al. These conquerors
of the continent have not in the main succeeded in establishing either
stable forms of government or high types of civilisation. Furthermore,
the mixed races--the MESTIZOS or METIS, as they are called, the
descendants of the earlier Europeans and the natives--instead of
advancing in civilisation have for some time past been retrograding.
Then, again, there is a large negro element, the descendants of
Africans once imported as slaves, to still further complicate the race
question; and there is a considerable element partly negro and partly
Indian. In only one state, Argentina, can affairs be said to be really
prosperous, and even in Argentina the civilisation developed by its
prosperity is gross and material rather than refined and intellectual.
The next most prosperous and important states are Brazil and Chile.
Perhaps Uruguay, though the smallest of all the states, should be
placed after Argentina. The remaining independent states of the
continent--Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, and
Paraguay--are all states of the prevailing South American type. Their
governments are more or less unstable. They are terribly burdened with
debt, and their credit is such that they must pay high rates of
interest. The civilisation once introduced among their native races by
the zeal of Spanish missionaries is deteriorating if not vanishing.
And even among their leading classes there is much to be desired in
the observance of the ordinary principles of right and wrong.

EUROPEAN IMMIGRATION IN SOUTH AMERICA

All the South American states enumerated above, with the exception of
Brazil, were first taken possession of and "settled" by the Spanish,
and the Spanish language still remains in them the language of
government, education, and society. Brazil was first taken possession
of and "settled" by the Portuguese, and in Brazil the Portuguese
language prevails, just as elsewhere in the continent the Spanish
language prevails. Among the natives many different languages are
found, but in Brazil a "common language" is used, one introduced by
the original Portuguese missionaries, and understood by nearly all the
tribes. Between Brazil and Venezuela is a triangular piece of country
called Guiana, which, unlike the rest of South America, is still under
the control of European powers. It consists of three parts--French
Guiana, Dutch Guiana, and British Guiana--colonies of France, Holland,
and Great Britain, respect