“The Amazon, Land Without History,” by Euclides da Cunha Study Guide
How is humankind perceived in relation to the Amazon?
"Humankind is still an impertinent interloper here. We have arrived uninvited and unprepared for, while nature was still in the process of setting up this vast, magnificent salon." (P. 4: General Impressions Chapter)
What significant event occurred on the night of July 29, 1866, regarding the Amazon's land?
A "fallen land" along the Amazon's left bank formed a continuous line fifty leagues in length 🌎🌜. {Quote: "On the night of July 29, 1866, the "fallen land" along the left bank of the Amazon constituted a continuous line fifty leagues in length."(See P. 10 of General Impressions, "The Amazon: Land Without History")}
What sensation does Amazon's fauna 🍃🌿🌳 give?
A Paleozoic impression due to its ancient and monstrous nature 🐍🐊. {Quote: "In it there awakens a definite sensation of having returned to the far-off times of the coal swamps. Indeed, the entire fauna of the Amazon has that same ancient stamp and follows that same law of the dominance of the reptilian family."(See P. 4 of "General Impressions" in "The Amazon: Land Without History")}
What is believed to exist under the forest cover of the Amazon?
A ruin: the decomposed remnants of a land mass that once stretched from the coasts of Belém to Macapá 🌳🍂. {Quote: "Martius's prior conjecture, what exists under the cover of the forest is a ruin: the decomposed remnants of the land mass that once stretched from the coasts of Belém to the coasts of Macapá."(See P. 8 of General Impressions, "The Amazon: Land Without History")}
What is the initial feeling when seeing the Amazon for real?
A sense of disillusionment compared to the idealized image many hold from tales of travelers (See P. 1 of General Impressions)
How is Amazonia described in relation to scientific understanding?
Amazonia is depicted as the most studied yet least well-known region in America. 🔎🌎 (See P. 5 of "General Impressions" in "The Amazon: Land Without History")
How is Marajó Island described?
As a mirage land with selected flora and unstable silt deposits 🌴🏝️. (See PP. 7-8 of "General Impressions" in "The Amazon: Land Without History")
How is the Amazon river's behavior described in its course adjustments?
As an uncertain path, similar to a lost wanderer guessing directions and making arbitrary turns 🌊. {Quote: "They resemble the uncertain path that might be taken by a lost wanderer guessing at directions, turning every which way, suddenly throwing himself along a course arbitrarily chosen."(See PP. 10-11 of General Impressions, "The Amazon: Land Without History")}
Who was Euclides da Cunha's?
Euclides da Cunha (1866-1909) was a Brazilian 🇧🇷 journalist (born from Portuguese parents 🇵🇹), sociologist, and engineer. He was the author of "A Land Without History" & "Os Sertões." ✍️📑 {‼️*️⃣ Da Cunha's book "Land Without History" was first published in Portuguese in 1909. The book is made up of eight essays that describe the Amazonian rivers and the ever-changing nature that surrounds them. The book also provides a view of the ever-changing ecology of the Amazon, and a compelling testimony to the Brazilian colonial enterprise, and its imperialist tendencies with regard to neighboring nation-states.}
What did Herbert Smith imagine the Amazon's role was regarding land formation?
He believed the Amazon was building a new continent by depositing sediment into the Atlantic 🌍🛠️.Quote: "Herbert Smith, deceived by the powerful mass of muddy water that the traveler observes at high sea even before glimpsing Brazil itself, imagined that it had a truly prodigious task: that of building a new continent."(See P. 8 of General Impressions, "The Amazon: Land Without History")
How did the American 🇺🇸 geographer describe the lifecycle stages of rivers?
He described them as having stages like an organism's life 🏞️🐘🐛 {Quote: "revealing them to be possessed of an ebullient infancy, a rebellious adolescence, a self-controlled maturity, and a melancholy old age or decrepitude" 🌪️🌳🍂 (See P. 18 of "Rivers in Abandon" from "The Amazon: Land Without History").}
What did Alexandre Rodrigues Ferreira observe during his voyage along the Amazon?
