146 UP THE RIVER OF TAPIRS [chap, v 



dog will then last longer. All the breeding is from worth- 

 less dogs, and no dog of proved worth leaves descendants. 

 The country along this river is a fine natural cattle 

 country, and some day it will surely see a great develop- 

 ment. It was opened to development by Colonel 

 Rondon only five or six years ago. Already an 

 occasional cattle-ranch is to be found along the banks. 

 When railroads are built into these interior portions 

 of Matto Grosso the whole region will grow and thrive 

 amazingly — and so will the railroads. The growth wiU 

 not be merely material. An immense amount wiQ be 

 done in education ; using the word education in its 

 broadest and most accurate sense, as applying to both 

 mind and spirit, to both the child and the man. 

 Colonel Rondon is not merely an explorer. He has 

 been, and is now, a leader in the movement for the 

 vital betterment of his people, the people of Matto 

 Grosso. The poorer people of the back country every- 

 where suffer because of the harsh and improper laws of 

 debt. In practice these laws have resulted in establish- 

 ing a system of peonage, such as has grovim up here 

 and there in our own nation. A radical change is 

 needed in this matter ; and the Colonel is fighting for 

 the change. In school matters the Colonel has precisely 

 the ideas of our vpisest and most advanced men and 

 women in the United States. Cherrie — who is not only 

 an exceedingly efficient naturalist and explorer in the 

 tropics, but is also a thoroughly good citizen at home — 

 is the chairman of the school board of the town of 

 Newfane, in Vermont. He and the Colonel, and 

 Kermit and I, talked over school matters at length, and 

 were in hearty accord as to the vital educational needs of 

 both Brazil and the United States: the need of combining 

 industrial with purely mental training, and the need of 



