Valley Girl Views: Eli Slifer Jr's Account Of His Time On The Collins Expedition In Brazil

In 1878, a group of local men went to the Amazon to build a railroad.

It was a disastrous expedition, with many dying from disease and starvation, and with almost none of the men having any money to make the return trip home. Below is what Eli Slifer wrote about the Amazon, years later.

Find more about the local men who worked on the Collins Expedition here:

https://susquehannavalley.blogspot.com/2020/08/the-collins-expedition-when-local-men.html

On October 19 1878, Eli Slifer Jr lectured on the expedition, "for the benefit of the families of Watsontown of the deceased members of the party"

His actual lecture is a bit dry, and more of a factual geography lesson - so first, lets look at what the newspapers reported from his travels:

(This account is drastically different than the many other, detailed, written accounts where the men were without supplies, and starving. )
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An Earlier Newspaper Account From Slifer
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In Late September of 1878, Howard, Brown, Bucholtz, Heistand, Kinport, Evans, Hayden, Gill, Chamber & Price all returned home aboard the City Of Para. The men had left San Antonio, the seat of the railroad operations, on August 31 on Mackie & Scott's tug, making the trip down the Maderira and Amazon to Para in 8 days time. The Philadelphia Times reported that all of the men spoke with confidence that the expedition would be a success, but the men all returned in ill health, a "consequence of being unable to get used to the climate."

Slifer reported that he had been in Brazil for 7 months.

"We found the forest so dense around that you could not build a hut without chopping away trees to get room for the foundation." When I left on the last day of August, where were over a hundred Brazilian residents in the place; there were five stores, 30 soldiers, and an area of over 20 acres of cleared ground, in addition to what has been cleared for the railroad. All of this has been accomplished, beside completing a part of the railroad, since last spring. When we first reached there, we took axes in hand and worked in squads until we got the place cleared out. This was no light task. An idea of what it is to clear away trees down there may be formed when it is known that the forest is so dense that a person straying one hundred feet from a given point is unable to find his way back and liable to get lost and die in the woods.

"One Sunday last summer three Italians started out in the woods, saying they were going to hunt. They did not return, and although search was made for them in ever direction, they have not been heard of since. The theory that they may have un away is not entertained, for the reason that they left all of their effects behind them."

"The chief difficulty in the way of clearing there is the vines. They grow so thick around the trees that the forest top in some places is a regular network and when you want to remove one particular tree you are often obliged to cut down seven or eight others to do it. "

Slifer further reported that about three miles of track had been laid so far. "You must know that the place at which we started is the worst of the whole route by odds. There are about seven miles where blasting and filling in, and bridging and tunneling and cutting beyond anything of the kind on the whole route is required and of f this we have already three miles under track and a locomotive running on it; and as to the rest, sixty days from the time I left, it was calculated would see it under track. After this portion is complete, they will be working on higher ground, where the fill and the rocks and the gulleys are nothing like the first seven miles. There are cuts to be made of from three to four feet on the average, but a great portion of it is surface work at which they will be able to move along at a rate of three or four times faster than where they are now. While there are three miles of track, and four miles almost ready for the track, there are twenty miles of road cleared. The wood-choppers can more than keep ahead of the grade work. There is no question but that the road will be a great success and a great thing for America as well for Brazil if the contractors continue to have the backing necessary to put it through.

The Supply Of Food
"A good many of the men" said Mr Slifer, "were sick when I left, but I consider the worst of it over. When we went out there last spring it was not yet known what sort of diet was best for the men. Of course a good deal of sickness resulted from want of knowledge in this direction. That difficulty has been removed. It has been well settled by this time what is best for the men to eat. The canned meats and canned vegetables and other things which the contractors have been sending out couldn't be better, and if the quantity is kept up there will be no cause for complaint on the score of eating. A fresh load of provisions had just arrived on two lighters brought up from Para on a tug boat when we left. The supplies were divided equally without discrimination among all. What he officers and foreman get to eat, the workingmen get also. There are about 400 men there now.

Dr Whittacker and several others left shortly before us and sailed for New York on a Schooler. This leaves on physician there, Dr Coates. Another physician I understand has already sailed to take Dr Whittakers place. If the supply of food and medicine is kept u, and a good force of men kept at work, the road can be completed in three years. They had food enough on hand when we left, consisting of nice canned meats and vegetables, to last them for four months."
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The Amazon Valley
By Eli Slifer Jr

THE Empire of Brazil, in South America, extends from 4° N. latitude to 33° S. latitude, and from 35° to 70° W. longitude, embracing an area of over 3,000,000 square miles, and has an enumerated population of about 8,000,000 people, and perhaps 2,000 000 Indians. One-half of the 8,000,000 are residents of a relatively small territory in the South-east: corner of tac empire. That, we may the more readily understand this distribution of population, let us enter into a little comparative geography with our own

country.

