THE PAULISTAS 
back to 1581 — can be traced from the River Plate on 
the south, to the head waters of the Madeira in Matto 
Grosso on the east, and as far as Piantry on the 
north. 
I cannot indulge here, as I should like to do, in giving 
a complete historical sketch of the amazing daring and 
enterprise of those early explorers and adventurers and 
of their really remarkable achievements. Their raids 
extended to territories of South America which are to-day 
almost impenetrable. It was really wonderful how they 
were able to locate and exploit many of the most 
important mines within an immense radius of their base. 
The history of the famous Bandeiras, under the 
command of Raposo, and composed of Mamelucos 
(crosses of Portuguese and Indians) and Tupy Indians, 
the latter a hardy and bold race, which started out on 
slave-hunting expeditions, is thrilling beyond words and 
reads almost like fiction. The ways of the Bandeirantes 
were sinister. They managed to capture immense 
numbers of slaves, and must have killed as many as they 
were able to bring back, or more. They managed, there¬ 
fore, to depopulate the country almost entirely, the few 
tribes that contrived to escape destruction seeking refuge 
farther west upon the slopes of the Andes. 
Although the Brazilians, even in official statistics, 
estimate the number of pure, savage Indians in the 
interior at several millions, I think that the readers of this 
book will be convinced, as I was in my journey across 
the widest and wildest part of Brazil, that perhaps a 
few hundreds would be a more correct estimate. Count¬ 
ing half-castes, second, third, and fourth crosses, and 
Indians who have entirely adopted Portuguese ways, 
language, and clothes, they may perhaps amount to 
several thousand —- but that is all. 
The Jesuits endeavoured to save the Indians from the 
too-enterprising Bandeirantes, with the result that the 
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