The Jesuit friars in Brazil have had terrible charges laid at their doors, but they and the Franciscan friars did noble work in the forests and the rivers among the savage or humble denizens. Had their work been allowed to continue, it might have flourished greatly. Among the missionaries the name of the Padre Samuel Fritz stands out (as did that of Las Casas in the Cordillera and the coast). Fritz gave the greater part of his life, from 1686, in work among these unfortunate Indians. But the fighting between the Spaniards and the Portuguese, around the forts built near Manaos, destroyed this work. The Portuguese dispatched armed bands against the Spaniards, and destroyed the missions and the settlements, waging war in their jealous pretensions over this savage territory. It will be recollected by students of history that the Popes--among them Paul III--strove to protect the Indians of the Amazon. This Pontiff, in 1537, issued a decree to the effect that "the Indians were men like others." Later, alarmed by the atrocities which were perpetrated in Mexico and Peru upon the aborigines, the Pope sanctioned slavery as a means of avoiding such horrors. In 1639 Pope Urban VIII excommunicated the captors and vendors of Indians, but later the Portuguese Government allowed the establishment of slavery. Under Dom John VI, the Indians were to be considered as "orphans" in the eyes of the law, and to be protected. But the present condition of the Amazon Indians is one in which they appear to have no civil or legal rights. As regards modern missionary work here, this is full of difficulty, for if it is to be carried out by Protestants it involves a clashing with the Roman Catholic priesthood, which naturally occupies the whole continent. The work, however, whether by Protestant or Catholic, is not by any means neglected, although much greater effort is needful. Such effort should go hand in hand with economic elevation--also a difficult problem, due, in part, to the attitude of vested interests in the field. It would but weary us to dwell upon the economic possibilities of the Amazon Valley in detail. Its climate and the fertility of its soil would render possible the cultivation of all those tropical products which are needful to the growing and hungry world, which, complaining that the cost of life is unbearable, is yet unable to set its hands to the fuller development of the great fallow areas, among which lies the vast Amazon territory. Here, then, is work for the future. * * * * * We now turn to the huge Republic of Brazil, mistress of the greater part of Amazonia, and of much else. FOOTNOTES: [17] _Peru_, op. cit., where full details are given. [18] _Ecuador_, op. cit. [19] _Bolivia_, op. cit. [20] _Bolivia_, op. cit., where a full account of the rubber industry will be found. [21]