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.