Not content with this, however, and urged on by the rapacity of Julio César Arana and his accomplices, they forced José Cabrera, owner of Nueva Granada, to sell out to them at an insignificant price by threats of killing him, by shooting at him from ambush, by forcibly taking away his Indians, and by the other methods for which this company is known.[105] The next step in the progress of the syndicate was the beginning of a systematic persecution of the three remaining Colombian establishments of Ordoñez, Serrano, and Gonzalez, with the object of making them abandon the region and then taking possession of their properties. This persecution took the form of robberies of their merchandise, rubber, and Indians, murders of their employees, refusals to sell them supplies, and all other vile expedients that cunning could suggest. The Colombians held on, however, in spite of these persecutions, and it was not until 1908 that the black flag of this criminal company, planted over their dead bodies, finally waved over the whole of this unfortunate region. In 1905 Julio César went to England and succeeded in interesting some London gentlemen in the "possessions" of the J. C. Arana and Hermanos Company in this region. An accountant was sent out to examine the _books_, which were apparently found to be satisfactory, and on October 1, 1907, the Peruvian Amazon Rubber Company, Ltd., was formed, with a capital of £1,000,000 sterling, divided, according to the prospectus, into 300,000 7 per cent. participating preference shares at £1 each and 700,000 ordinary shares, also at £1 each. In 1908 the word "Rubber" was stricken out, and this syndicate of crime is now known as the Peruvian Amazon Company, Ltd. Having failed in their attempt to foist upon the public their worthless shares, they decided to increase the assets of the company. This was done in 1908[106] by the simple process of collecting a small army of their assassins and murdering the already mentioned Colombians and their employees and taking possession of their establishments. Serrano, Gonzalez, and their employees were murdered in cold blood, their women were added to the harems of the employees of the company, their Indians were enslaved, their rubber and merchandise stolen, and their establishments taken possession of. Ordoñez succeeded in escaping with his life, but had to abandon everything else--his rubber, his house, his Indians--to the agents of the company, who are now in full possession of everything and are exploiting the properties of their unfortunate victims. Let us now take a glance at the system pursued by this "civilising company" in the exploitation of the products of this region--that is, the exploitation of the rubber and of the Indians.