis, who has explored the country from 13° to 26° south latitude, and
40° to 52° west longitude, including in this vast polygon the provinces
of Minas Geraes, St. Paul, Rio de Janeiro, Espirito Santo, and Bahia.[72]
The observations of Herschel, Humboldt and others, prove that both heat
and cold, up to 34th degree of latitude, are much more moderate in the
southern than in the northern hemisphere; in addition to which, Brazil,
covered by extensive forests and consequent moisture, the surface
clothed with perpetual verdure, from which the solar heat is but feebly
reflected, its skies ever bright and a never-failing breeze, constitute a
climate of unequalled mildness in any other region of the tropical world.
HUMIDITY: This grand and universal source of vegetable life in high
latitudes is infinitely more detrimental to man than even the highest
solar heat. Humidity, indeed, is the great modifier of all climates, and
constitutes the chief element of their insalubrity. The hygrometrical
variations of Brazil have been studied by numerous observers, amongst
whom the most accurate as well as the most recent is M. Pissis, and to
his conclusions we shall briefly allude, confining ourselves to the
climate of the capital, Rio de Janeiro, which, notwithstanding its clear
atmosphere, holds in solution just double the quantity of aqueous vapour
sustained by the sombre, foggy air of Paris! a fact explained however by
the high temperature of the one, as compared with the low temperature of
the other, the capacity of air for retaining moisture being in nearly
exact proportion to its temperature. M. Pissis arrives at the following
results:—
1. From May to October, when the air is serene, the quantity of vapour
varies little throughout the day. During the other months, the minimum
corresponds with sunrise, and attains its maximum about 4 p.m.; but the
variations are trifling.
2. That on rainy days the air is always near its point of saturation,
though the amount of vapour dissolved little exceeds that of the
preceding clear weather: this is due to the lower temperature of the
rainy days.
3. That humidity increases from the month of June to February, when
it attains its maximum, which is about double that of June; from this
maximum it declines until it reaches its former amount in June and July.
4. That the absorbing power of the air is lowest at sunrise, and attains
its maximum about 2 p.m., the hottest period of the day. In like manner
as regards the year, it augments in proportion as the sun advances to the
southern tropic, and attains its maximum in December and January, and
then declines until the cloudy months of June and July.
RAIN: The wet season sets in at different epochs along the coast of
Brazil, and is subject to great variation. At RIO the rains commonly
commence in March, and last till September; at ST. PAUL, in October
and November, and continue till April; whilst at ST. CATHERINE the
four seasons are, as in Europe, pretty distinctly defined—July and
the following three months wet, cloudy, and boisterous. These latter
provinces, placed just beyond the Tropic of Capricorn, enjoy the
advantages of a tropical climate without its inconveniences. RIO GRANDE
DO SUL is wet and stormy in the winter months, but otherwise healthy. In
the provinces north of RIO, including BAHIA and PERNAMBUCO, the rains
set in commonly about the end of March, and continue until August;
and as we follow the coast to the equator, including the provinces of
CEARA, MARANHAM, and PARÁ, storms are frequent, and the rains commence
in December or January; August, September, October, and November being
the dryest or summer months. The foregoing may be taken as the rule,
but the exceptions are numerous; and the winter of the coast does not
extend beyond 100 miles into the interior, which is watered, chiefly, by
frequent storms.
WINDS: The general winds of tropical regions are eastern; and in Brazil
the prevailing currents along the coast, from St. Catherine to Maranham,
are E.S.E., and S.S.E., during the southern, and E.N.E. and N.N.E.
during the northern monsoon; subject however to much irregularity. The
land breeze sets in from 9 to 11 p.m., and lasts till morning, increasing
in force and regularity as we approach the equator; and its strength is
generally in proportion to that of the sea breeze which precedes it. As
in other tropical countries, the sea breeze prevails more in the hot,
and the land breeze in the cold season of the year; they favour the
appearance of certain maladies and check others, and constitute, after
heat and moisture the chief element in the determination of disease—the
salubrity of any country depending more, perhaps, on its winds than on
its latitude.
