"
v
MF.JMjM ... . " .
- . v .. : - ; I
JDeutcfc to politics, literature, Agriculture, StUxxtc, itlaralitu, ani encral 3fatclU$jctirc.
VOL 15.
STROUDSBURG, MONROE COUNTY, PA. JANUARY 4, 1855.
NOT?,
Published by Theodore Schoch.
TGRMS Two dollars per annum in ndvancc Two
aolUra anJ n quarter, half yearly and if not paid bc-
jote the end oi the year, i w o aouars ami n nan.
N tthediwton 0eulijjl,arrearaEc are paid,
n!?AdVeiti"e
except
lines) will be inserted three weeks lor one dollar, and
twenty-five cents for ererv subsequent insertion. The
chsrge for one and three insertion the same. A liber
al discount made to yearly advertisers.
rCT-All letters Addressed to the Editor must be post
paid. JOB PRINTING.
Having a general assortment of large, elegant, plain
and ornamental Type, we are prepared
to execute every description of
Cards, Circulars, nill Heads, Notes, Blank Receipts
Justices, Legal and other Blanks. Pamphlets, Ac
printed with neatness and despatch, on reasonable
terms,
AT THE OFFICE OF
THE JSFFEROKfAX.
From demon's Pictorial.
ELDORADO.
NO. XII.
BY TnOMAS BULFIXCII.
Valley of the Amazon, Continued.
On the 4th of July the travellers ar
rived at the great mining station of Cerro
Pasco. The weather was so cold that the
lieutenant, not being quite well, sat by the
view is obtained of,the whole. Vast pits,
called Taj os. surroud this hill, from
which many millions of silver have been
taken; and the miners are still burrow
ing, like so many rabbits, in their bottoms
and Eides. The bill is penetrated in ev
ery direction, and it would not be pur
prising if it should cave in, any day, and
bury mcnyin its ruins. The falling in
of mines is of frequent occurrence; one
caved in some years ago, and buried three
hundred persons. -An English company
undertook mining here in 1825, and fail
ed. Vait sums have been ?pent in con
structing tunnels and employing steam
machinery to draiu the mines, and the
-parties till persevere, encouraged by dis
covering that tiTe lower they penetrate
the richer aro the ores. The yield of
there mines is about two million dollars
worth a year, which is eqnal to the yield
of all other mines of Peru together.
The lieutenant found the leading pco-
.ple here, as well as at Tarma, enthusias
tic on the subject of opening the Amazon
to foreign commerce. "It will be a great
day for them," they Bay, "when the A
mericans get near them with a steamet."
On the 14th of July they arrived at a
spot of niBrshy ground, from which trickl
ed in tiny streams the "waters, wbich u
niting with others, swell till they form
ihe broad river Huallaga, one of the head
tributaries of the Amazon. Their de
scent was now rapid, and the next day
the' found themselves on a sudden among
fruit trees, with a patch of sugar-cane on
the banks of the stream. The sudden
transition from rugged mountain peaks,
-where there was no cultivation, to a trop
ical vegetation, was marvellous. Two
guiles further on, they came in sight of a
pretty village, almoft bidden in the luxu
riant vegetation. The whole valley here
becomes very beautiful. The land, which
is a rich river bottom, is laid off into al
ternate fieldH of sugar cane and alfalfa.
The blended green and yellow of this
growth, divided by willows, intersppried
with fruit-trees, and broken into wavy
lines by the serpentine course of the riv
er, presented a scene which filled them
with pleasurable emotion, and indicated
that they had exchanged a semi-barbarous
for a civilized society.
The party had no occasion to complain
of want of hospitality in any part of their
route, but here they seemed to have en
tered upon a country where that virtue
flourished most vigorously, having at its
command the means of gratifying it.
The owner of the hacienda of Quicacan,
an English gentleman named Dyer, re
ceived the lieutenant and his large party
exactly as it it were a matter ot course
and as if they bad quite as much right to
occupy his house as they had to enter an
inn. The next day they had an oppor-
tunity to compare with the Englishman
a Jine specimen of the Peruvian country
centleman. Col. Lucar is thus decsribed.
