THE REGIONS OF PERU 3 



coastal valleys were small and dry and the men who lived there 

 were crowded and poor (sic). The plateau was inhabited by In- 

 dians little better than brutes. Surely I could not think that the 

 fine forest Indian was lower than the so-called civilized Indian of 

 the plateau. There was plenty of room in the forest; and there 

 was wealth if you knew how to get at it. Above all you were far 

 from the annoying officials of the government, and therefore could 

 do much as you pleased so long as you paid your duties on rubber 

 and did not wantonly kill too many Indians. 



For all his kindly tolerance of men and conditions he yet found 

 fault with the government. "They" neglected to build roads, to 

 encourage colonization, and to lower taxes on the forest products, 

 which were always won at great risk. Nature had done her part 

 well — it was only government that hindered. Moreover, the for- 

 ested region was the land of the future. If Peru was to be a great 

 nation her people would have to live largely upon the eastern 

 plains. Though others spoke of "going in" and "coming out" of 

 the rubber country as one might speak of entering and leaving a 

 dungeon, he always spoke of it as home. Though he now lived 

 in the wilderness he hoped to see the day when plantations cov- 

 ered the plains. A greater Peru and the forest were inseparable 

 ideas to him. 



The Eastern Valley Planter 



My second friend lived in one of the beautiful mountain val- 

 leys of the eastern Andes. We walked through his clean cacao 

 orchards and cane fields. Like the man in the forest, he believed 

 in the thorough inefficiency of the government; otherwise why 

 were there no railways for the cheaper transportation of the val- 

 ley products, no dams for the generation of power and the storage 

 of irrigation water, not even roads for mule carts ? Had the gov- 

 ernment been stable and efficient there would now be a dense popu- 

 lation in the eastern valleys. Eevolutions were the curse of these 

 remote sections of the country. The ne'er-do-wells became gen- 

 erals. The loafer you dismissed today might demand ten thou- 

 sand dollars tomorrow or threaten to destroy your plantation. 



