rench Guiana. The language of various treatises
was doubtful and ambiguous, largely owing to the ignorance of the
diplomatists who drew up the articles of the exact geography of the
territory in question. Napoleon had forced the Portuguese government to
cede to him the northernmost arm of the mouth of the Amazon as the
southern boundary of French Guiana with a large slice of the unexplored
interior westwards. A few years later the Portuguese had in their turn
conquered French Guiana, but had been compelled to restore it at the
peace of Paris. The old ambiguity attaching to the interpretation of
earlier treaties, however, remained, and in April 1899 the question by
an agreement between the two states was referred to the arbitration of
the president of the Swiss confederation. The decision was given in
December 1900 and was entirely in favour of the Brazilian contention. A
still more interesting boundary dispute was that between Great Britain
and Brazil, as to the southern frontier line of British Guiana. The
dispute was of very old standing, and the settlement by arbitration in
1899 of the acute misunderstanding between Great Britain and Venezuela
regarding the western boundary of British Guiana, and the reference to
arbitration in that same year of the Franco-Brazilian dispute, led to an
agreement being made in 1901 between Brazil and Great Britain for the
submission of their differences to the arbitration of the king of Italy.
The district in dispute was the site of the fabled Lake of Parima and
the Golden City of Manoa, the search for which in the early days of
European settlement attracted so many adventurous expeditions, and which
fascinated the imagination of Raleigh and drew him to his doom. The
question was a complicated one involving the historical survey of Dutch
and Portuguese exploration and control in the far interior of Guiana
during two centuries; and it was not until 1904 that the king of Italy
gave his award, which was largely in favour of the British claim, and
grants to British Guiana access to the northern affluents of the Amazon.
Before this decision was given Senhor Rodrigues Alves had been elected
president in 1902. Dr Campos Salles had signalized his administration,
not only by the settlement of disputes with European powers, but by
efforts to arrive at a good understanding with the neighbouring South
American republics. In July 1899 President Roca had visited Rio de
Janeiro accompanied by an Argent