second battle of Bemis's Heights, the key and sure forerunner of the victory of Saratoga. But that many-headed, longeared monster, the public, seldom takes time to think. It catches up the first cry, and glorifies the hero of the hour, no matter at whose expense. If the American people thought Gates a great man on such a slight evidence, he was surely justified in thinking himself one. He threw himself heart and soul into the intrigues of the day against Washington, aiming, no doubt, to eclipse him, and become commanderin-chief in his stead. The particulars of the Conway cabal, that disgraceful episode in our history, are too well known to need any further allusion to them. It is enough to say that they were unsuccessful, thanks to the integrity and good sense of Washington. Gates's share in that affair was known to him, but he magnanimously forgave it. The capture of General Lincoln at Charleston leaving the Southern department without a commander, Congress precipitately bestowed that post upon Gates, to the disappointment of Washington, who had intended to recommend Greene to that appointment. This was in June, 1780. Gates, who was at that time on his estate in Virginia, accepted the post with avidity, dreaming of new triumphs. His old associate and neighbor, Charles Lee, who was then living in retirement, ruined by his equivocal part in the battle of Monmouth, gave him an ominous caution at parting: "Beware that your Northern laurels do not change to Southern willows." But he heeded it not. He arrived at Deep River, the camp of De Kalb, on the 25th of July, 1780, and took command of the American forces. They were at that time in sad straits for want of provisions, not having a day's store in advance. Notwithstanding this, and the sterile country through which they would have to march, Gates determined to lead them at once to Camden, where Lord Rawdon was posted with the British army. Colonel Williams, the adjutant of De Kalb, recommended a more circuitous route than the one he had resolved to take, but to no purpose. fixed in his first determination. True, the troops were without provisions, but then his wagons, laden with supplies, would soon overtake them. He hurried them He was on, not even giving them time to rest; for several days in succession they were without meat, bread, or flour, living entirely on green apples, corn, and whatever végetables they could lay hands on. They crossed the Pedee River on the 3d of August, and were joined by a handful of Virginia regulars, who had been wandering about the country since the disaster at Charleston, and on the 7th their numbers were increased by a juncture with the North Carolina militia. They encamped on the 13th at Rugeley's Mills, or Clermont, about twelve miles from Camden, and on the following day were reinforced by a brigade of seven hundred Virginia militia. The forces under Gates amounted in all to three thousand and fifty-two; more than two thirds of them, however, were militia. On the approach of the Americans Lord Rawdon concentrated his forces at Camden; on the 13th he was joined by Lord Cornwallis, who had hastened thither from Charleston. The number of British, before the arrival of Cornwallis, was something more than two thousand, including officers. About five hundred of these were militia, and Tory refugees from North Carolina. A little inferior to the Americans in point of numbers, the British force was superior from its having a greater proportion of regular soldiers. On the evening of the 14th Gates moved with his main body to take post at a deep stream about seven miles from Camden, intending to attack Rawdon or his redoubts should he march out to repel General Sumter, who, after harassing the enemy at several points, was now endeavoring to cut off their supplies from Charleston. By a singular coincidence Lord Cornwallis, of whose arrival, by the way, Gates seems to have known nothing, so remiss was he in collecting information, sallied forth from Camden to attack the American camp at Clermont. The two armies blundered upon each other at two o'clock at night; a skirmish took place in the dark, and a few prisoners were taken on both sides. From these the respective commanders learned the nature of the forces they had stumbled upon. They halted, formed their troops for action, and waited for daylight before renewing hostilities. Gates was astounded when he learned that he was opposed by Cornwallis and three thousand men; but there was no help for 296 it; for, as one of his officers said at the council of war: "It was too late then to do anything but fight." 66 His battle of Camden. The caution of the cynical Lee had not been in vain. Northern laurels had turned to Southern willows." From Charlottesville he proceeded to Hillsborough, one hundred and eighty miles from Camden, where he made a stand, and rallied his scattered forces. About this time he received intelligence of the death of his only son, and shortly after official dispatches informing him that he was superseded in command. Wash condoling with him in his domestic mis- He declared The enemy advanced in column at dayThe break on the morning of the 16th. deputy adjutant general ordered the artillery to open a fire upon them, and rode to Gates, who was in the rear of the line, to inform him of the cause of the firing. Gates ordered a brigade of Virginia militia to attack them while in the act of displaying; they attempted to do so, but discovered that the right wing of the ene-ington wrote him a sympathizing letter, my was already in line. A few sharp shooters ran forward to post themselves behind some trees within forty or fifty yards of the British, and draw their fire from the militia, but the expedient failed. The enemy came on shouting and firing; the militia threw down their muskets and fled. The panic spread to the North Carolina militia in