He observed ruins and the remnants of past efforts at civilization, including a grand but deteriorating Palace of the Demarcations 🏛️🍃. {Quote: "In the village of Barcelos, capital of that remote district, he encountered the tangible image of a typically Amazonian progress in the proud Palace of the Demarcations: grand, imposing, monumental, and covered with cogongrass."(See P. 11 of General Impressions, "The Amazon: Land Without History")}
Who are some notable minds that have studied the Amazon?
Humboldt, Emilio Goeldi, Wallace, Mawe, and Bates, among others 📚. {Quote: "Not even those exceptional minds, Humboldt, Wallace, and Bates, could resist the fascination."}
How does the Amazon affect the shores that run from the Paru to the Araguari?
It causes these shores to continually recede farther apart due to its strong currents 🌊⏳. {Quote: "At the end of its six-thousand-mile course, its turbid current becomes even muddier with earth breaking off from banks that continually collapse, making the shores that run from the Paru to the Araguari recede farther and farther apart."(See P. 8 of General Impressions, "The Amazon: Land Without History")}
What does the chapter "General Impressions" primarily describe?
It offers an in-depth look at the Amazon's vast landscape, emphasizing its ever-changing rivers and the challenge it presents to human understanding and influence. The chapter paints a picture of the Amazon's ancientness, its changing rivers, and its influence on both science and imagination 🌳🌊 (See Chapter "General Impressions" from "The Amazon: Land Without History" by Euclides da Cunha).
What significant observation did Professor Hartt make about the Amazon's waters?
It transports more mud and sand than an imaginary continuous train 🚂. (See P. 7 of "General Impressions" in "The Amazon: Land Without History")
How does the visual aspect of the Amazon contrast with other landscapes? 🌄
It's primarily horizontal, lacking a vertical vitality. (See P. 4: General Impressions Chapter)
Does the Amazon river culminate in a delta?
No, it doesn't form a delta like other primary rivers 🚫🌊. (See P. 7 of "General Impressions" in "The Amazon: Land Without History")
What challenge did Professor Hartt face while studying the Amazon?
Professor Hartt felt unmoored from the concise formulas of science and found himself carried away into fantasy. He felt the need to draw himself back to his scientific roots, expressing, "I am not a poet. I speak the prose of my science. Revenons!" (See P. 5 of "General Impressions" in "The Amazon: Land Without History")
How is the Amazon different from other great rivers in its interaction with land?
Rather than shaping and producing new terrains, it predominantly erodes and devastates the land 🌊🏞️. (See P. 7 of "General Impressions" in "The Amazon: Land Without History")
What are the key takeaways about the Amazon River from the "General Impressions" chapter?
The Amazon River is described as complex and evolving, having a horizontal perspective, being unstable in its flow, and carrying a historical significance that's hard to fathom due to its ancient and vast nature 🏞️📘 (See Chapter "General Impressions" from "The Amazon: Land Without History").
To which ancient time does the Amazon's flora take one back?
The Carboniferous era. (See P. 5 of "General Impressions" in "The Amazon: Land Without History") "...as though they had invaded the recesses of one of those mute Carboniferous forests the existence of which is known to us through the retrospective gaze of the geologist." (P. 5 of "General Impressions" in "The Amazon: Land Without History") 📖 {The Carboniferous Period was a geologic period of Earth's history that lasted 60 million years. It was the fifth period of the Paleozoic Era, which was the first of the three eras since the rise of complex life. The Carboniferous Period began 358.9 million years ago and ended 298.9 million years ago.}
What is the significance of the Purus River's profile in "Rivers in Abandon"?
The Purus River provides an example of a river that closely follows a theoretical model, representing a unique instance of river behavior. Its profile over its long course is seen as a parabolic arm, and understanding this helps in predicting its behavior and patterns 📈🌊 (See "Rivers in Abandon" Chapter from "The Amazon: Land Without History" by Euclides da Cunha).
What is one of the prime examples showcasing this parabolic curve in rivers?
The Purus river 🏞️ provides a prime example 🏞️⤴️⤵️ {Quote: "One of the best examples is provided by the Purus." Its profile over its 3,210-kilometer course closely resembles the parabolic arm (See P. 20 of "Rivers in Abandon" from "The Amazon: Land Without History").}
In "Rivers in Abandon," how is the life cycle of rivers presented?
