Tropical Lowland: Brazil, Amazon Lowland

From its source in the Andes Mountains, the Dawn River flows nearly 4,000 m across the tropical lowland of South America to the Atlantic Ocean. This great river with its tributaries drains two-fifths of the continent and carries more water to the sea than any other river in the world. As it flows across Brazil, the Amazon varies in width from 1 mile to over a 100 miles near its mouth. In some places, there are islands in the Amazon which make it seem like a network of rivers spread through the dense tropical rainforest. The Amazon is the only way to reach the interior of the vast lowland across which it flows. In this region, there are no roads, for the rainforest is almost impenetrable. The weather in these lowlands near the equator is always hot and humid. Even in what we Brazilians call the dry season, rain falls nearly every day. In the rainy season from January until June, floods sometimes raise level of the river by as much as 50 ft. The combination of 10 rainfall makes plants grow rapidly, but much vegetation is washed away by heavy rains and flood. The rains also wash away the minerals in the top soil. Almost everywhere this top soil is thin and poor, suitable only for the trees and plants of the rainforest which have long roots that run deep into the earth. But most food crops whose roots are short cannot grow in the poor top soil. So in spite of its abundant vegetation, the Amazon lowland is sometimes called a green desert. People who live in this tropical forest region have to travel by water. Every family needs at least one canoe. By following the smaller streams, it is possible to go deep into the jungle. Because the forest is so dense, only a little sunlight comes through. Trees of many varieties grow closely together. Rosewood, which contains an oil used in making perfume, is identified by smelling its bark. Long ropelike vines hang from these tall trees. Scattered through the forests are Brazil nut trees. Brazil nuts are the most valuable crop exported from the Amazon lowland today. The nuts grow in heavy hard pods which fall when they are ripe. In the forest, there are many other kinds of nuts which yield valuable oils and waxes. Rubber trees are native to the Amazon Valley and once produced the most valuable export crop of the region. Although trees have been set out a few experimental plantations in an attempt to produce more rubber, wild trees provide nearly all the rubber that comes from the Amazon. The trees are not injured when the outer bark is cut with care. A milky sap called latex drains into the cups hung on the trees. At a shelter in the forest, each day's harvest of latex is treated and processed over a fire of palm nuts. A ball of crude rubber may weigh more than 100. The people of the Amazon have long known how to make their own rubber shoes. They have wooden forms of different sizes to match the feet of each member of the family. Over these forms, layers of latex are poured. After the latex has been smoked, the new rubber shoes must be exposed in the open air for several days. The crops in the Amazon lowlands are not well cultivated. Since the land is only roughly cleared before planting, a field can seldom be cultivated for more than 2 years before it is again covered with jungle growth. The thin soil is never fertilized and at best the harvests are small. Joot is a cash crop. The jude seeds are sewn with a hand planter. The crop grows quickly and will be ready for harvest in about 3 months. A most important food crop of the Amazon Valley is the manok or cassava plant. Mano can be planted at any season and requires at least a year to grow to maturity. Cacao trees grow wild as well as on plantations. Some of this crop is used by our own people in Brazil, but much of it is sent abroad to chocolate factories. Only the Amazon makes it possible for the people who live in the forest region to exchange what they grow and gather for the necessities that come from other parts of the world. Not only is the river a highway to the Atlantic Ocean, but it is also the only way to travel between the scattered settlements and market towns. The small launches which carry passengers and light cargo also tow lines of canoes. Rather than paddle upstream for many hours, the boatman pay a small fee for this convenience. Passengers who ride the canoe train prepare their own meals. Great numbers of monkeys live in the Amazon jungle. These small animals make good pets. Because our climate is hot and damp, we find that we can work better if we take a short rest after each meal. The canoes have shelters for protection against the heavy rain that comes at almost the same hour every afternoon. Almost all the people of the Amazon Valley build their homes within sight of the river. The houses are often raised on post so that they won't be washed away when the river rises in the season. Many Brazilians are descended from South American Indians. Others have ancestors who came from Portugal or other parts of Europe as well as from Africa. Near where one of the Amazon's tributaries joins the great river is a small settlement of a few farms which faces a channel between two islands. In this settlement lives the Amarodas family. Every day, leaves which have blown from the nearby forest are swept from the yard. Manuela Marudas was born in this house. He lives here now with his wife, two sons, and eight daughters. The floor of the house is made of earth. There are no beds. Everyone sleeps in hammocks, which are cooler and can be rolled and hung on the wall during