m the peoples most closely
affected. When at one time it seemed as though the congress had got hold
of a possible weapon, the Venezuelans refused them the necessary sites
and Brazil would not allow passage of foreign soldiers over its soil.
Nationalism suddenly became rampant. "We will die as Ecuadorians,
descendants of the Incas," exclaimed the leading newspaper of Quito.
_El Gaucho_ of Lima pointed out caustically that most of Ecuador's area
really belonged to Peru and the Peruvians were the true descendants of
the Incas anyway. "We shall all die as unashamed Peruvians!" thundered
_El Gaucho_.

In vain the Church pointed out the difference between Christian
resignation and sinful suicide. The reply of most South Americans, when
they bothered to reply at all, was either that the coming of the Grass
expressed God's will toward them or else to scorn the Church entirely.
Imitations of Brother Paul's movement flourished, with additions and
refinements suited to the Latin temperament.

So the efforts of the World Congress were almost entirely limited to
searching each ship, plane, and individual leaving the doomed continent
to be sure none of the fatal seeds were transported. Even this
precaution was resented as an infringement on national sovereignty, but
the resentment was limited to bellicose pronouncements in the
newspapers; the republics looked on sullenly while their honor was
systematically violated by phlegmatic inspectors.

_75._ The Grass grew to unheardof heights in the tropical valley of the
Amazon. It washed the slopes of the Andes as it had the Cordilleras and
the Rockies, leaving only the highest peaks free of its presence. It
raced across the llanos, the savannas and the pampas and covered the
high plateaus in a slow relentless growth.

The people ran from the Grass, not in a straight line from north to
south, but by indirection, seeking first the seacoasts and then escape
from the afflicted land. Those North Americans who had eluded the Grass
once did not satisfy themselves with halfmeasures when their sanctuary
was lost, but bought passage on any bottom capable, however dubiously,
of keeping out the sea and embarked for the farthest regions.

_76._ In point of time, I am now about halfway through my narrative. It
is hard to believe that only eleven years have passed since the Grass
conquered South America; indeed, it is extraordinarily difficult for me
to reconstruct these middle years at all. Not