The chapter introduces the "life cycle" of rivers, exploring their stages from infancy to maturity, highlighting their challenges, adaptations, and impact on the surrounding land. The river's behavior and patterns can be understood by studying its curve and flow 🌊⏳ (See Chapter "Rivers in Abandon" from "The Amazon: Land Without History" by Euclides da Cunha).
Which bird in the Amazon symbolizes evolutionary transition, and where might one find it?
The cigana, a bird seen along the rivers, bears a reptilian claw beneath its wings, and can be found perching on the flexible boughs of the oirana willows. (See PP. 4-5 of "General Impressions" in "The Amazon: Land Without History")
Which coastlines does the author find more artistically superior to Amazonia?
The coastline that runs from Cabo Frio to Ponta de Munduba in Brazil 🇧🇷 (See P. 3 of "General Impressions" in "The Amazon: Land Without History")
How is the Amazon's impact on the "firmes" described during high water seasons?
The land visibly increases in height with each high-water season until it's torn down again by the river's strong currents 🌊📈. {Quote: "It gains height from one high-water season to the next, the tall "walls" rising, the marshlands and sloughs drying up, to define the rising lands called firmes."(See P. 10 of General Impressions, "The Amazon: Land Without History")}
How do the Amazon's waters impact the land?
The massive volume of the Amazon waters leads to land destruction 🌊. {Quote: "With the Amazon the opposite is the case. What is foremost in it is the prohibitive, the destructive function. Its enormous volume destroys the land." (See P. 8 of "General Impressions" in "The Amazon: Land Without History")}
What is the parabolic curve's significance in describing a river's profile?
The parabolic curve is significant in river profiling. ↪️↩️ {Quote: "That is the geometrical expression of a complex mechanical fact." This curve represents the definitive form of the longitudinal section of rivers at the end of their evolution 📐 (See P. 20 of "Rivers in Abandon" from "The Amazon: Land Without History").}
How are the rivers in the Amazon described? 🏞️
The rivers are unstable, wandering aimlessly in meanders, and form temporary islands and lakes called sacados. 🌊 (See P. 4 of "General Impressions" in "The Amazon: Land Without History")
How has the Amazonian region historically influenced distant civilizations?
The wild Amazonian region has always drawn the attention of distant civilizations, from early colonial times, attracting venerable bishops, elegant captains, and lucid scientists 📚🌍. {Quote: "The wild Amazonian region has always had the gift of impressing far-off civilization. From the earliest years of the colony the most imposing of expeditions and most solemn of pastoral visits have sought its unknown lands preferentially."(See P. 11 of "General Impressions" from "The Amazon: Land Without History")}
How are the newly-formed islands in the Amazon characterized?
They are formed only to be later destroyed or relocated by the river's currents 🏝️🌊. {Quote: "Worn away by the very currents that produced them, the islands are decomposed upstream and reconstituted farther down."(See P. 10 of General Impressions, "The Amazon: Land Without History")}
How are Amazon's rivers different in their formation compared to others?
They frequently change courses, creating unstable meanders and temporary lakes 🌊. {Quote: "the rivers are still not fixed in their courses. They seem to search vainly for equilibrium by wandering off aimlessly..." (See P. 4 of "General Impressions" in "The Amazon: Land Without History")}
How do the scientific literatures on the Amazon appear?
They seem disjointed, reflecting the region's complex geography 📚🌍. Quote: "These are the literatures of wonder, which always become fantastic, disjointed, and monotonous in their dazzled expositions." (See P. 5 of "General Impressions" in "The Amazon: Land Without History")
Who introduced the "life cycle" concept of rivers, and how did this idea revolutionize geographical studies?
William Morris Davis introduced the "life cycle" 🔁 concept of rivers 🏞️. {Quote: "The American 🇺🇸 geographer William Morris Davis has revealed the 'life cycle' 🔁 of rivers." This concept revolutionized geographical studies by linking river form with the structure of terrain 🌍 (See P. 18 of "Rivers in Abandon" from "The Amazon: Land Without History").}