ELECTRICITY: All tropical regions are distinguished by intensity of
electrical phenomena, and Brazil forms no exception to the law. Réaumur
maintains, and we believe justly, that a difference of 5° in the
thermometer decidedly affects the nervous system; and that all living
organisms are powerfully influenced by electrical changes no close
observer in equatorial regions can for an instant question. In Brazil,
the most intense variations are noticed about the change of the monsoons,
and the storms of lightning and thunder originating in the great chain of
the Organ Mountains, which burst over Rio, are grand and awful beyond
the possibility of description; whilst the profound influence of these
changes on individuals is strongly pourtrayed in the moral and physical
prostration of some, and the high nervous excitement of others. Saussure
has shown that an excess of watery saturation diminishes atmospheric
pressure; and the effect of certain conditions of the atmosphere on the
human economy in tropical climates cannot for a moment be denied: for
example, when the weather is wet and cloudy, the sun obscured, and the
air calm; all animal life languishes. The Brazilians distinguish this
state of atmosphere by a particular term, ‘mormaço,’ and during its
continuance, especially in summer, the mental and bodily powers of man
seem alike paralysed, and are only restored to activity when the rain has
descended and the breeze resumed its power over the close and stagnant
atmosphere. Here electricity plays an important part. In connection with
this subject, it is remarkable that Brazil should have hitherto escaped
those formidable earthquakes which have so often desolated the fairest
regions of South America. FOGS are rare in Brazil, and seen only in the
morning, on low and marshy grounds, and in the neighbourhood of rivers
and lakes. HAIL often falls in Minas, St. Paul, and the south, and even
occasionally at Rio. ICE is sometimes met with at Rio Grande in the
winter, and even on the Organ Mountains, close to Rio, but never snow.
WATERSPOUTS have been, at long intervals, observed on the coast and in
the interior; the last of any importance was observed at San Marcos in
1823.
Based on the foregoing and other data, we shall now submit certain
general conclusions on the climate of Brazil, and its influence on the
human constitution in health and disease; these conclusions must be taken
as more especially referring to the seaboard and the large cities on the
coast; and the reader should bear in mind that some allowance must also
be made for the difference in position and latitude of the northern,
the southern, and the central provinces. We would further premise, that
these observations are founded on our own personal experience of nearly a
quarter of a century, and prior to the advent of the yellow fever which,
for the last four or five years, has infested the maritime cities of the
empire, and on which we shall presently offer some remarks.
The great characteristic of Brazil, as compared with other countries,
is the general equability of its climate, and which constitutes, in
fact, the chief element of its salubrity. This unparalleled uniformity
of temperature must be chiefly ascribed to the absence of high and
mountainous regions, and of all arid and sandy deserts, aided by the
genial influence of refreshing showers at all seasons of the year; it
is further maintained by the perpetual verdure of the country, and
by a cool, powerful, and never-failing monsoon, laden with moisture,
and sweeping along the entire line of coast direct from the Southern
Atlantic. Thus, even in the height of summer, the diurnal heat is rarely
found oppressive to the European, and the nights are almost invariably
serene and beautiful, and unattended with much deposition of dew,
especially in the northern and central provinces; so that the delightful
coolness of tropical moonlight may be enjoyed undisturbed by those
visions of fever and malaria which float before the imagination in less
favoured lands. If precautions be observed to avoid exposure to direct
currents of air, the windows of the sleeping chamber may also be left
open with impunity at all seasons of the year; an advantage that can
scarcely be over estimated in high latitudes, as disposing to sound and
refreshing sleep; which, more perhaps than any other influence enables
the European constitution to resist the deleterious effects of climate,
just as a succession of hot and sleepless nights invariably predisposes
the human system to be impressed by every tropical malady.
In proof of the singular salubrity of Brazil, we need only state that,
until within the last four years, although its provinces have been at
intervals visited by revolutions, wars, and famine, the country has
hitherto escaped from all those epidemic and endemic scourges—_yellow
fever_, _cholera_, _influenza_, _typhus_, and _dysentery_—which have
so frequently desolated other, and the fairest regions of the globe.
