t from those of the people of
Rio--but equally civil, equally charming to me from the moment I landed
at the handsome railway station.

With a delicious climate--owing to its elevation--with a population of
energetic people chiefly of Italian origin, instead of the apathetic
mixture of Portuguese and negro, S. Paulo was indeed the most flourishing
city of the Brazilian Republic. Its yearly development was enormous.
Architecturally it was gradually becoming modified and improved, so that
in a few years it will be a very beautiful city indeed. Already the city
possessed beautiful avenues and a wonderful theatre.

[Illustration: Senador Alcindo Guanabara, a great Literary Genius
and Patriot of Brazil.]

Everybody knows what an important part the enterprising people of S.
Paulo have played in the expansion and colonization of the central and
southern regions of Brazil. The early activity of the Paulistas--it dates
back to 1531--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, therefore, 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 mo