'He is probabaly the richest and most
influential man in the province. He
seems to have been tho father of husband
ry in these parts, and is the very type of
the old landed proprietor of Virginia,
irho has lived upon his estates, and at-
fire all day, trying to keep himself warm, j "u"u uiaL tuvm tuu ue. ruer oi mo governor and paying the tamca might ot its turbiu watersas they
The town is a most curious looking place, A ncre falvs our havener, -tue iuc- aoove price, and supporting the peons on cut away its banks, tore down the gigan- dians recog
entirely honey-combed, and having the erna8 or nre-fly d tins country. It is a the way . The town is the most import- tic denizens of the forest, and built up to appoint
months of mines, some of them two or flua ol uceue, carrying iwo wnne ngnts ant in tne province ot Mamas. The in- islands, it was awful. I was reminded of, and other o
thrpp vnrds in diameter, ennino- everv- 1 1D 113 c?c?j or ratDer 10 c placos where habitants are called civilized, but hav.e no our Mississippi at its topmost flood, but confine in
wWr.. Frorr the ton of a hill the best llieeycs of insfects generally are, and a red idea of what wo call comfort in their do- this stream lacked the charm which the priests, ord
tended personally to their cultivation. cape more civilized travellers. One morn
Seated at the head of his table, with his ing they commenced paddling with great
hat on, to keep the draft from his head, vigor, for they said they heard monkeys
and which ho would insist upon remov- ahead. It was not till after paddling a
?ng unless I would wear mine, his chair mile that they reached the place. "When
surrounded by two or threo littlo negro we came up to tbem,', says the lieutcn
children, whom ho fed with bits from his ant, "we found a gang of large red mon
plate, and attending with patience and keys in some tall trees by the river-side,
kindness to the clamorous wants of a pair making a noise like tho grunting of a
of splendid peacocks, a couple of small herd of hogs. Wo landed, and in a few
parrots or brilliant and variegated plum- moments I found myself beating my way
age, and a beautiful and delicate monkey, through the thick undergrowth, and hunt
I'thougbt I had never 6een a more per- ing monkeys with as much excitment as
feet pattern of the patriarch. His kindly I had ever felt in bunting squirrels when
and affectionate manner to his domestics, a boy." They found the gamo hard to
and to bis little grandchildren, a pair of kill, and only got three, the lieutenant,
sprightly boys who came in the evening with his rifle, one, and the Indians with
lrom tue college, was also very pleasing." their blow-puns. two. The Indians roast
mi. Li -C ... - , ' , . . TT . .
Tne mention oi a college in a region in
Eomo respects bo barbarous, may surprise
our readers, but such there is. It has
a hundred pupils, an income of 75,000
yearly, chenaical nd philosophical appa
ratus, and one thourand ypeciraens of
European minerals.
ljurr a, our lieutenants Peruvian com
pauxon, had written to tho governor
the village ofTingo Marin, the head of
canoe navigation on the Iluallaga, to
sena Indians to meet the travellers here
and take their luggage on to tho place of
cmbarcation. July 30 -the Indians came
, shouting into the farm-yard, thirteen in
I number. They were young, slight but
i muscular-looking fellows, and wanted to
, shoulder the trunks and be off at once.
j The lieutenant, however, gave them some
! breakfast, and then the party set forward,
and after a walk of six miles, reached
the river, and embarked in the canoe.
j Two Indian laborers, called peons, pad-
j died the canoe, and managed it very well,
; The peons cooked their dinner of cheese
uuu rice, auu maue mora a rroou cud ot
; coffee. They arc lively, good-tempered
j fellows, and properly treated make good
! and serviceable travelling companions.
j The canoe was only available in parts of
the river where the stream was free from
j rapids. Where these occur, the cargo
must be landed and carried round. Lieu-
tenant, xi. ana uis party were compelled
to walk good part of the distance to Tin-
go Maria, which was thirty six miles
light between the scalesof the belly,so that
it reminded me something of the ocean mud, thatched with palm, and have un
steamers. They aresomctimes carried to , even earth floors. The furniture consists
Lima (enclosed in an apartment cut into a j of a grass hammock, a standing bod-place,
sugar-cane), where the ladies at balls or a coarse table and a stool or two. The
theatres pulthem in theirhair for ornament, j governor of this populous district wore
At lingo lUana tneir arrival was eel-
corateu wun mucn iestivity. ine gov
ernor got up a ball for them, where there
was more hilarity than ceremony. The
next morning the governor and his wife
accompanied our friends to tho port.
