AMONG THE RUBBER MEN 311 



a few chickens and ducks. They planted patches of 

 mandioc, maize, sugar-cane, rice, beans, squashes, pine- 

 apples, 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 usually 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 actually 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 

 wUderness-winners. No continent is ever really con- 

 quered, 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, but for some few miles, at 

 some time or other, he breaks new ground ; and his 