In this favoured land the solar heat proves scarcely less influential
and salutary to animal than to vegetable life; and years of subsequent
exhaustion can never entirely efface from the recollection of the
European sojourner the buoyancy of spirit, unclouded mind, and exquisite
appreciation of mere animal existence which marked the first years of his
residence in Brazil. These vivid sensations may be in part determined by
the novelty and splendour of a New World, its brilliant skies, perpetual
verdure, and the variety, luxuriance, and beauty of its vegetable
life; but they are chiefly due to the direct influence of the heat and
light of a tropical sun, supplying a new and powerful stimulus to the
performance of all the functions of animal and organic life. The medal,
unfortunately, has its reverse: this favourable condition of the animal
economy proves, as in vegetable life under similar circumstances, but
of limited duration; and from five to seven years may be set down as
the average period at which a tropical residence begins to affect the
European constitution to such an extent as to influence longevity or
injure health; the precise epoch being determined by the constitution,
occupation, predisposition, and habits of the individual. It should be
here stated that the month of April is that best suited to the stranger’s
arrival in Brazil, as affording time for his gradual acclimatisation
to the summer heat of December, January, and February; though we may
observe, and the fact is singular, that the European suffers but little
inconvenience from the highest temperature during the first years of his
residence, just as the Brazilian seldom complains of the winter cold on
his first arrival in Europe. The chief objection to the climate is, in
addition to high temperature, its great humidity; shown in the rapid
decomposition of all organized, and certain inorganic matter, the quick
oxidation of metals, deliquescence of salts, destruction of wood, &c.
&c.; and after a certain interval, the depression of moral and physical
energy in man. The deleterious effects of this condition of atmosphere
on the animal economy is happily tempered, if not entirely corrected in
Brazil, by the general equability of its climate, and the influence of
a cool and _never-failing breeze_, so that a stagnant, or even calm,
state of the atmosphere is almost entirely unknown. Were this otherwise,
the chief cities of Brazil inundated by the most offensive animal and
vegetable exhalations,[73] and with an almost total neglect of those
policial and sanatory regulations so essential to the public health in
other countries, would, we are satisfied, prove no less fatal to man than
the charnel houses of Africa and the West Indies.
In estimating, however, the influence of climate on the public health,
the moral and physical condition of the people demands especial
consideration. The Brazilian is in general well-formed, compact, and
of healthy organization, but not of athletic frame. His intellectual
faculties are acute, though little developed by cultivation. Descended
from European ancestors, he has still a considerable admixture of
African, and some native American blood. He is indolent by nature, and
indisposed for active exertion or industry; but he is protected against
the evil influence of the former on his health by a simple and abstemious
diet, and the injurious consequences of the latter to his social position
are obviated by the fact that the four great wants of the humbler classes
in Europe press but lightly on the Brazilian. Fuel he scarcely requires,
clothing but little; his primitive habitation is simply constructed, and
one day’s labour will amply provide for the moderate demands of the whole
week. With passions naturally quick, he is nevertheless placable; his
disposition is kindly; the future rarely disturbs him with its doubts,
or the past with its regrets: the struggles and vicissitudes of European
life are unknown. The contentions of party, the yearnings of ambition,
the bitterness of fanaticism, never disturb his repose; and after
gliding down the stream of time, unscathed by the tumultuous passions
and harassing cares which so frequently embitter the existence and
undermine the constitution of man in other countries, he meets at length
the inevitable doom, if not with philosophy, at least with resignation,
satisfied of his claims to eternal felicity in the confident assurance of
an infallible church.
