Henry Buckley - History of Civilization in England, Vol. 1 of 3

This extraordinary richness has excited the astonishment of all who have seen it. Mr. Walsh, who had travelled in some very fertile countries, mentions ‘the exceeding fecundity of nature which characterizes Brazil.’ Walsh's Brazil , vol. ii. p. 19. And a very eminent naturalist, Mr. Darwin, says ( Journal , p. 29), ‘In England, any person fond of natural history enjoys in his walks a great advantage, by always having something to attract his attention; but in these fertile climates, teeming with life, the attractions are so numerous that he is scarcely able to walk at all.’

Azara ( Amérique Méridionale , vol. ii. pp. 1–168) gives a curious, but occasionally a disgusting account of the savage natives in that part of Brazil south of 16°, to which his observations were limited. And as to the inhabitants of other parts, see Henderson's History of Brazil , pp. 28, 29, 107, 173, 248, 315, 473; M'Culloh's Researches concerning America , p. 77; and the more recent account of Dr. Martius, in Journal of Geograph. Society , vol. ii. pp. 191–199. Even in 1817, it was rare to see a native in Rio de Janeiro ( Spix and Martius's Travels in Brazil , vol. i. p. 142); and Dr. Gardner ( Travels in Brazil , pp. 61, 62) says, that ‘more than one nation of Indians in Brazil’ have returned to that savage life from which they had apparently been reclaimed.

Sir C. Lyell ( Principles of Geology , p. 682) notices ‘the incredible number of insects which lay waste the crops in Brazil;’ and Mr. Swainson, who had travelled in that country, says ‘The red ants of Brazil are so destructive, and at the same time so prolific, that they frequently dispute possession of the ground with the husbandman, defy all his skill to extirpate their colonies, and fairly compel him to leave his fields uncultivated.’ Swainson on the Geography and Classification of Animals , p. 87. See more about these insects in Darwin's Journal , pp. 37–43; Southey's History of Brazil , vol. i. pp. 144, 256, 333–335, 343, vol. ii. pp. 365, 642, vol. iii. p. 876; Spix and Martius's Travels in Brazil , vol. i. p. 259, vol. ii. p. 117; Cuvier , Règne Animal , vol. iv. p. 320.

The cultivated land is estimated at from 1½ to 2 per cent. See M'Culloch's Geog. Dict. 1849, vol. i. p. 430.

During the present century, the population of Brazil has been differently stated at different times; the highest computation being 7,000,000, and the lowest 4,000,000. Comp. Humboldt , Nouv. Espagne , vol. ii. p. 855; Gardner's Brazil , p. 12; M'Culloch's Geog. Dict. 1849, vol. i. pp. 430, 434. Mr. Walsh describes Brazil as ‘abounding in lands of the most exuberant fertility, but nearly destitute of inhabitants.’ Walsh's Brazil , vol. i. p. 248. This was in 1828 and 1829, since which the European population has increased; but, on the whole, 6,000,000 seems to be a fair estimate of what can only be known approximatively. In Alison's History , vol. x. p. 229, the number given is 5,000,000; but the area also is rather understated.

Vidaca being the most southerly point of the present Peruvian coast; though the conquests of Peru, incorporated with the empire, extended far into Chili, and within a few degrees of Patagonia. In regard to Mexico, the northern limit of the empire was 21°, on the Atlantic coast, and 19° on the Pacific. Prescott's History of Mexico , vol. i. p. 2.

A question has been raised as to the Asiatic origin of maize: Reynier , Economie des Arabes , pp. 94, 95. But later and more careful researches seem to have ascertained beyond much doubt that it was unknown before America was discovered. Compare Meyen's Geography of Plants , pp. 44, 303, 304; Walckenaer's note in Azara, Amérique Méridionale , vol. i. p. 149; Cuvier , Progrès des Sciences Naturelles , vol. ii. p. 354; Cuvier , Eloges Historiques , vol. ii. p. 178; Loudon's Encyclopædia of Agriculture , p. 829; M'Culloch's Dict. of Commerce , 1849, p. 831. The casual notices of maize by Ixtlilxochitl, the native Mexican historian, show its general use as an article of food before the arrival of the Spaniards: see Ixtlilxochitl , Histoire des Chichimèques , vol. i. pp. 53, 64, 240, vol. ii. p. 19.

‘Maize, indeed, grows to the height of 7,200 feet above the level of the sea, but only predominates between 3,000 and 6,000 of elevation.' Lindley's Vegetable Kingdom , 1847, p. 112. This refers to the tropical parts of South America; but the Zea Mais is said to have been raised on the slopes of the Pyrenees ‘at an elevation of 3,000 to 4,000 feet.’ See Austen on the Forty Days' Maize , in Report of Brit. Assoc. for 1849, Trans. of Sec. p. 68.

M. Meyen ( Geog. of Plants , p. 302) and Mr. Balfour ( Botany , p. 567) suppose that in America 40° is about its limit; and this is the case in regard to its extensive cultivation; but it is grown certainly as high as 52°, perhaps as high as 54°, north latitude: see Richardson's Arctic Expedition , 1851, vol. ii. pp. 49, 234.

‘Sous la zone tempérée, entre les 33 et 38 degrés de latitude, par exemple dans la Nouvelle Californie, le maïs ne produit, en général, année commune, que 70 à 80 grains pour un.’ Humboldt , la Nouvelle Espagne , vol. ii. p. 375.

‘La fécondité du Tlaolli, ou maïs mexicain, est au-delà de tout ce que l'on peut imaginer en Europe. La plante, favorisée par de fortes chaleurs et par beaucoup d'humidité, acquiert une hauteur de deux à trois mètres. Dans les belles plaines qui s'étendent depuis San Juan del Rio à Queretaro, par exemple dans les terres de la grande métairie de l'Esperanza, une fanègue de maïs en produit quelquefois huit cents. Des terrains fertiles en donnent, année commune, trois à quatre cents.’ Humboldt , Nouv. Espagne , vol. ii. p. 374. Nearly the same estimate is given by Mr. Ward: see Ward's Mexico , vol. i. p. 32, vol. ii. p. 230. In Central America (Guatemala), maize returns three hundred for one. Mexique et Guatemala, par Larenaudière , p. 257.

‘La pomme de terre n'est pas indigène au Pérou.’ Humboldt , Nouv. Espagne , vol. ii. p. 400. On the other hand, Cuvier ( Histoire des Sciences Naturelles , part ii. p. 185) peremptorily says, ‘il est impossible de douter qu'elle ne soit originaire du Pérou:’ see also his Eloges Historiques , vol. ii. p. 171. Compare Winckler , Gesch. der Botanik , p. 92: ‘Von einem gewissen Carate unter den Gewächsen Peru's mit dem Namen papas aufgeführt.’

And has been used ever since for food. On the Peruvian potato compare Tschudi's Travels in Peru , pp. 178, 368, 386; Ulloa's Voyage to South America , vol. i. pp. 287, 288. In Southern Peru, at the height of 13,000 or 14,000 feet, a curious process takes place, the starch of the potato being frozen into saccharine. See a valuable paper by Mr. Bollaert in Journal of Geograph. Society , vol. xxi. p. 119.

Humboldt ( Nouv. Espagne , vol. ii. p. 359) says, ‘partout où la chaleur moyenne de l'année excède vingt-quatre degrés centigrades, le fruit du bananier est un objet de culture du plus grand intérêt pour la subsistance de l'homme.’ Compare Bullock's Mexico , p. 281.