Page:Maury's New Elements of Geography, 1907.djvu/96

92 Mining is carried on in Colombia, Chile, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Brazil, and Venezuela.

The commerce of South America is important. Coffee, rubber, hides, mate, cotton and sugar are exported from Brazil; sugar, silver, copper and gums from Peru; and nitrate and copper from Chile. Venezuela, Argentina, and Uruguay export cattle products; Chile and Argentina, wheat and wool. The imports are manufactured articles, particularly flour.

1. The inhabitants of South America are native Indians and descendants of Spanish and Portuguese settlers.

On the Pampas and Llanos we find half-wild people, whose occupation is to take care of the cattle that feed on the plains.

The people of Patagonia are very tall and noted for their bravery.

The language of South America, like that of Mexico and Central America, is Spanish. In Brazil, Portuguese is the chief language.

2. Government.—The countries of South America are all republics, except the three colonies of Guiana (ghe-ah'-nah), which belong to England, France, and the Netherlands.

Brazil is the largest and most powerful country of South America. It was first a colony of Portugal, then an empire. In 1889 it became a republic, with a government like ours.

3. Early History.—In 1500, Cabral, a Portuguese, discovered Brazil, and so, until 1822, Brazil belonged to Portugal.

In 1532, Pizarro, a Spaniard, went with a fleet to Peru. It was a splendid empire. The kings were called Incas. They ate and drank from vessels of silver and gold. The one then on the throne was named Atahualpa (at-a-hwhal'-pah).

Pizarro and his men took Atahualpa prisoner. The Inca promised to fill his prison with gold as high up as he could reach if Pizarro would let him go. Pizarro took the gold, but cruelly put Atahualpa to death. Thus Peru became a possession of Spain. All the South