The governor made a short address to
the canoc-men, telling them that their
passencers were "no common persons:
that they were to have a special care of
them; to be very obedient," etc. They
then embarked aud t-tood off; the boat
men blowing their horns, and the party
on snore waiving tneir hats, and shout-
ing their adieus.
The party bad two canoes, about forty
..
feet long by two and ahalf broad, each
hollowed out of a single log. The row
ers stand up to paddle, having one foot
m the bottom of the boat and the other
on the gunwale. There i3 a man at the
bow of the boat toj look out for rooks or
sunken trees ahead, and a Eteersman who
stands on a little platform at the stern of the
boat, and guides her motions. When the
river was smooth and free fromobstruc-
tion, they drifted with the current, the men . large pieces of about eight pounds each,
sitting on the trunks and boxes, chatting , cut from tho vaca marina or sea-cow, al
and laugning with each other, but when so found in our Florida streams, and
they approached a "bad place," their se- there called manatee. It is found in great
nous looks, and nrm position in which
j each one planted himself at his post, show-
ed that work was to be done. When the
j bark had fairly entered the pass, the rap-
i id gestures of tho bow-man indicated the
I channel, the graceful position of the
steersman holding his long paddle, and
the desperate exertions of the rowers, the
railroad rush of the canoes, and the wild
screaming laugh of the Indians, as tho
boat shot past the danger, mado a ecene
so exciting as to banish the sense of
danger.
After this specimen of their travel, let
us take a glimpse of their lodging. "At
half-past five we camped on the beach.
The firEt business of tho boatmen, when
the canoe is secured, is to go off to the
woods and cut btakes and palm branches
to make a house for the "commander."
By sticking long poles in the sand, chop-
ping them half-a-way in two about five
feet above tho ground, and blending the were filthy.
upper parts together, they make in a few September 1st. They arrived at La
minutes the frame of a liltle shanty, which guna. Here they found two traveling
thickly thatched with palm leaves will merchants, a Portuguese and a Brazilian,
keep off the dew or an ordinary rain. They had four large boats, of about eight
Some bring the drift-wood that is lying tons each, and two or three canoes. Their
about the beach, and make a fire. The nnnn naA p i : : i
provisions are cooked and eaten, the bed-
ding la,J aown uPon tDe teaves that cov-
cr tIie floor of tue ehtj, tne mosquito
nettings spread, and after a cup of coffee,
a gIass f fir0& and a cigar (if they are
to be had), everybody retires for the
night by eight o clook. ihe Indians sleep ;
around the hut, eacu under uis narrow
mosquito curtain, which glisten in tho
moonlight like so many tombstones."
The Indians have very keen senses,
and see and hear things that would es-
ed and eat theirs, and .Lieutenant il. tri
ed to eat a piece, but it was so tough that
his teeth-would make no improssion up
on it.
August 1 9. Thcparty arrived,, afc'Tar
apoto.. It is a town of 3500 intfabftahte,
and the district of which it is tho capital
- ! numbers six thousand. The principal
of productions arc rice, cotton and tobacco.
and cotton cloth, spun and woven by the
women, with about as little aid from
mnnhinnrv nj fh wnmon in Snlnmnn'o
time, of whom wc are told, "She layeth
her bands to the spindle and her hands
hold the distaff." The little balls of cot-
ton thread which the women spin in this
way are used as currency (and this in a
' land of silver mines), and pass for twen-
ty.fiTo cents apiece, in exchange for other
goods, or twelve and a half cents in mon-
ey. Moat of the trade is done by barter.
A cow is sold for one hundred yards of
cotton cloth, a fat hog for sixty, a large
sheep, twelve twenty-five pounds of salt-
fish for twelve, twenty-five pounds of cof-
tee. six. a hnri nt n nnfninc whioh will
weigh from forty to fifty pounds, for three
needles, etc. All transportation of mer-
cbandise by land is made upon the backs
of Indians, for want of roads. The cus-
tomary weigt of a load is seventy-five
pounds; the cost of transportation to Moy-
, obamba, seventy miles, is six yards of
cloth. It is easy to obtain, in the term
of six or eight days, fifty or sixty peons
for the transportation of cargoes, getting
mcstio arrangements. The houses are of
no snoes, and appeared to live pretty
much like the rest of them
Vessels of five feet draft of water may
asoend the river at the lowest stage of the
water to within eighteen miles of Tarapo-
to.