From the preceding account of Brazil and its inhabitants, we would be
led to conclude, _à priori_, that disease would there assume a mild and
tractable character; and this inference we find fully borne out, until
within the last twenty years, by the medical and general history of the
country. Within the last thirty years, however, vast changes—moral,
social, and political—have been developed in Brazil, and it interests
alike the philosopher and the physician to mark how profoundly these
changes have already impressed and modified the manners, habits, and
diseases—nay, even the physiognomy of its people. After a brief struggle,
the establishment of Brazil as an independent empire was effected
in 1823; and since that epoch the country and its population have
undergone a series of remarkable and comprehensive political and social
changes. From the strict and simple forms of despotic government they
have passed, at a bound, to one almost of license; including household
suffrage, popular legislative assemblies (imperial and provincial),
open courts of law, trial by jury, local justices, and a national guard
elected on popular principles. This sudden and premature concession of
political privileges to a people yet in the infancy of civilization has
been naturally attended by great and numerous evils, mingled, it must
be admitted, with many and great advantages. In the intoxication of a
new-born freedom, the empire has committed numerous excesses; province
has been arrayed against province, in a succession of intestine broils;
the laws have been inefficiently or corruptly administered; and a lax
morality has but too generally pervaded the whole community. On the other
hand, an extensive and well-organized system of national education has
been established throughout the empire; the slumbering intellectual
powers of the nation have been aroused; wealth and intelligence
developed; political and military ambition awakened; commercial
enterprise created; agriculture revived; and of all those mighty powers
which move and mould societies, the controlling influence of religion has
alone remained stationary. The priesthood, deprived of wealth, power, and
influence, has utterly-lost its _prestige_, unless, perhaps, with the
very lowest classes of the community—a question of curious speculation as
regards the cause, and of vast importance as regards its future results
on the character and institutions of the Brazilian people. In addition to
the foregoing rapid transition of society into new forms and combinations
of social existence, we find the face of the country changed by the
march of civilization and agricultural improvement,—woods cleared, roads
opened, internal and external navigation developed, population largely
increased, and the great maritime cities of the empire assuming an
importance second to none, and superior to most, of the cities of the new
world.
Coeval with these great and rapidly advancing changes, we can already
discern some of those evils too commonly attendant on increased wealth,
luxury, and intelligence: anxieties, excesses, passions are largely
multiplied, and the medical observer cannot fail to distinguish, amongst
certain ranks of the hitherto contented and indolent Brazilians,
unequivocal traces of that premature ‘wear and tear,’ so strongly and
painfully characteristic of high civilization. It now only remains that
we should briefly notice the extent to which certain great classes of
disease have been influenced and modified by the preceding moral and
physical agencies. This is chiefly manifested in the increasing number
of cerebral and pulmonary maladies, and diseases of the heart and great
vessels. Insanity has also become much more frequent than formerly,
though still rare as compared with other nations; which, indeed, might
be inferred from the fact that the ‘Mad Doctor’ is a species of the
profession as yet unknown to Brazil. Suppurative inflammation of the
liver has increased, but of all the acute diseases, fevers have been the
most profoundly modified; they partake much more generally of the low,
or asthenic character, and assume the remittent and continued type, and
are greatly more fatal in their results than formerly. This naturally
brings us to the important question of the ‘yellow fever,’ which for the
last four or five years has ravaged the great maritime cities of the
empire. Its origin has given rise to the most conflicting views, amongst
the best observers;—for example, Dr. Pennell of Rio, and Dr. Paterson of
Bahia, both men of undoubted talent and great professional experience,
entertain precisely opposite opinions; the former contending for the
indigenous, the latter for the foreign origin of the disease; and both
offer cogent arguments and striking facts in support of these opposite
conclusions. The scope of this work does not admit of medical discussion,
yet as the facts observed by Dr. Pennell are highly important, and as
his conclusions entirely coincide with our own experience, we will
condense them here. Dr. Pennell states that for some years the fevers of
the country had been clearly changing their character, that the genuine
remittent had been little seen for three years; that it was replaced in
1847, ’48, and ’49, by a fever of its own class, popularly known as the
‘polka fever,’ but in reality a remittent; and that this fever was,
in its turn, superseded by the ‘yellow fever,’ a disease with similar
features: he adds the following words, ‘coincident with these and other
changes in the diseases of Brazil, the climate, in its broad features,
has altered strangely: thunder-storms, formerly of daily occurrence,
at a certain hour, during the summer, are now but seldom heard, &c.,’
and concludes, ‘that bilious remittent and yellow fever are essentially
the same disease,’—a proposition entirely in accordance with my own
experience in Brazil and other countries. The abettors of the foreign
origin of yellow fever insist that it was imported by a certain ship
from New Orleans into Bahia, and thence diffused throughout the empire;
whilst the facts adduced by Dr. Pennell go far to establish, as already
stated, its indigenous parentage. In support of this opinion we have the
strong additional fact that, for the last forty years, there has existed
uncontrolled by any efficient quarantine laws, an extensive intercourse
with the United States, Africa, and the West Indies, the very hot-beds of
yellow fever; and yet, up to 1849, Brazil remained perfectly healthy. Can
we then in reason believe, if the disease be deemed really importable,
that the maritime cities of Brazil could, under such circumstances, have
escaped infection for a period of forty years? It is moreover important
to know that several of the older writers, as Rocha Pita in 1666, Père
Labat in 1686, Fereira da Rosa in 1694, have recorded the appearance
of epidemics closely resembling the yellow fever, and which, after
persisting for some years and desolating several of the large cities
on the coast, finally passed away. Some seventy years ago, the capital
itself was visited by an epidemic fever no less fatal to the population
than that from which it now suffers.