The United States, before the acquisition of Alaska, had, in area, upwards of 3,000,000 square miles of territory, or some less than Brazil. Now, imagine this country populated by 8,000,000 of civilized and semi-civilized people only, instead of our 60,000,000; conceive 4,000,000 to be the inhabitants of the New England States, an additional 1,200,000 along the seaboard from New York to New Orleans; scatter the balance along the Mississippi, the Ohio and the Missouri rivers and their tributaries; allow for about 2,000,000 wild Indians thrown loosely about, and you have, at a glance, an outline of the present occupied and uninhabited portions of the vast territory we call Brazil. There are, I have said, perhaps 2,000,000 uncivilized natives, or Indians, living isolated and without settlements or tribal relations; their number can not be stated with accuracy.

The Empire is divided into North and South Brazil by the river Maranon, or Amazon, as we know it. It rises in the Andes of the Pacific coast, on the west, and flows nearly direct east for 4,000 miles, emptying the accumulated waters of its 200 tributaries into the Atlantic under the equator, by a mouth 180 miles wide, draining an area of 2,000,000 square miles. Near the ending of the rainy season, 59 immense is the volume of descending water, that it forces its way bodily into the ocean in a compact mass, the line of demarcation—as was the case when I crossed it-- often extending 100 miles from the shore line.

The river is navigable, for large ships, for 2,000 miles, and for smaller boats, its entire length. Over 10,000 miles of tributary rivers are navigable for steamboats of ordinary size. The estuary of the river is an immense bay, named Marajos (pronounced, Marry Joe ), filled with islands, the largest of which, Marajos Island, has an area equal to the State of New Jersey. The northern entrances are not navigable for large craft, except in high water. The main ship entrance is through a stream less than three miles in width, called Rio de Para river (pronounced, Pay Raw), obtaining its title from the city of the same name, located on its south bank, ten miles from the ocean. Space alone forbids, at this time a more thorough description of this, the oldest European, settled city of South America, lying almost directly under the equator, with its 50,000 inhabitants, who, in manners, customs and laws, are typical Brazilians.

After a sojourn of some days in this novel and attractive town, we began the ascent of the Amazon, under the guidance of two tawny half-breed pilots, who had entire conduct of the course of our ship, for the same vessel that had carried us safely through winter's storms and tropic tempests, across the rough Atlantic, with folded sails and throbbing engines, carried us to the falls of San Antonio, on the river Madeira, over 2,000 miles from the sea coast. Our craft, built for ocean traffic, had a draught of nineteen feet of water. Thanks to the intelligence of our pilots and the depth of our channel, our voyage inland was without delay or special incident. The acuteness of these half-breeds 1s most remarkable. For miles and miles, the shores are lined with dense forests, so much alike to the casual observer as to become really monotonous. Yet our guides, by the sight of remembered trees, could chart the way, sometimes scudding along the shore’s underhanging limbs, again in the center, beating against the mighty current, crossing and re-crossing, but never mistaken or grounded. We were treated to the classic fiction of the Amazons, a nation of female warriors, governed by a woman. They were said to have several yearly interviews with the males of another nation, to whom they sent all the male children. Many Brazilians give Credence to this fable. Our pilots affected to believe it, but the Intelligence of our day an country accepts it only as a pleasing myth.

Examining a map of the Amazon, you: will find many points named along the river seemingly of importance and population. In fact, there are but few towns, even if the Widely-scattered settlements can be so termed. The description of one will answer for all. ‘They contain a store, a distillery for distilling casash, or rum, from sugar cane, ‘dozen or more of palm-thatched houses placed as the builder fancies, without regards to streets, rarely a church, and never | a school-house. In close vicinity, a few acres may be under cultivation, growing cane for the distillery, for inhabitants, a white store-keeper and his family, negroes, half breeds, and semi-civilized, Indians.

The| whites can read and write, and dress much has do our own people in summer, with calico prints and muslins imported from England) and Portugal, The “Mother Hubbard dress probably had its origin on the Brazilian frontiers, cut: short and low. The females regard sleeves as superfluous, The mixed classes wear little clothing, and the dress of the negroes and Indians is as slight as decency tolerates. Children of all classes under seven or eight years of age, are naked.

The language spoken is Portuguese, Schools are unknown; but few newspapers circulate there are no mail facilities worth mentioning.