Our travelers accompanied a large fish
ing party, lhey had four or five canoes.
and a large quantity of barbasco, a root
which has the property of stupefying or
intoxicating the fish. The manner of fish
ing is to close up the mouth of an inlet of
the river with a net-work made of reeds.
mm ...
and then, mashing the barbasco root to a
I pulp, throw it into the water. This turns
the water white, and poisons it. so that
; the fish soon begin rising to the surface,
dead, and are taken into the canoes with
J small tridents or pronged sticks. Almost
at the moment of throwing the barbasco
into the water, the smaller fish rise to the
surface and die in one or two minutes;
the larger fish survive longer.
The salt fish which constitutes an im
portant article of food and also of barter
trade, is brought from down the river in
numbers in the Amazon, and its principal
tributaries. It is not, strictly speaking,
a fish, but an animal of the whale kind,
which nourishes its young at the breast,
It is not able to leave the water; but in
feeding it gets near the shore, and
raises its head out. It is most often ta
ken when feeding.
Our travelers met a canoe of Indians,
one man and two women, going up the
river for salt. They bought with beads,
some turtle eggs, and proposed to buy a
monkey they had, but one of the women
elapsed the little beast in her armp, and
set up a great outcry, lest the man should
sell it. The man wore a long cotton
gown, with a holo in the neck for the head
to come through, and short wide aleeves.
Ho had on his arm a bracelet of monkeys'
teeth, and the women had nose-rings of
white beads. Their dress was a cotton
petticoat, tied round the waist; and all
mcnts, crockery ware, wine, brandy, cop-
per kettles, coarse short swords (a very
common implement of the Indians), guns,
j ammunition, salt, fish, etc., which they
'expected to exchange for straw-hats, cot-
ton cloth, sugar, coffee and money. They
were also buying up all the sarsaparilla
! they could find, and despatching it back
m canoes, lhey invited our travelers to
breakfast, and tho lieutenant says, "I
thought that I never tasted anything bet
ter than Xhef&Wiha which I saw now for
the first time."
Farinha is a general substitute for
bread in all the course of the Amazon,
below the Brazilian frontier. It is used
by all classes, and tho boatmen seemed fluence of tho mission stations, planted a
always contented with plenty of salt-fish J mong them; while the population of the
and farinha. The women mako it in this Huallaga ia tolerably advanced in civili
way. They soak the root of the mandioc zation. The following sentences will give
.in water till if, ia soffpnflrl a littlo. when a nieture of tha Indiana of thn TTnavali.
they scrape off the skin and grate the "These people cannot count, artd I cuniD,aaen ln tne woods, to see that Tabatiu
root upon a board, which is made into a never get from them any accurate idea of ga had thc foresfc cleared away from about
rude grater by being smeared with some numbers. They are very little removed ,1 for a spaco of forty or fifty acres was
" i
of the adhesivo gums of tho forest, and
then sprinkled with pebbles. The white
grated pulp is put into a conical-shaped
bag, made of the coarse fibres ofthe palm,
The bag is hung up to a peg driven into
a post of the hut, a lever is put through a
loop at the bottom of the bag, the short
end of the lever is placed under a chock
nailed to thc cost bolow. and the woman
hangs her weight on tho long end. This
elongates the bag, and brings a heavy
pressuro upon the mass within, causing
j the juice to ooze out through the wicker
work of the bao-. When sufficiently
'nrcssed. the. maa i nut. nn th floor of a
, mud-oven; heat is applied, and it is stir-
; rod with a stick till it granulates into very
irregular grains, and is sufficiently toast-
ed to drive off all tho poisonous qualities' Next let us take a viow of the mcan3
which it has in a crude state. It is then in operation to elevate these people to civ
packerMn baskets (lined and covored with ilization and Christianity. Sarayacu is a
palm-leaves') of about aixtv-four nounds missionarv station, crovcrned bv four
1 - ' w
weight, which aro generally sold, alia- Franciscan friars, who are thus described,
long the river, at from seventy-five cents Father Calvo, meek and humble in per
to one dollar. The sediment of the juice sonal concerns, yet full of zeal and spirit
is tapioca, and is used to make custards, for his office, clad in his long serge gown,
puddings, starch, etc. It will surprise belted with a cord, with bare feet and
some of our readers to be told that the accurate tonsure, habitual stoop,and gen
juice extracted in the preparation of these erally bearing upon his shoulder a beau
wholesome and nutritive substances is a tiful and saucy bird of the parrot kind,
powerful poison, and used by tho Indians was tnv beau ideal of a missionary monk.
for poisoning the points of their arrows.