From the above and other facts, we are firmly convinced that the yellow
fever which now afflicts Brazil is not an _imported_ disease, but owes
its origin to certain obscure atmospheric disturbances, embracing
variations of temperature, hygrometric influence, electrical tension,
atmospheric pressure, &c.; and judging from the previous history of
Brazil, we believe that these unfavourable conditions are but temporary
and will pass away, and that the country will again resume its former
character of unparalleled salubrity amongst the tropical regions of the
globe.[74]
PROPHYLACTIC MEASURES.—A few words on the precautions to be adopted by
temporary as well as permanent residents in Brazil may perhaps prove
useful. In the first place, all the ordinary hygienic laws should be
attended to; the habitation selected should be in a dry locality,
on a moderate elevation, and well ventilated, but at the same time
protected against strong currents of wind; lengthened or direct exposure
to the sun’s rays should be avoided, and all sudden vicissitudes of
temperature guarded against. Loose waistcoats without sleeves, of fine
flannel, should be worn next the skin, during the day, but never slept
in; sleeping in the open air or unprotected, should be avoided. After
exposure to rain, the clothes should be immediately changed; after
exhaustion by exercise, or from any other cause, collapse or chill must
be carefully guarded against, by avoiding for a time exposure to the cool
breeze or by taking some slight stimulant, as coffee, wine, or a little
spirits. Spirits, otherwise, should be altogether avoided, and wine
resorted to only at dinner, in great moderation, and by those accustomed
to its use. Generally, animal food should be used only at dinner; no
supper; and no stimulating drinks, _however diluted_, should be taken
between meals. Ripe fruit may be used before breakfast, and after the
middle of the day, but never after the principal meal. Moderation IN
EVERY SENSE must be observed. When compelled to go out early in the
morning, the individual should take some support. In warm and swampy
districts, over fatigue, or prolonged exposure to the sun, cannot be too
carefully avoided, and the use of quinine, in moderate doses, should
never be neglected; the cold bath, or cold sponging, every morning on
getting out of bed, should be constantly resorted to. The sleeping
apartments should be cool and well ventilated, but not exposed to strong
currents of air.
Of all the above principles, refreshing sleep is the most efficient
preservative to the European constitution against the inroads of tropical
disease; but unless the above rules are pretty closely observed, sound
and refreshing sleep in equatorial latitudes is unattainable. The
_morale_ must never be lost sight of, and a calm and cheerful disposition
of mind should be especially encouraged. The above prophylactic measures
apply with equal or greater force to the European seaman on arrival
in Brazil. In addition, awnings by day and by night are absolutely
indispensable to health. Fatigue and dockyard duties, and watering
expeditions, should never be permitted during the mid-day heat, nor
should the seaman ever be permitted to sleep out of his vessel. The high
importance of this latter injunction will be obvious from the fact that a
difference of _fifty degrees_ will be found often to obtain between the
heat of a mid-day tropical sun and the air near the earth’s surface at
sun-rise. Surely, then, we need not evoke the phantom Malaria to account
for the sudden supervention of malignant or fatal disease in seamen, or
others, exposed during sleep to such great and sudden transitions of
temperature, especially when their animal and organic powers have been
depressed by previous exertion and profuse perspiration under a tropical
sun, aided, too often, by intemperance and other excesses.
