Nearly the whole of the investment of manhood, skill, and gold came from Europe. Brazil’s debt to other parts of the world is small. The African slave contributed more towards the opening-up of Brazil than any other race, and it is almost impossible to conceive of a flourishing Brazil without him during at least the first three centuries after Portuguese possession; the Asiatic only came here in noticeable numbers since the beginning of the present century, and the Oriental is not a strong element. North America has done remarkably little for Brazil. With the exception of a few technically skilled individuals, and the ill-fated little colonies which sought a home here after the Civil War in the United States there has been practically no investment in personality until within the last few years, when branches of American businesses have sent resident employees to Brazil: investment in money is still in its infancy so far as Government or State loans[19] are concerned, development work in railways, docks, harbours, or city improvements, and it is only within the last few years that North American money has made timid entry into Brazil for the establishment of industries. The opening of branches of North American financial establishments in Brazil dates only from 1915, and the capital so far employed is insignificant in comparison with that of the powerful European banks, established in South America for a couple of generations. No Brazilian securities were, up to the end of 1916, listed upon the New York Stock Exchange, for the simple reason that there were practically no North American investments in South American securities; but since the war, changes in the world’s finance have induced a lively interest. The British investment in Brazilian securities, apart from many enterprises and businesses of a private nature, were reckoned at the commencement of 1916 at £226,719,052, or the equivalent of about $1,133,595,000. The French investment is estimated at Fr. 1,500,000,000 or some $300,000,000, and that of Belgium, with considerable railway interests, at about half this sum; Germany and Portugal also hold a certain quantity of Brazilian securities.