the center of the American line, and they soon followed. Gates and his officers made several attempts to rally them, but the tide of flight swept them back with the fugitives. The day was hazy, and there being no wind to carry off the smoke nothing could be distinctly seen; so, supposing that the regular troops were likewise dispersed, Gates gave up all for lost, and ordered a retreat from the field. The regulars, however, kept the field gallantly; repeatedly broken, they as often rallied, and braved even the point of the bayonet. They were at last thrown into confusion by the cavalry of Tarleton, and driven into the woods and swamps. Their commander, Baron De Kalb, was taken prisoner, after receiving eleven bayonet wounds, and in the course of a few days died. Gates hoped to rally a sufficient force at Clermont to cover the retreat of the regulars, but the further the militia fled the more they were dispersed, until at last the generals were abandoned by all but their aids. To add to his mortification, he learned that while he had been retreating Sumter had been completely successful in his expedition, having reduced the enemy's redoubt on the Wateree, and captured one hundred prisoners and forty loaded wagons. As Gates had no means of co-operating with him, he sent orders to him to retire in the best manner that he could, while he himself proceeded to the village of Charlotte, about sixty miles distant. He was superseded by General Greene on the 2d of December. Congress had ordered a court of inquiry on his conduct, but Greene and his officers determined that there was not a sufficient number of general officers in camp to sit upon it; urging that the recent death of his son unfitted him from entering upon the task of his defense, and that it would be indelicate in the extreme to press on him an When Gates was investigation which his honor could not permit him to defer. informed of the order of Congress he was urged to have the court of inquiry convened, but was at length brought to acquiesce in the decision of the council of war for the postponement. He declared, however, that he could not think of serving until the matter should have been investigated, so he resolved to pass the interim The conduct of Greene in on his estate. the whole business was as considerate as that of Washington, and it completely subdued the heart of the now humbled Gates. Thus the conqueror of Saratoga lost the He retired to Berkley, where he remained till 1782. His command was then restored to him, but the war was virtually over. He resided on his estate in Virginia till 1790, when he removed to New York, and was elected a member of the Legislature. He died on the 10th of April, 1806, in the seventy-seventh year of his age. THE VALLEY OF THE AMAZON. BRAZIL, with five other Spanish re publics, own in the valley of the Amazon more than two million square miles of land, intersected in every direction by many thousand miles of what might be called canal navigation. Large ships may reach the falls of the gigantic rivers in this country. to August, and this is a peculiarity of the country everywhere at the eastern foot of the Andes mountains. Next you reach the climate for rice, India rubber, sarsaparilla, gum-copal, cocoa, Brazilian nutmeg, tonka beans, ginger, arrow-root, black pepper, tapioca, indigo, arrotte, valuable dyes and drugs, and cabinet woods of the finest grain and polish. Here dwell the wild cow, ant-eater, the beautiful black tiger, the curious electric eel, the anaconda, boa-constrictor, the alligator, monkeys in great variety, with birds of the most brilliant plumage, and insects of the gayest colors and strangest forms. Here human life may be sustained with scarcely any labor. Up the tributaries of the Amazon, and midway between their source and mouth, on each side, stretch wide savannas, where herds of cattle wander and supply the immense traffic in hides. At the sources of the southern branches are the ranges of mountains which produce vast treasures of diamonds and other precious stones. It is a melancholy reflection to think that, with the exception of the savage tribes, this fine country is almost a wilder The lands are of unrivaled fertility from their formation and geographical position, and produce almost everything necessary to the support and comfort of man. Upon the top and eastern slope of the Andes lie concealed incalculable mines of silver, iron, coal, copper, and quicksilver, and waiting only for science and human industry to develop their extent and importance. Many of the streams, as they dash from the lofty Cordilleras, wash goldness, and has not more than one inhabitant from their sides, depositing the precious ore in the hollows as they roll on. Barley, quinsea, and potatoes grow in the colder regions, while wheat, rye, maize, clover, and tobacco, the products of the temperate zone, deck the mountain side and beautify the valleys. Upon the wide and elevated plains immense herds of sheep, alpacas, llamas, and vicunas pasture, yielding wool of the finest and long-wilderness, with these solitary places, in est staple. for every ten square miles of land! a country, too, capable of yielding support and luxury to many millions of civilized people! It is now in the hands of Brazil, and she is not Protestant and strong enough for the great work of civilization in these vast and bountiful regions. Freely admit the Yankees here, with our steamers, plows, axes, and hammers, and this the beautiful imagery of Scripture, would literally bud and blossom as the rose. Nothing will benefit the commerce of the wide world more than the free navigation of the Amazon and other South American rivers. Their capacity for trade is inconceivably great; and only introduce Christian settlements, cultivation, and steam, the magnificent Amazon would exhibit life, power, and progress next to our own