NO. XIII.
The Huallaga is navigable for vessels looking Catalan, A lay-brother named
drawing five feet depth of water, 285 Maguin, who did tho cooking, and who
miles; and forty miles further for canoes. J was unwearied in his attention to us,
Our travelers had now arrived at its junc- made up the establishment. I was sick
tion with the Amazon and their first sight here, and think that I shall ever rcmem
of its waters is thus described. "Tho (ber with gratitude tho affectionate kind
march of tho great river in its silent ness of these pious and devoted friara of
grandeur was sublime; but, in the un- St. Francis."
plantation upon the bank, the city upon
the bluff, and the steamboat upon the
waters, lend to its fellow of the North.
But its capacities for trade and commerce
are inconceivably great, and to the touch
of steam, settlement and cultivation, this
majestic stream and its magnificent water-shed
would start up in a display of in
dustrial results that would make thd val
ley of the Amazon ono .ofthe most cn
chantingregions on the faceof the earth."
Lieutenant Herndon speaks of the val
ley of theAmazon in language about a3
enthusiastic as that of Sir Walter Baleigh.
"From its mountains vou mav din- silver.
iron. coal, conner. zinc, nuieksilvpr antl'Napo, which enters the Amazon from the
tin; from the sands of its tributaries you
may wash gold, diamonds and precious
stones; from its forests you may cather
drugs of virtues the iot rare, spices of
aroma tho most exquisite, gums and
resins of the mo?t varied and useful prop
erties; dyes of hue tho most brilliant, with
cabinet and building woods of the finest
polish and the most enduring texture.
Its climate is an everlasting summer, and
its harvest perennial-"
September 8th. The party encamped
at night on an island near the middle of
the river. "The Indians, cooking their
big monkeys over a lare fire on the beach,
presented a savage and most picturesque
scene. They looked more like devils
roasting human beings, than anything
mortal. We ask ourselves, on reading
this, whether some such scene may not
nave given nso to the stories ot "canni
balism," which llaleigh and others rec
ord. They arrived at Nauta, a villaco of a
thousand inhabitants, mostly Indians.
The governor of the district received
them hospitably. Each district has its
governor, and each town it3 lieutenant
governor. These aro of European de
scent. Tho other authorities of a town
are curacas, captains, alcades and con
stables. All these are Indian. The of
fice of curaca is hereditary, and is not
generally interfered with by the whito
governor. 1 he Indians treat their curaca
with great respect, and submit to corpor
al punishment at his mandate.
Sarsaparilla is one of the chief articles
of produce collected here. It is a vine of
sufficient size to shoot up fifteen or twen
ty feet from tho root without support. It
thus embraces the surrounding trees and
spreads to a great distance. The main
root sends out many tendrils, generally
about the thickness of a straw, and five
feet long. These aro gathered and tied
up in bundles of about an arroba, or thir
ty-two pounds weight. It is found on the
banks of almost every river of the region,
but many of these are not worked, on ac
count of the savages living on them, who
attack the parties that como to gather it.
The price in Nauta is two dollars the ar
roba, and in 'Europe from forty to sixty
dollars.
From Nauta, Lieutenant Herndon as
cended the Ucayali, a branch of tho Am
azon, stretching to the northwest in a di
rection somewhat parallel to the Hualla
ga. There is the essential difference bo
iwcen the two rivers, as avenue for com
merce, that the Ucayali is still in the oc
cupation of savage tribes, unchristianizod
except where under
the immediate m-
i - j 1
above "thc beasts that perish." They
are filthy aud covered with sores.
Tho
houses are very large, between thirty and
forty feet in length, and ten or fifteen in
breadth. They consist of immense roofs,
of small polcs and cane, thatched with
palm, and supported by short stakes four
feet high, planted in the ground, three or
four feot anart. and having tho snace3.
excent between two in front, filled in with
cane. They have no idea of a future
state, and worship uothing. But thoy can
- 'make bows and canoes, and their women
'weave a coarse cloth from cotton, and dve
it. Their dress is a loni? cotton sown.
jThey paint the face and body, and wear
ornaments suspended from the nose and
lower lip."