Nec Deus intersit nisi dignus vindice nodus.
Finally, we are profoundly convinced, by long and large observation,
that if the foregoing principles are attended to, the most formidable
localities of southern climates may be encountered with impunity, and
especially as regards that dreaded, but visionary enemy, Malaria or marsh
poison.[75]
RIO DE LA PLATA.
The sea-like Plata, to whose dread expanse,
Continuous depth, and wondrous length of course,
Our floods are rills. With unabated force,
In silent dignity they sweep along;
And traverse realms unknown, and blooming wilds,
And fruitful deserts, worlds of solitude!
Where the sun smiles and seasons teem in vain,
Unseen, and unenjoyed. Forsaking these,
O’er peopled plains they fair-diffusive flow;
And many a nation feed; and circle safe,
In their soft bosom, many a happy isle;
The seat of blameless Pan, yet undisturbed
By Christian crimes and Europe’s cruel sons.
Thus pouring on they proudly seek the deep,
Whose vanquished tide, recoiling from the shock,
Yields to this liquid weight of half the globe;
And Ocean trembles for his green domain.
But what avails this wondrous waste of wealth,
This gay profusion of luxurious bliss?
This pomp of Nature? what their balmy meads,
Their powerful herbs, and Ceres void of pain,
By vagrant birds dispersed, and wafting winds?
What their unplanted fruits? What the cool draughts,
The ambrosial food, rich gums, and spicy health,
Their forests yield? Their toiling insects what?
Their silky pride, and vegetable robes?
Whate’er the humanizing Muses teach;
The god-like wisdom of the tempered breast;
Progressive truth; the patient force of thought;
Investigation calm, whose silent powers
Command the world; the LIGHT that leads to HEAVEN;
Kind equal rule; the government of laws,
And all-protecting Freedom, which alone
Sustains the name and dignity of Man;
These are not theirs.—THOMSON.
[Illustration: SIR WM. GORE OUSELEY, K.C.B.—LATE HER MAJESTY’S MINISTER
PLENIPOTENTIARY TO THE STATES OF LA PLATA, AND FORMERLY CHARGE D’AFFAIRES
AT THE COURT OF BRAZIL.]
NOTE TO THE PORTRAIT.—The sketch in the preceding page is copied from
an early likeness, but can hardly be considered an accurate one now. In
a book of this nature, which owes much of whatever attractiveness it
may possess to his permission to avail of the pictorial and literary
memoranda of his prolonged sojourn in South America, and especially in
a chapter on the River Plate, in whose affairs he played so important a
part in the chief crisis of its history, full biographical details of Sir
W. Gore Ouseley’s career may reasonably be anticipated. For such purpose,
however, the writer has access only to the ordinary data to be found in
works of public reference; nor, if others of a private nature were open,
would it, perhaps, be in the best taste to insert them here, as they
would necessarily be supposed to be used with an unduly partial bias.
Without entering at length into details more fitted for a genealogical
work than for our pages, it will suffice to say that, previous to the
sixteenth century, the Ouseley family was allied to several of the most
ancient and honourable patrician names of this country, and thus their
ancestry can be traced to a remote period. The Irving family, into
which the late Sir W. Ouseley (father of Sir W. Gore Ouseley) married,
is allied to the Douglases, the Rollos, and many other noble Scotch
families. Referring to ‘Burke’s Baronetage,’ and ‘Landed Gentry,’ ‘Dod’s
Knightage’ for 1854, and other cognate authorities, we find that Sir W.
