200 AMAZONIA AND LA PLATA. 



lished himself on the inland plateaux far from the sea-coast. So early as 1532 a 

 fortified station was founded at Piratiuinga (" Dried Fish "), near the spot where 

 was afterwards built the city of S. Paulo. In 1ÔÔ2 the Jesuits arrived and 

 took up their residence in the midst of the Indians, laying the foundations of 

 S. Paulo, which was destined to eclipse the earlier settlement of Santo Andres 

 de Piratininga. 



But the inevitable conflict soon broke out between the civil and ecclesiastical 

 elements. The free colonists, eager for wealth, had begun to enslave the natives, 

 employing them either in cultivating the land or in the quest of gold ; but the 

 priests, while also utilising their labour, strove at least to protect them from 

 violence and enforced servitude. On the other hand the Jesuits, regardless of 

 political frontiers, continued to work in unison on both sides of the Hispano- 

 Portuguese boundary, and advantage was readily taken of this alliance to charge 

 the missionaries with treason when they tried to prevent or to punish the incur- 

 sions of the Paulist handeirantes in the Paraguay and Bolivian missions. Hence 

 constant struggles, in which the Jesuits were at last worsted, although often up- 

 held by the central power and always by the authority of the Roman pontiff. 

 Thus a free hand was given to the Paolistas, who, in their slave-hunting raids, 

 crossed rivers and mountains, ranging right up to and even beyond the Amazons 

 to the slopes of the equatorial Andes. Muratori estimates at two millions the 

 number of Indians captured by these predatory bands in the course of three 

 hundred years. 



This indomitable energy displayed in their kidnapping expeditions they now 

 apply to more peaceful pursuits, and since the middle of the nineteenth century 

 they have distinguished themselves in this respect beyond all other natives of 

 Brazil. To them more especially the country owes its pre-eminence over all rivals 

 as a coffee -growing land. They also take the foremost position in the industries ; 

 their railway system is the most fully developed, and they have even outstripped 

 Minas Geraes and Rio de Janeiro in the preparation of the typographical chart to 

 the scale of T¥TrVo"¥- An expedition appointed to explore one of the great 

 routes destined one day to connect their territory with the Argentine regions, 

 has even drawn, to the scale of -5-0^,^0^0"' a map of the whole course of the Rios 

 Itapiringa and Paranapanema. 



This map is certainly superior to those of the same category published by 

 Castelnau for the Tapajoz and Araguaya basins, by Ilalfeld for the Rio S. Fran- 

 cisco valley, and by Liais for that of the Rio das Velhas. And these cartogra- 

 phic labours themselves are but the outward and tangible proof of the profound 

 investigations carried on by numerous explorers and students in every branch of 

 natural history. 



The Disputed Zone. 



Despite its excellent soil and climate, and its numerous navigable waters, the 

 upper Parana basin is the least known region in this section of the republic. 



