TO THE AMAZON AND HOME 323 



a few chickens and ducks. They planted patches of man- 

 dioc, maize, sugar-cane, rice, beans, squashes, pineapples, 

 bananas, lemons, oranges, melons, peppers; and various 

 purely native fruits and vegetables, such as the kniabo — 

 a vegetable-fruit growing on the branches of a high bush 

 — which is cooked with meat. They get some game from 

 the forest, and more fish from the river. There is no 

 representative of the government among them — indeed, 

 even now their very existence is barely known to the 

 governmental authorities; and the church has ignored 

 them as completely as the state. When they wish to get 

 married they have to spend several months getting down 

 to and back from Manaos or some smaller city; and usu- 

 ally the first christening and the marriage ceremony are 

 held at the same time. They have merely squatter's right 

 to the land, and are always in danger of being ousted by 

 unscrupulous big men who come in late, but with a title 

 technically straight. The land laws should be shaped so 

 as to give each of these pioneer settlers the land he actu- 

 ally takes up and cultivates, and upon which he makes his 

 home. The small home-maker, who owns the land which 

 he tills with his own hands, is the greatest element of 

 strength in any country. 



These are real pioneer settlers. They are the true 

 wilderness-winners. No continent is ever really conquered, 

 or thoroughly explored, by a few leaders, or exceptional 

 men, although such men can render great service. The 

 real conquest, the thorough exploration and settlement, is 

 made by a nameless multitude of small men of whom the 

 most important are, of course, the home-makers. Each 

 treads most of the time in the footsteps of his predecessors. 



