Diario las Américas Newspaper, January 29, 1956, Page 23

is South America’s Waterways offer Ecnomic Promise as well as Jungle Mystery THE GREAT RIVERS of South America — the Amazon, the Orino- co, the Parana, and their intricate web of tributaries — may hold the key to a new era in trasportation, economic progress, and coloniza- tion of empty lands. Many formid- able obstacles stand in the way, however, and the most outstanding features those legendary water- course offer now are geographic mysteries and marvels. Topping the list is the fantastic natural Casiquiare Canal in Vene- zuela, 220 miles long, which ties together the basins of the Orinoco and the Amazon. Nineteenth-cen- tury travelers’ tales of encounters with its deceptive currents led to the belief that it was a reversible stream — running from the Ori- noco to the Rio Negro (a major tributary of the Amazon) or vice- versa, depending on which was in flood. Actually, it is an arm of the Orinoco that broke out over the jJow land between the two water- sheds during some freshet and car- ved a new channel, Thanks to it, one can enter the Amazon at its mouth, ascend to the Rio Negro, continue up the Negro past Ma- naus — the center of economic activity for the Amazon basin — and on into the Casiquiare, then (portaging around rapids) travel down the Orinoco in a jungle jour- ney of nearly three thousand miles from salt water to salt water. Countless branches and offshoots link the many Amazonian tribu- taries, and new ones are constant- ly being opened up here and there by capricious currents. The so-call- ed Breves Strait, which is actually the main shipping entrance to the Amazona and joinst it to the Para River and the port of Belém, is a liquid avenue of extraordinary beauty that surprises even the most hardbitten traveler. Relatively nar- row, averaging little more than a hundred yards across, it neverthe- less is deep enough to give pas- sage to large ships. When a Booth Line vessel of nearly ten thousand tons sank in it some years ago, not even the tips of the masts showed above water. Ships navigating it stay near the shoreline to avoid the strongest currents, passing so ciose that they give passengers the impression of floating through the very heart of the mysterious for- ests. Strange aquatic and jungle bifds abound. Lianas hanging from the branches of gigantic trees form .a dense network, taking root again among shrubs that ‘strain desper- ately for sunlight. On sandy bea- ches, flocks of snow-white herons and rosy flamingos flutter away at the approach of the ship, while al- ligators continue their sun baths undisturbed. Brilliantly colored or- chids twine seductively around the By ALFONSO CORREA Reprinted from AMERICAS, monthly magazine published by the Pan American Union in English, Spanish and Portu- guese. limbs of their ancient tree hosts. Bands of monkeys of many species leap noisily from branch to branch pausing now and then, with typi- cal simian curiosity, to admire the giant created by human ingenuity. Occasionally the forest opens up to reveal the meadows of a cattle ranch, with the thousands of small, chubby caracu steers grazing buco- lically, Just for fun, the ship’s pi- lot will occasionally sound his whi- stle, to watch the panic-stricken animals flee at top speed or to hide. At some turn in that labyrinth of channels you may meet another ship and if both are going in the same direction, that means a race or duel. The passengers lay heavy bets on the outcome, and those who favor their own vessel dash to the engine room to help stoke the fires. Safety valves blow relentlessly as maximum pressure is maintained. The pilots keep signaling “Full Speed Ahead.” Engines rumble and shake, as if aware of their grave responsibilities. Cheering at- tains a tremendous volume as all passengers crowd to the side where they can get the best view of the rival ship. This makes the vessel list and draws protests from the captain, who knows it will cut down his speed, Insutls are freely ex- changed: “Come on, turtle!” “What’s the matter, are you in re- verse?” Finally, when one vessel draws ahead — and it may be a matter of hours — the passengers aboard the winner crowd to the stern, toss thick hawsers aft, and bellow: “If you want a tow, latch on!” The rivers that flow through the alluvial lands of the Amazon basin, such as the Jurua, the Purus, and the Amazon itself, constantly change course in their meandering. Periodically, chunks of the banks drop into the stream, carrying with them huge trees whose trunks and roots become serious obstacles to navigation. They have caused many a shipwreck. A traveler is apt to be awakened at night as if by an earthquake as thousands of trunks and branches crash simul- taneously with cataclysmic force sometimes for miles at a time. In a single night (June 29, 186), the land crumbled along the left bank Peat of th eAmazona in a continuos line for more than 180 miles. Because of this constant shifting of the rivers, cities and towns along them have developed an odd “recoil” system for houses and stores on the banks, to avoid the fate of Sao Felipe, a city on the upper Jurua that practically disap- peared in one of these erosive at- tacks, The