108 BANKS OF THE PARAGUAY. The ground in dispute between the Argentine States and Paraguay has only an extent of twenty-seven miles in latitude and forty by the course of the river, scarcely the length of many estancias; and in La Plata, where there are extended regions of fertile but waste lands, would be of no consequence but for its geographical features. It gives Paraguay command of the mouth of the Vermejo, a river known to be navigable to the northwest provinces of the Argentine Confederation, Salta and Jujui. The banks of the Paraguay are less elevated than those of the Parana; up to Asuncion, they rarely exceed twenty-five feet. To within a short distance of the capital their geological formation is unvarying: a substratum of yellowish sand of about ten feet thickness, a middle stratum of earthy clay, and a surface virgin soil of about three feet. The timber is abundant, and of excellent quality. "In the isles of the Parana," says my journal, "we have seen the lovely gardens of La Plata, we have now before us her parks. It is the region of the palm, which here rises to a great height. The grass is green, luxuriant, and clean as a well-kept lawn; deer gambol under the trees, and it needs not a vivacious imagination to conceive that, at each bend in the river, some noble mansion, to which these parks pertain, will appear. A few habitations are alone wanted to animate the landscape, and complete the pleasant association of homes in this fair land. There are extended forests of these palms, so symmetrical, fresh, free from all that could detract from their beauty; growing apart at such exact, apparently measured distances, that we are filled with astonishment and admiration." The east bank of the river is defended by guardias and piquetes throughout the extent of Paraguay, each occupied by from six to twelve men; the piquetes being placed at intervals of three miles, while the guardias are more distant apart. They are the stations of a river police for the detection and prevention of smuggling, and also dispatch offices for the rapid transmission of intelligence to the capital. On the west bank there are no guardias; and inasmuch as the Indians of the Chaco have no canoes, the river is considered a sufficient barrier to prevent, on their part, any hostile or predatory incursions. Great as was the luxuriance of vegetation upon the Parana, as we approach the equator I find it enriched by a more varied and brilliant flora. Flowering shrubs abound, and delicately fragrant epiphytes. The trunks of large trees are enwrapped by climbing GUARDIAS AND PIQUETES. 109 plants, their long tendrils pendent, or festooning the lowest with the topmost branches, and enameling the dark foliage with their many-hued blossoms. The most important guardia above Cerito is that of Tres Bocas -"Three Mouths," so called from there being at that point two branches from the main river, the Atajo, to which I have alluded, and the Pires, which flows into the Parana some few miles above its junction with the Paraguay. Though distant from Cerito five miles, these two guardias are often confounded with each other under the name of Tres Bocas. Around the larger "guardias" there is some little cultivation of corn and mandioca, but as abodes they are generally desolate places. The houses consist merely of posts planted in the ground, interlaced with bamboo, filled in with mud, and thatched with common grass. The look-out is a platform of about sixty feet in height, open at the sides, and thatched with straw. It is generally so placed as to command an extensive view up and down the river. The piquetes are simply thatched sheds, with raw-hide hammocks for the men, suspended so as to be protected by the roof from rain. Of these, the Guardia Humaita occupied one of the most commanding points on the Lower Paraguay, and there President Lopez, in 1855, erected quite a formidable battery, in anticipation of troubles with Brazil, and probably certainly with good reason-with the United States. The imperial government felt aggrieved at some indignities offered to its minister at Asuncion, and sent a large naval force, consisting of several war steamers and transports, under the command of Admiral -, to demand satisfaction. We are left to infer, from a subsequent debate in the Imperial Legislature at Rio de Janeiro, that this officer was sent with discretionary power to fight or negotiate, as circumstances might render necessary. Negotiation was first resorted to, pending which the battery at Humaita was erected, and the imperial squadron, with the exception of the admiral's flag-ship, in which he ascended to Asuncion, was kept below. This river defense was pushed on with great rapidity, and is of such strength that I believe it might have arrested the ascent of the squadron. The delay incident to this negotiation was a move on the diplomatic chess-board showing abil ity and astuteness on the part of President Lopez. The expedition was at that time a failure; it, however, led to some after-proposition which resulted in an amicable settlement of the differences, and the opening of the Paraguay to Brazilian vessels up to the 110 THE VERMEJO.-PILAR. northwest province of the empire, whose natural outlet is undoubtedly this river. This act of President Lopez, if extended to all flags, might be classed with the decree of Urquiza which opened the Argentine waters to the commerce of nations.