boasted Mississippi. The wide valley of the Amazon would become one of the most enchanting regions on the face of the earth. Still farther toward the ocean, but only for a few miles, the eye of the traveler sees for the first time the beautiful coffee bush, with its dark green leaves, pure white blossoms, and gay red fruit; the delicious plantain, its large waving fanshaped leaf and immense branches of golden fruit. Here, too, the sugar cane grows in rich luxuriance along with the gay yellow blossoms and snow-white cotton bolls, and oranges, lemons, bananas, pine apples, and melons, all luscious fruits of the torrid zone. The climate is pleasant and healthy, free from flies and musquitoes, The Madeira River flows through the which infest the lower part of the tributa- empire of Brazil, keeping a northerly ries and nearly the whole course of the course; at its head are a number of islAmazon. There is much rain from Marchands, and here is the outlet of streams flow ing from the Andes and Brazils, which, | ited in a nest, but laid at two different collected together, form the Madeira. Its first falls are three quarters of a mile long, shelving, and the whole bed of the river is a mixture of rough rocks in all positions on a solid foundation of granite. The next falls are two miles long, and boats, in descending, are launched down one shoot of twenty feet, nearly perpendicular, by means of ropes in the bow and stern. Four miles farther down are the Periquitos Rapids, taking their name from the number of parrots in the adjacent woods. These birds are green, scarlet, and yellow, with long tails; they fly in pairs, and make loud cries when alarmed. The falls or cataracts continue not less than seventeen miles, and at the foot of some, soundings were made with five hundred and ten feet and no bottom. Twelve days are consumed by boats in descending these rapids, and five months have been spent in ascending the same distance with a cargo in small boats. Brazilians visit the Madeira River to gather turtle's eggs, from which they manufacture oil. The animal deposits its eggs in the sand at the beginning of the dry season, July and August, in holes four feet deep, when the heat of the sun hatches the young. From one hundred and fifty to two hundred eggs are depos times; but such is the wonderful instinct of the turtle as to calculate exactly the proper depth of the sand and power of the sun to hatch all the eggs at the same time. The youngest rises from the bottom of its birth-place to join the one hatched at the surface, and both together crawl off to the river's edge, for swimming, and to meet the floods coming down from the distant Andes soon after they are hatched. The oil men dig up the eggs, while fresh, exposing them like potato-diggers, while others gather them in baskets. Then they are deposited in a canoe and thoroughly broken with forked sticks, and water poured upon them; the oil rising on the surface is skimmed off and boiled. Filled in large earthen jars of four or five gallons, the oil finds markets on the Amazon. While it is manteca, or butter, and fresh, it is used for cooking, but is generally consumed in lamps. Turtles are said to be scarce. The Brazilians call this species Tortawaga Grande; but there are others of a less valuable description. Huts are built in the sand for the accommodation of the hunters against the powerful heat of the sun and the rains, and their life is a hard one, being exposed to fevers, want of provisions, and bad water. The Madeira is by far the largest tributary of the Amazon. Once past its cascades, about four hundred and fifty miles from its mouth, it becomes navigable for large vessels by Beni and Marmore, two great tributaries, into the heart of Bolivia; and through Guapore or Itenes, the same important stream also opens the way to the rich Brazilian provinces. The Portuguese astronomers, whose duty was to examine the frontiers, estimated that the Madeira drained a surface of forty-four thousand square leagues. A beautiful apple-shaped island, with deep green foliage and sandy beach, lies at the mouth of the great serpentine Madeira, where it empties into the Amazon. Its mouth opens from two channels, which are also divided by a small island. Its western stream is three quarters of a mile wide and from seventy to eighty feet deep; the banks are high and well wooded, but bear no marks of civilization. The eastern mouth is a mile and a quarter wide. From the foot of the "falls" to the termination of the Madeira is five hundred miles by the river, and vessels of six feet draft may navigate the whole distance the year round. With a free navigation, a cargo from the United across the Cordilleras, a month sooner than a ship would deliver them from Europe. States could reach these rapids in thirty | Madeira route could reach the Pacific coast, days; then by a mule road through Brazil the goods could pass from the lower to the upper falls in less than seven, a distance of one hundred and eighty miles. From this point they would be landed, by steamers on the river Marmore, at Vinchuta, five hundred miles, in four days, and in ten days more conveyed to the base of the Andes, making fifty-two in the passage from New York to Cochabamba, or sixty to La Paz, the commercial emporium of Bolivia, where cargoes now arrive from Baltimore in one hundred and eighteen days via, Cape Horn. Goods by this The Amazon is the monarch of rivers, rising among the Andes mountains in Peru, not far from the Pacific Ocean. Running eastward at least three thousand miles, and in its long journey receiving two hundred tributaries, some of which equal the Nile and the Danube, at last it mingles with the Atlantic directly under the equator. Some of its tributaries have a course of five or six hundred leagues. What a noble and magnificent stream! In its immense journey, at one |