The religion is Catholic, and the priests frown down any attempt at education connive at ignorance, and foster superstition. There are no attempts at agriculture along the Amazon Valley. Fruits and nuts grow in abundance in a natural state, and in addition to fish and game, form the only diet. Drunkenness is common. Among the lower classes the moral restraints are not enforced and their condition is but little removed from that of the brute. At some few settlements I found the American sewing machine agent had preceded me with his wares, and the improvement in dress, both as regards quality and quantity, especially among the females, was remarkable. Thus the sewing-machine, in connection with its other achievements, is a great moral reformatory agent.

Of the original inhabitants but little is known. They are never found living in large communities, or in villages, or organized in tribes, as were our Indians of The United States. They are barbarians of the lowest form, and practice cannibalism, killing and eating all prisoners. They dwell in the forests like beasts, sheltered by the trees alone. Their weapons are the rudest spears, and bows and arrows; their only covering is a piece of bark about the middle.

They are very much afraid of fire-arms, and, with a single exception, never attacked our, party when armed. Then a few shots from our gun and pistol frightened them back into the safety of the dense forest.

At another time two of our Italians were captured and partly eaten. While alone in camp, the

cook was killed, cut up and they were cooking the pieces in our own camp kettles when disturbed and routed.

The Jesuits, who generally obtained great influence over the savages, could neither convert nor control these. For a time, it is said, two Jesuit fathers were permitted to baptize the victim about to be devoured, but the permission was taken away on the belief that the flesh, when sprinkled with water, did not taste so well. The Jesuits, attempting to confer baptism by stratagem, were detected, and at once became victims, being killed and eaten.

These cannibals have no marital or social ties or affections, and acknowledge no authority except the supremacy of strength. They abandon their sick and kill the aged, and are without moral or religious restraint or belief. They are indeed ideal anarchists.

You ascend the first 800 miles of the Amazon among islands, in constant view of close shores on either hand, and thus fail to gather a correct idea of the river’s width. One thousand miles from the sea, it is twenty miles wide and, free from islands, stretches out like a magnificent lake.

On either side, the shores are flat and swampy, covered by immense forests of trees of remarkable size and variety, interlaced by interminable vines and creepers, their tops filled with macaws, parrots, toucan and other gayly-colored birds, Monkeys swarm and swing from limb to limb, Splendid insects and gorgeous butterflies cloud the air. Flowering shrubs hang under a load of blossoms in endless profusion, against a background of perpetual green, Two hundred species of the palm are found, ranging in variety and size from the delicate fern to the gigantic cacao, hanging rich in fruit. The silk cotton-tree spreads its fingered leaves in light and airy masses, The rosewood-tree, so extensively employed in furniture add architectural ornamentation, attract by the lightness of its doubly-feathered leaves and orange flowers, The lofty trumpet-tree, the cacao, or chocolate, tree, from the kernel of which chocolate is made, the Brazil wood of commerce, the scap-trees with their shining leaves, the oow-tree, yielding a palatable and wholesome vegetable milk, the mahogany, lignum vitae, and copabia trees, oranges, lemons, bananas, capsicum, or cayenne pepper, quassia, a valuable bitter drug, the pungent vanilla, the Tonquin bean are a few of the innumerable natives: of these forests.

In animal life, we find the jaguar, the tapir, the ant-eater, the sloth; serpents are extremely numerous; fifty kinds have been enumerated; some grow to an enormous size, the bon often reaching, in length, fifty feet, and thirty inches in circumference. Ants are everywhere, on the trees, the ground, in your hair, on your person, in your shores, in your food; so dreadful are its ravages, that it is sometimes called the “ King of Brazil.”

Along the Amazon, great tropical heats prevail, and the residents are enervated and listless., Scrofula and cutaneous din eases are the heritage of all. Bilious, remittent fever in most prevalent and severe. A disease called “ bobas” is frequent; the body swells and breaks out in ulcers; it in communicated by small flies The chigre, or “jigeer,” is almost universal. It is a small sack found underneath the arms or toes, or between the fingers, sometimes in the nostrils or ears, containing minute eggs, deposited) by a small insect, causing an irritating and often incurable sore. Prickly-heat and ringworms affect travelers,

I have often been asked, “Has the Amazon Valley a future? Will the country ever be settled like our own?” I cannot occupy space to answer these questions satisfactorily in detail, but, unconditionally, I would) answer, No. However, time and man's necessities in the future may no change the conditions that the forests of the Amazon may give way to a teeming population, and the dark haunts of the cannibal be lighted up by the gleaming rays of intelligence and civilization. Then depredation an immorality will find a death and sepulchre beneath the foundations of unnumbered school-houses and churches, erected by the beneficent influences of an enlightened and progressive religion,—Brazil’s hope in the days to come.

Lewisburgh, Pa