G. Ouseley is descended from an ancient Shropshire family who settled in
Northamptonshire in 1571, the then head of the family, Richard Ouseley
Ouseley, having received from Queen Elizabeth, under whom he was a judge,
a grant of the estate of Courteen Hall, in that county, with many of
the most eminent families in which the Ouseleys were connected, such
as the Actons of Alderham, as also the Barons Giffard of Brinsfield,
and Barons Lestrange of Blackmere.[76] Nicholas Ouseley, a relative of
Richard Ouseley Ouseley, was envoy to the courts of Spain and Portugal,
and some of his correspondence with Sir Francis Walsingham is preserved
among the Harleian MSS. in the British Museum. John, son of Richard
Ouseley, was knighted by James I. in 1603, for his gallant conduct during
the war in Ireland with the turbulent Earl of Tyrone. The diplomatic
services of Sir John are mentioned in a subsequent note, and by Purchas
in his ‘Pilgrims.’ Sir Richard Ouseley, his son, held the commission of
major in the royalist army during the civil war between Charles I. and
the Parliament, and in consequence of debts incurred in support of the
royal cause he was obliged to sell Courteen Hall in 1650. The family then
settled in Ireland, where they held Ballinasloe Castle, and afterwards
Dunmore Castle, in the county of Galway, which latter remained in the
family until the death of Major Ralph Ouseley, grandfather of Sir William
Gore Ouseley. The major was a great antiquarian, and had a very fine
collection of Irish antiquities, MSS., &c. His eldest son, Sir William
Ouseley, served in the 8th Dragoons during the unfortunate campaign in
Holland, where the British forces were commanded by the Duke of York;
but after attaining the rank of major, he abandoned war for the more
congenial pursuit of literature, and became a member of most of the
learned and scientific societies of Europe. He published ‘Travels in
Persia,’ (to which country he accompanied his brother, Sir Gore Ouseley,
in 1810,) and many other works on Eastern antiquities and literature, in
which he has left a mine of Oriental and classical learning that will
always remain a monument of his great industry and talent. Sir G. Ouseley
was the first ambassador accredited from the court of St. James’s to that
of Persia, though Sir Harford Jones, Sir John Malcolm, and others, had
previously been sent by the East India Company to that country. He was
chairman of the Oriental Translation Society, to whose papers, and those
of the Asiatic Society, he was a contributor. Sir William, who married
the daughter of the late Lieutenant-Colonel Irving, (son of General Sir
Paulus E. Irving, governor-general of Canada,) left a numerous family,
the eldest of whom, Sir William Gore Ouseley, entered the diplomatic
service at a very early age. He was attached to the mission at Stockholm
in 1817, and in 1825 was appointed paid attaché at Washington. While in
that capital, he married the daughter of Mr. Van Ness, formerly governor
of the state of Vermont, and subsequently the United States envoy at
Madrid. He was next appointed acting secretary of legation at Brussels
during Sir R. Adair’s special embassy, and subsequently at Rio Janeiro,
at which court he represented our government for several years as chargé
d’affaires. In 1844 Sir William was named minister plenipotentiary at
Buenos Ayres, and in 1845 special minister to the states of La Plata.
In tardy acknowledgment of his important diplomatic services in South
America, he received the Order of the Bath in 1852. He is the author of
‘Remarks on the Slave Trade,’ ‘South American Sketches,’ and several
political pamphlets. We cannot forbear quoting a few lines from a
critique on his ‘Remarks on the Statistics and Political Institutions
of the United States,’ in the ‘Quarterly Review’ for December, 1832,
which, although opposed to the views taken in that periodical of the
United States and their institutions, had the fairness to say,—‘We have
no desire to be severely critical on the _coup d’essai_ of a young
author—one, we believe, of a family in which diplomatic ability may be
called an hereditary possession.’ Some facts in connection with Sir
William’s memorable mission to the River Plate will be found a few pages
further on, as also in the notice of Rosas, whose enmity our minister had
the honour of provoking in an eminent degree, by firmly protecting the
persons and interests of his countrymen, and acting up to the spirit of
his instructions. How deservedly he did so will be seen when we come to
speak of one, at least, of those transactions of which the guilt has been
incontestibly fixed upon the ex-Dictator within the last few months, but
for accusing him of which at the time, our unsuspecting innocents at home
deemed the British representative very culpable indeed, or, at least,
very troublesome. Doubtless, so he was, as compared with certain of his
predecessors and successors in the same post, who quietly winked at the
atrocities of the despot without appealing to England against their
continuance.