Bregati is a young and handsome Italian,
whom Father Calvo sometimes calls St.
John. Loreute is a tall, grave and cold-
1 he government is paternal. The In-
nize in the "padre" the power
and remove curacas, captains,
fficers; to inflict stripes, and to
the stocks. Thev obev tho
ers readily, and seem tractable
and docile. The Indian men are druken
land lazy, the women do most of the work.
And their reward is to be mal-treated by
'their husbands, and, in their druken frol-
ics, to be cruelly beaten, and sometimes
badlv wounded.
Our party returned to tho Amazon, and sJstem in this particular. They are more
we find occuringin their narrative names or lt tnan the men, for upon many ofthe
which arc familiar tU3 in the history of latter it entails heavy burdens though
our previous adventures. They touched the truth is, our wives in Desert make no
at Omaguas, the port where Madame pretentions to being fine ladies, their
Godin found kind friends in the good mis- highest ambition being to help their hus
sionary and the governor, and where she Dans, ad their poor brothers and sis
embarked on her wav to tlm tralliot nfc ters in the Lord's Church.
Loreto; and they passed the mouth of the
nortb, the river down which Orellana pas
sed, in the first adventuro. The lieuten
ant says, "We spoke two canoes that had
come from near Quito by the Napo.
There are few christianized towns on fho
Napo, and tho rowers of the boats wero a
more savage-looking set than I had seen."
So slow has been the progress of civiliza
tion in three hundred years !
The Amazon seems to be tho land of
monkeys. Our traveler say?, "1 bought
a young monkey of an Indian woman to-
day. It had coarse gray and white hair,
and that on the top of its head was stiff.
like tho quills of tho porcupine, and
smoothed down in front as if it had been
combed. I offered the little fellow some
plantain, but finding he would not eat,
thewoman took him and put him to her
breast, when ho sucked away manfully
and with great gusto. She weaned him
in a week, so that he would cat plantain
mashed up and put into his mouth in
small bits, but tho little beast died of
mortification, because I would notlethiui
sleep with his arms around my neck."
They got from the Indians some of tho
milk from the cow-tree. This the Indians
drink, when fresh; and, brought in a cal-
albash, it had a foamy appearance, as if
just drawn from the cow. It hower co-
agulates very soon, and becomes as hard Pre3ent wives are anxious that I should
and tenacious as gluo. It does not ap- Set another one who is fitted by educa
pear to bo as important an article of sub- tion an(J physically adapted, to take
sintenco as one would expect from tho char2e of the business of the dairy.
name. ; With such an arrangoment of my house-
December 2d. They arrived at Loreto, kld everJ department of a well organ
the frontier town of thc Peruvian territo- ized establishment, on a patriarchal scale,
ry, and which reminds us again of Mad-' would have a head to "i and be Jiovcrn
ame Godin, who there joined the Portu- ' ed in order- 1 have no inclination to
guese galliot. Jjoreto is situated on an '
eminence on thc left bank of thc river,
whioh is here three-fourths of a mile
wide, and one hundred feet deep. Thcro
aro throo mercantile houses in Loreto,
whioh do a business of about 810,000 a
year. Tho housos at Loreto are better
built and better furnished than those of
tho towns on tho river above. The pop
ulation of the place ia two hundred and
fifty, mado up of Brazilians, mulattoes,
negrooa, and a few Indians.
At the next town, Tabatinga, the lieut
enant entered the territory of Brazil
When his boat, bearing the American
flag, was described at that place, the
Brazilian flag was hoisted, and when tho
lieutenant landed, dressed in uniform, he
was received by the commandant, also in
uniform, to whom he presented his pass
port from the Brazilian minister at Wash
ington. As soon as thid document was
perused and the lieutenant's rank ascer
tained, a salute ot soven guna was tired
from the fort, and the commandant treat
ed him with gicat civility, and entertain
ed him at hh table, giving him roast beef,
whioh was a great treat.
It was quite pleasant, after coming from
the Peruvian villages, whioh are all nearly
1 i i , i ,. . .... .
jeovoruu mho green grass, ana nau a groru
01 orange trees in us midst, j no com-
mandant told him that thc trade of the
river wa3 increasing very fast, that in
1849 scaroe one thousand dollars worth
of goods passed up; in 1850, two thou
sand five hundred dollars, and this year,
six thousand dollars.