withdrawal is accom- plished by means of wooden tracks elevated on posts and_ heavily greased, Pulled by strong winches, the wooden houses slide along to a safer level. Complete with show- cases, merchandise, desks, and cus- tomers, stores stay open for buis- ness as they are dragged acros hundreds of yards. Islands are con- stantly being formed, only, to be destroyed or displaced. In all this creative and destrue- tive movement of the waters there is one phenomenon on which a great deal of the stability, if not the very existence, of the region depends. It is the. oxbow lake, known in the Amazon as a sacado, Often the river, after describing hundreds of curves, reaches out in an enormous are like an irregular horseshoe and returns close to the upper course. The isthmuses be- tween the channels are so narrow that a man on foot can cross in a few minutes between points that by river would be a dy’s sail a part, Year after year, in successive floods, the waters of the river in- filtrate this patch of land and gradually grind it away. At last, in a higher flood, the waters jump from the river’s course, passing di- rectly from the upper to the lower bend. Little by little a mere trikle of water willbroaden and deepen until it is a liquid avalanche that smashes and undermines the banks, carrying hundreds of crashing trees away in its fury. The water a river miles wide rages through the few yards of the new channel. The earth quakes, terrifying the stranger not used to this land where everything is big and man feels desolate. Gradually the chan- nel attains the width of the full river, and all returns to calm and serenity. This alarming phenome- non which the river spent years in preparing, is completed in a mat- ter of hours. The two mouths of the abandoned course are blocked by rivér-borne sand and sediment, and the horseshoe er oxbow arc be- comes a tranquil lake of no ap- parent importance. If a ship hap- pens to be caught in the bend while the river is cutting its new course, aye % 5, ‘ Beene bie 1 ' , } s fae Map showing it remains blockaded for months until a high enough flood comes to free it. These lakes or sacados, which at first seem useless, actually provide a natural solution to the problem of Amazonian floods. As dams they work two ways to control the ri- ver flow: by holding excess water, they lessen the power of floods, and during long dry spells they open automatically, returning to the shrunken stream part of the water they have stored. Obviously, sacados perform an invaluable service. We can get tasks by looking at what the United some idea of the magnitude of the anonymous “Authorities” without States has done to control a re- latively small river, the Tennessee, with the remarkable TVA installa- tions. Along the Amazon water- courses, hundreds of times bigger than the Tennessee this regulatory function is performed by these asonymous “Authorities” without costing the Brazilian Government Coal Amazon boat trains bring food and other supplies to many cities and towns along the mighty river. {ARGENTINA where South American river basins meet. e » Look to the Rivers- or people a cent. Perhaps the na- tives of this land are right when they say “God is Brazilian,” But the truth is that nothing, or almost nothing, has been done in this area to improve the rivers and take advantage of them as high- ways offering an unmatched navie gation potential. The dangerous trunks of fallen trees are never re- moved. In the navigable part of the Tapajés River submerged rockg have caused three shipwrecks. A simple charge of dynamite or a lighted buoy could eliminate that danger forever, yet there they re- main, unmarked, lying in wait for unsuspecting mariners. But for the skill of our pilots, our river fleet would have disappeared long ago, Nor has any effort been made to dredge river channels; to build ca- nal Jinks between parallel rivers or adjacent drainage systems; to con- struct bypass-canals around ob- structing rapids. The remarkable gifts of nature seem to have been our undoing, for we have come te expect Divine Providence to take eare of everything. Most of us Latin Americans have the idea that Mother Nature was even more generous to the United States than to our countries in the matter of water resources. We think all the rivers there are free of tree trunks, shoals, falls, and rapids. They are gently sloping, straight or with long curves, and just- the right depth for naviga- tion. We generally consider the United States exempt from floods or droughts. We presume that the Pilgrim Fathers found all the ri- vers in perfect condition for navi- gation. All they had to do was sail up the rivers and take possession of the Great Lakes in the North, the Hudson in the East, and later the Mississippi in the South. Big cities and industrial centers mush- roomed as a result of these divine gifts. Actually, quite the opposite is true. The formidable industrial end commercial development of the United States is intimately bound up with the ceaseless tena- cious efforts of the government and the people to improve their ri- ver and lake arteries. Federal action for improved use (Please turn to Page 14) HEMISPHERE SUNDAY, JANUARY 29, 1956 - PAG. 11 j