Into the Depths of the Amazon
History
Long ago, the Amazon River Basin and river were formed through a series of geologic
events . During the Ice Age after its formation, the Amazon was safe from the deadly frost
as it lay near the equator and was relatively untouched. This, in addition to the great
migration of creatures to there, led to its great biological diversity.
A voyage gone wrong
Departing on March 9th, 1500, 13 ships and 1,200 men under Admiral Cabral set out to reach
India by skirting Africa in the footsteps of Vasco da Gama. Their voyage somehow, through
misnavigation or secret intention, ran them into Brazil on April 22nd, 1500. Here, the
first recorded interaction between European and Amazonian took place. It was a very
peaceful meeting, with mutual joy upon discovery, a sort of calm before the storm, as the
distinctions of Amazonian and European ceased to matter during the 10 days of Admiral
Cabral's expedition around Brazil
The Freshwater Sea
While the Portuguese began to expand in Brazil, a Spaniard named Vincentre Pinzon found
freshwater in the ocean near Brazil. He traced it to the mouth of the Amazon, known as the
"Freshwater Sea" since it pushes freshwater into the ocean for 155 miles. Many
years later, in 1541, a group of Spanish explorers led by Francisco de Orellana set out
from Ecuador to search for gold. One day, the travelled downstream in search of food and,
when they found they couldn't go back upstream, they decided to keep going downstream and
explore the land. They discovered many tribes, some friendly and other unfriendly, and one
with female warriors like the Amazons of greek mythology. Thus, the river was named Amazon
for the group of female warriors that lived along its banks.
Exploration and Expansion
Over the following years, a Governor-General, Rio de Samo, was brought in to supervise
expansion. Not only did Brazil become the world's largest sugar producer under him, but
many Brazilians and Amazonians suffered as they were forced into labor, slavery, and
Jesuit missions. Jesuits attempted to protect the natives from slavery, and in 1655 Father
Antonio Vieira got a royal decree to halt enslavement by settlers. However, the Jesuits
were expelled in 1759. In 1743, Charles de La Condamine returned from a visit to the
Amazon with the first recorded scientific data on the river, the plants, and the people.
He also mapped the Amazon with remarkable accuracy,investigated the poison used by the
Amazonians, and collected a milky sap would later become latex. Alexander Humboldt
followed in 1800 with the first tests of the electric eel after he had stepped on one.
Soon after, the Amazon was deluged with scientists from all over the world.
Bates and Wallace
The two most important studies of natural history were done by two English scientists,
Henry Bates and Alfred Wallace. They went together into the Amazon in 1848 before they
split to go their seperate ways within Amazonia. Bates spent 11 years and discovered over
14,712 different species, 8,000 of them new to science. Wallace studied for four years and
the species he found led him to develop a theory on evolution through natural selection
much like Charles Darwin in the Galapagos. In 1858, Darwin and Wallace both delivered
papers on to the Linnean Society in London.