The sarsaparilla saeras thus far to have
been the nrinoipal article of Qomraerco;
but here they find another becoming of
importance, manto:ay or oil made oftur-
tie-egg. The season for making manteca
generally ends ty tire first of November.
A commandant is appointed every year
to take care of the beaches, prevent dis-
order, and ndministoring justice. Senti
nels are placed at the beMnnin.' of Au
pust, when the turtles commence depos
iting their eggs. 'Ibcysco thaho one
wantonly interferes with the turtles or
destroys the eggs. The process of making
the oil is very disgusting. The eirg are
collected, thrown into a canoe and trod
den intr a mass with the feet. Water h
poured on, and the mass is left to stand
in the sun for several days. The oil
rises to the top, is skimmed off and boil
ed in large copper boilers. It is then put
in earthen pots of about forty-five pounds
weight. Each pot is worth, on the bonch
one dollar and thirty cent, and at Para,
from two and a half to three dollars.
The beaches of the Amazon and its trib
utaries yield from five to six thousand
pots annually.
A Chapter on Polygamy.
The following b an extract from a Mor
mon correspondentof theCbiairo Tribiuic:
When I came to Deseret, there were not
many who were in the enjoy meut of
more than one wife, and many or most
; of tbe nc comers were opposed to it
' x. as tucy saw How beautifully and
uarmomousiy mose iamincs uvea wnere
, tnere wero two or moro is, their pre
judices gradually gave way, and among
no c,ai3aes was tins change more appar-
e.nfc t.ban tue women. At the present
ime a vote were taken uPorj lhe ub
Ject venture to say that nine out of
cverJ ei1 women who have lived iieretwo
years, would sustain our present .social
There are a few men here who have
more than five wives, and a large part
have but one, while some have none.
For myself, I have three. Sarah Ann,
your cousin, whom I married in York
State, has the largest thare of my af
fections, and takes precedence in the
management of the household. Two years
ago
I married Miss S.. formerlv of Ohio.
and she has charge of the education of
the children and attending to the cloth
ing. My other, which I took three months
ago, is from near Hamburg, Germany.
cue is larger man eitner aaran Ann or
Elizabeth, (the name of my second wife)
and I say it without invidiousness or im
propriety is decidedly handsome. Her
person i3 of good size, very round, full
chest, bright flaxen hair and a soft blue
eye. She enters into the duties of her
new situation with wonderful alacrity,
and is very happy, as are Sarah Ann
and Elizabeth. There is none of that
jealousy that disposition to tear out each
other's hair which you have probably
imagined would show itself in ?uch cases.
We are all looking forward to the time
when we shall be together constantly in our
'e Eden, where we can work for each
other, and raise our children in "th fear
ant admonition of thc Lord." You may
be surprised at this; but you will be still
more so, wnen 1 assure you that all ofmy
uuiupsj "j uuuuum, x uui wen
I satisfied with those I now have, but if I
should do so, it will bo entirely out of re
gard for them.
My daughter Louisa is engaged to be
married to a man from Pennsylvania)
who has already a wife and three chil
dren. It did not entirely meet my ap
probation, but I did not intepose a single
objection, so long as she was satisfied,
and the marriago would be in a high de
gree honorable to her, as well, as advan
tageous in a worldly view.
Now, my dear Sir, you will say what
is to come of all this! Let me tell you
what has come of it. In Dcscrtt there
are no libertines with their paramour.,
no houses of prostitution, no cases of se
duction, or those which disturb the peace
of families in tho States, under your law.
Here every woman can have what God
intended she should a husband and
every man that wants to, may have a
wife. And as a woman that is the wife
of a man who has one or more other
wives is more fortunate than if she were
tho only one, for in case of plurality tho
duties of the house are divided.
The ohildren hero aro pretty numer
ous I must admit that this should and
does contribute to tho happiness of the
truo followers of the Lord, from whom
wo have learned that our duty is to mul
tiply and replenish. But mark thi, there
aro no illegitimate children in Deseret,
no children of shame who are ashamed
of their mothers, and a disgrace to any
but the lowest society.
I shall not enter into an argument to
attempt to convince you that your senti
ments in regard to the marrage relation
are the results of education and are wrong.
I wish you could live hero ono yeatvor
two, however, and I have not a doul t
your acts would show you and change
your opiuion. -
1
1
Mi. ' . .