* In latitude 26° 51' 52" south, longitude 58° 28' 21" west, fortyeight miles above Cerito, the River Vermejo pours its muddy waters into the Paraguay from the west. It rises in the Cordilleras of the southern parts of Bolivia, and receives, in addition to many minor tributaries, the more important river Jujuy, or Lavayan, which flows from the western ranges of Salta. From Palca de Soria, where the Vermejo may be said to enter the Chaco, it takes he general direction of southeast, under a very tortuous course, to its junction with the Paraguay, directly opposite to a guardia of the same name, undoubtedly placed there to give the republic exclusive control over its mouth. All the villages and guardias of Paraguay that have been or may hereafter be mentioned, it must be remembered, are on the east side of the river, with the exception of Cerito, which is upon an island. Pilar, in latitude 26° 51′ 9′′, longitude 58° 22′ 35′′, is the first village we meet with in ascending. In the time of Francia, and before the opening of the river to Asuncion, this town, known as Nembucu, was a place of some commercial activity; that is, it was the only port on the Paraguay open to trade, and even to this point only those vessels that had received especial permission could ascend. We called upon the commandante, from whom I received many assurances of his desire to serve us. Cigars of the native tobacco were handed around, and caña-a liquor extracted from the sugarcane, of which each member of the company was expected to take a sip. This liquor is usually taken without water, and is the most potent tipple that I have ever tasted. As soon as good-breeding would permit, I relieved my mouth of the burning sensation it produced by a glass of water. Pilar has two thousand inhabitants, and is prettily placed on a fertile plain, elevated some twenty feet above the river. The streets are at right angles, and the houses, of one story, plastered and whitewashed, are roofed either with tile, the trunks of palm-trees, or thatched. This species of palm, the Caranday (Copernicia cerifera), forms an excellent covering in this climate, and will last for thirty years. The trunks of the trees are divided, and the interior wood, which * This has more recently been done. THE TIBIQUARI.-VILLA FRANCA. 111 is very fibrous, taken out, leaving a shell of from one and a half to two inches in thickness, which becomes hard and flinty when dry. These are placed side by side, with the convex surface up, extending from the pitch to the eaves; their edges, when brought together, are covered by a third trunk, forming a roof not unlike tile, and quite as impervious to rain. This is the usual mode of covering the quintas and ranchos on the river, and the Chaco opposite furnishes an inexhaustible supply of material. I found great difficulty here, as in every part of Paraguay, in obtaining any statistics, and can scarcely say whether this was to be attributed to the ignorance of the people, or to suspicion of my motive in making such inquiries. Some of the officers of the Water Witch occupied themselves with observations for geographical determination, while others added to our collection by obtaining specimens of rare fish, and supplied our table with several varieties of excellent quality. Thirty miles above Pilar the Tibiquari empties into the Paraguay on the left bank. It rises in the central sierras of Paraguay, and in a westerly course passes through the most populous and fertile districts of the country. It could, at a mere nominal expense, be made navigable at all seasons for steamers of two feet draught. The principal products of the interior, corn and tobacco, now transported in wagons carrying one and a half tons each, could be conveyed to the capital in steamers of the capacity of fifty wagons in half the time, and at one third the cost. This river separates the two provinces, Villa Franca on the north, and Pilar on the south. The former is remarkable for its fertility, and its principal town, of the same name, is on the Paraguay, fiftynine miles above Pilar. On approaching Villa Franca, I discovered, from the movements of the guard, that we were expected to land; I consequently came to anchor. The bank leading to the town is ascended from the river by a flight of steps, and, as we reached the top, a squad of soldiers drawn up honored our arrival by two rounds of musketry. The novelty of this salute was rather startling, but we acknowledged it with due gravity, as a mark of respect for the "flag." The commandante received us with the usual ceremonies and hospitality. General Lopez, the son of the president, who is commander-inchief of the army, was, at the time of our arrival in Paraguay, absent on a diplomatic mission to the leading powers of Europe. The good commandante spoke with enthusiasm of his absent general. He seemed to have a vague idea that he had been dispatched to a great distance on very important business, but was rather at a loss to know whether that journey extended beyond the limits of Paraguay. He had magnificent ideas of the vastness and political importance of his country, a delusion, I afterward discovered, not peculiar to himself. At his earnest request I accepted a beef for the ship's company: for a bullock is here taken from the herd, slaughtered, and portions served up at table in less time than it would take to kill and cook a fowl with us. In an incredibly short time after my ac-. ceptance of his offer, a bellowing, plunging animal was brought |