the daytime. The boardwalks between the different parts of the house are raised because the yard is often flooded during the rainy season. The family's meals are prepared in a cookhouse in the yard. The stove is made of a few stones and bits of iron. Early in the morning, while Senora Amaru Diaz is making coffee, her two sons return from an allnight fishing trip. The catch is kept fresh with wet river reads, for even the nights are hot. The best fish of this region are called Amazon cod. These large fish are not found in the lower Amazon and large quantities are salted and shipped downstream by families like the Amarodas. One of the boys carries part of the catch home while his brother takes the rest to a neighbor. As soon as the fish are brought home, they must be cleaned and either cooked or salted at once. In this hot, damp climate, fish and meat spoil quickly. The Amarodas family raises its own beef. A small herd of cattle provides milk as well as meat. Occasionally, there is meat enough to sell. In the rainy season, the cattle will be fed across the river to graze on higher land above the flooded fields. Household utensils are made out of the fruit of tropical plants. When the fruit is hollowed out and the shell dried, the gourds are used for carrying water. Most families along the Amazon use the water from the river for drinking and cooking. The women regularly make up a fresh supply of manuk meal which they use instead of flour. First the coarse roots must be peeled. Then after they are shredded the mass is kneaded in a trough made from the trunk of a hollow tree. Water is added to help extract the tapioca which manuk roots contain. About half of the mass in the trough is freshly shredded while the other half has been allowed to ferment for a week. The mixture is then packed into a tube made by braiding the tough fibers of jungle vines. The braided tube is stretched to squeeze out the poisonous juices. When this liquid is purified, it will yield additional tapioca. The meal made from the root itself has greater food value than the tapioca. To dry and roast a week's supply of manok meal takes many hours over a wood fire. When the meal has been thoroughly roasted, it is ready to be eaten. Mixed with rice or beans, manuk meal is as important to the family as bread or potatoes are to people in other countries. Our Amazon people use many of the plants and trees that grow near their homes in the jungle. From Joot and from the fibers of forest vines, they make their fishing nets. But they also use some things brought in from the outside world. One finds sewing machines in even the most remote settlements. From cotton cloth bought at a trading post, the women make their own dresses. They use a hollow iron filled with burning charcoal to press their clothing. An important article of commerce along the river and a source of income for many of the Amazon families is firewood. Wood is the only fuel in general use throughout the tropical lowlands of Brazil. Every trading post along the river has large stockpiles of wood which are used by the steamboats for the Amaro Das boys deliver their logs to the trading post every week. Occasionally oceangoing freigherss come up the Amazon but most of the traffic is made up of river steamers which operate on irregular schedules. They make stops wherever they have goods to deliver, cargo to pick up, or when they need fuel. Much of the cargo of the boats going upstream consists of flour, salt, cotton, cloth, guns, ammunition, and other things which are not produced in the Amazon basin itself. From the trading posts, the steamers collect salted fish, alligator skins, Brazil nuts, rubber, and other products of the tropical rainforest and the few scattered farms of the region. Wood must be loaded every few hours, rain or shine. A medium-sized steamer burns 10,000 logs and a large one as many as 25,000 logs a day. A thousand miles up the Amazon near the junction with one of its tributaries is the city of Manau, a principal shipping port for the whole vast region. Many oceangoing vessels come to Manau. The city can only be reached by river. No roads lead away from Manau in any direction. The city was a frontier trading post until a little more than 50 years ago when the sudden demand for rubber brought great prosperity to the region. Profits from rubber soon made the frontier village into a busy attractive city. Then in less than 25 years, the prosperity of Manau died away because rubber grown on plantations in Malaya and the Dutch East Indies could be produced more cheaply than wild rubber from the Amazon jungles. In spite of this, Manau is still a busy port. It is the center of an enormous region, the place where the products of the Amazon basin are collected and shipped away in exchange for the products of other lands. In addition to balls of rubber, tropical woods, nuts, jute, and cacao are exported as well as less familiar forest products such as the fiber of jungle vines used for making rope and brooms. Overhead cables carry freight to and from the ships which are mored to floating docks in the river. Stationary peers cannot be used because the level of the river rises and falls nearly 50 ft between the dry and the wet seasons. Below Manouse, the Amazon, growing wider all the time, flows almost a thousand miles to the Atlantic Ocean. The people live along the banks of this great South American river, face many hardships. Their soil is poor. There are many difficulties in transportation, and the climate is unhealthy throughout the vast tropical lowland of northern Brazil.