podium), de S. Jose or de Maracaju (the Jesuits' Mbaracuyú, the Passion Flower). Running with southerly rhumb it fines off into a dos d'âne, under the names of Nabi-leque, Caa-guazu (large Yerba), and Cuchilla Grande, the divortium aquarum which throws off the Tebicuary River. It then sinks into low hills some six miles north of the line of railway; whilst the main ridge diverging to the east, forms, where traversed by the Paraná River, the Rapids south of La Guayra. Finally, entering the Brazilian provinces of Parana and S. Paulo, it inosculates with the Eastern ghauts, the Serra do Mar; and in the south-east it joins the Cordillera of Misiones. This mountainous section of the Republic, deeply cut by streams and torrents, abounds in game, and is rich in primaeval forests of valuable timber : the savage Redskins, however, still hold possession of the land, and exploration will be costly, if not perilous.
The remainder of the republic is an expanse of drowned Savannahs lying between the two mighty rivers, and it is believed that the western half, drained by the Paraguay, is on a lower plane than that discharging into the Parana. The ground much resembles the Gran Chaco, an alluvial detritus from the Andes, filling up the great basin of Pampas formation. Here is supposed to grow the Abati Guaniba or wild maize,[1] and this is said to be the home of the Ombú Fig, as the mountains are of the Araucaria (Braziliensis) pine. I need not now describe the features of the land to which my diary will lead me.
As regards her political distribution, Paraguay consisted
- ↑ Old writers give four kinds of maize in these regions:— 1. Abati nata, a very hard grain. 2. Abati moroti, in Tupi "Marity" (means shining), a soft and white grain. 3. Abati mini, a small grain which ripens after a month. 4. Bisingallo, an angular and pointed grain, which gives the sweetest flour.
