Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 18.djvu/262

244 PARAGUAY over 84 days, 75 days being cloudy and 206 bright and clear. In the five years 1877-81 only 50 frosts were , observed, and of these 17 fell in August. The wind j blows from the south on 118 days, and from the north on 103 ; while from the east it blows only 44 days, and from the west only 3. Neither north nor south appears to obtain any definite mastery in any month or season. The south wind is dry, cool, fresh, and invigorating, and banishes mosquitoes for a time ; the north wind is hot, moist, and relaxing. Violent wind-storms, generally from the south, average sixteen per annum. Goitre and leprosy are the only endemic diseases ; but the natives, being underfed, are prone to diarrhoea and dyspepsia. 1 The fauna of Paraguay proper is practically the same as that of Brazil. Caymans, water-hogs (capinckos), several kinds of deer (Cervuspaludosus the largest), ounces, opossums, armadillos, vampires, the American ostrich, the ibis, the jabiru, various species popularly called partridges, the pato real or royal duck, the Palamedea cornuta, parrots and parakeets, are among the more notable forms. Insect life is peculiarly abundant ; the red stump -like ant-hills are a feature in every landscape, and bees used to be kept in all the mission villages. As to the mineral resources of Paraguay but little is known possibly because there is little to know. The gold mines said to have been concealed by the Jesuits may have had no existence; and, though iron was worked by Lopez II. at Ibicuy (70 miles south-east of Asuncion), and native copper, black oxide of manganese, marbles, lime, and salt have been found in greater or less abundance, the real wealth of the country consists rather in the variety and value of its vegetable productions. Its forests yield at least seventy kinds of timber fit for industrial purposes, some, such as the lapacho and quebracho, of rare excellence and durability, as is shown by the wonderful state of pre servation in which the wood-work of early Jesuit churches still remains. Fifteen plants are known to furnish dyes, and eight are sources of fibre the caraguatay especially being employed in the manufacture of the exquisite iianduty or spiderweb lace of the natives. Fruit trees of many kinds flourish luxuriantly ; the cocoa palm often forms regular groves, and the orange tree (reaching a height of 50 feet) is so common and bears so profusely that oranges, like bananas, have a mere nominal value. In the MATE (q.v.), or Paraguayan tea, Paraguay has a commercial plant of great importance, which may be said to be peculi arly its own ; and most of the primary crops of the tropics could be cultivated with ease if there were only men and means. Paraguay tobacco is prized in all the La Plata countries, and, as men, women, and children all smoke, there is a large home consumption ; but only a small quantity finds its way to Europe, under other names; coffee (though the berry is of excellent quality, if slightly bitter) is even more neglected ; sugar is grown only for manufacture into rum and syrups, and loaf-sugar has to be imported from Brazil ; and, although the whole popula tion is clothed exclusively in white cotton stuffs, and cotton grows almost spontaneously in the country, English goods burdened by a duty of 40 per cent, keep the market. Wheat, oats, and rice can all be raised in different districts, but the dietary staples of the Paraguayans are still, as when the Spaniards first came, maize and mandioca (the latter the chief ingredient in the excellent chipa or Paraguayan bread), varied it may be with the seeds of the Victoria rcffia, whose magnificent blossoms are the great feature of several of the lakes and rivers. Cattle -breed! ig was formerly a very important interest in several of the depart ments, but the stock was nearly all destroyed during the 1 Further details will be found in Keitli Johnston (Vcog. May.) and Mr Vansittart s Report. war, and is only being slowly recruited from the Argentine Republic. The total number of horned cattle is estimated at 500,000. Land may be purchased from private owners for from 160 to 200 per square league of 4500 English acres, but the Government rate amounts to 900 or 1000. The inhabitants of Paraguay are mainly Guaranis or half-breeds with a strong proportion of Guarani blood.