Chapter · Brazil · Land
Eleven years on the Amazon
What a naturalist brings back when he stays long enough
An Englishman lands on the Amazon in 1848 and does not leave until 1859. His account is not an expedition but a residence, and that is what makes it singular: he describes what only staying reveals.
Context first
A lesson to read before the others, to set the scene.
- The place
- The era
- The people
The lessons in this chapter
- 1Rather less than a mile wideThe largest river in the world passes through a strait of 1,738 yards, and the book’s next sentence explains why that figure does not settle anything. It is the correction, not the measurement, that makes a good witness.9 min
- 2Forty-eight million eggsForty-eight million eggs destroyed a year, arrived at by counting jars of oil and dividing. The same book adds that the vultures may have done more, and leaves the reader holding both.10 min
- 3Eight out of ten were newTen ant species met, eight of them nameless: that is what eight thousand new species means. The same man gives his figures with their reservations and his opinion about the future with none.10 min
How these lessons are written
Each lesson starts from first-hand sources: Wikisource, Gallica, Persée, archives, museums and institutes. A fact without a source does not get written, and every lesson lists its own as direct links.
The rhythm
A lesson is five minutes of cards and four questions. Those questions then come back the next day, then at 3, 7, 21 and 60 days, and that return is what makes it stick. One a day is enough, and you can do several in a row.