- A peaceful, simple people, fond of flowers and fetes, they displayed during the desolat ing wars of 1865-70 (as so often before in the time of the Jesuits) indomitable courage in the faee of overwhelming odds. Trust worthy figures in regard to the population can hardly be said to exist. A so-called census for 1879 gives a total of 346,048, which is probably not far from the truth. The female births being always in excess of the male, and most of the full-grown men having perished in the wars, the females form about two-thirds of the whole. Of the foreign residents in 1879, about 4000 were Italians, 400 Germans, 400 Spaniards, and 40 English. Formerly, about 1857, divided into twenty-five departments, the country was in 1876 distributed into twenty-three electoral districts, each with a gefe politico, ajuez de paz, and a municipality. ASUNCION (q.v.), the capital, is also the largest city (40,000 in 1857,16,000 in 1879). Other places of present or historical importance are Villa Rica (12,570 in 1879), often called Villa Pobre, the chief seat of the, tobacco trade, and the easternmost of the larger towns ; Villa Pilar or El Pilar (3722), formerly Neembucu, opposite the mouth of the Bermejo, and the "strangers farthest" under Dr Francia s des potism ; San Estanislao (7453) ; San Pedro (9706), near the Tejui, about 3 leagues from its junction with the Paraguay ; Concepcion (10,697), the northernmost of the towns or villages, 200 miles above Asuncion, and the trading centre for the northern mate plantations ; Humaita (3868), 198 miles below the capital, the site of the great earthworks by which Lopez stopped the advance of the allies for more than a year ; Paraguari (5315), the present ter minus of the railway ; Jaguaron (3413), 2^ leagues from Paraguari, founded in 1536, and the seat of a manufacture of orange-flower essence ; Ita (6332), known for its earthenware ; Itangua (6948), with brick and tile works ; Ltujue (8878), the provisional capital in 1868 ; Villa Hayes (Villa Occidental, Xouvelle Bourdeaux), 10 miles above Asuncion, founded in 1854 by Lopez with French settlers. 3 Paraguay is a constitutional republic. The president and vice- president hold office for four years, and are again eligible after eight years. The legislative bodies are a chamber of deputies (one deputy from each 6000 inhabitants) and a senate (one senator from each terri torial division with 8000 inhabitants, and beyond that from every 12,000 inhabitants). There are five Government departments, and a supreme court of three salaried judges. The people are nominally Roman Catholics, but full religious liberty prevails. Crime is comparatively rare, and is rapidly diminishing. Marriage has fallen so completely out of fashion that only 3 per cent, of the births are legitimate. Education is technically compulsory ; but the 178 schools were in 1879 attended only by 5862 boys and 920 girls. There is only one public library (3000 vols. ) in the country. The army, which, when Lope/, II. ascended the throne, numbered 12,000 men, but with a reserve of 46,000, is now reduced to 500 men ; every able-bodied citizen is under obligation to serve in case of need. There is but one war-steamer, of 440 tons burden. The only railway is the line (45 miles) from Asuncion to Paraguari, which wa& begun by Lopez I. in 1859, and surveyed as far as Villa Rica. It was bought for 100,000 by a jcint-stock company in 1877. The double run, occupying twelve hours, is performed four times a week. The general trade of the country has begun to revive : from 131, 493 in 1876, the value of the imports rose to 258,000 in 1881, and the exports from 68,577 to 385, 7oO. Among the exports (all duty free) there appeared in 1881 mate, 182,025; dry hides, 23,345; tobacco, 131,730; 20,009,597 cigars, 4802 (about seventeen a penny) ; 47,917,700 oranges, 9583 ; and hard woods, 3342. The customs furnish nearly four-fifths of the national revenue (not much more than 100,000 in 1881). Previous to the war there was no national debt. In 1871 and 1872 two foreign loans (nominally 1,000,000 and 2,000,000) were contracted through Messrs Robinson, Fleming, & Company, London, and hypo thecated on the public lands of Paraguay, valued at 19,380,000. Apart from the war debt of more than 45,000,000, the oilicial statement for 1882 recognizes a foreign debt of 3,463,000. Jlistury. In 1528 Sebastian Cabot, following in the footsteps of De Solis, reached Paraguay and built a fort called Santo Espiritu. Asuncion was founded on August 15, 1537, by Juan de Ayolas, and his successor Martinez de Irala determined to make it the capital of the Spanish possessions east of the Andes. From this centre Spanish adventurers pushed east to La Guavra beyond the Parana, ami west into the Gran Chaco ; and before long vast numbers of the less warlike natives were reduced to serfdom. The name Paraguay 2 A graphic description of the Guarani physique is given by Captain Burton, Battlefields of Paraguay, p. 11. 3 Mr Vausittart in Ri yvi-ls by .Sec. of Eiub. and L> jaliun, 1883.