Madrid. The medicinal properties of the leaf of the para todo were first made known by a Hungarian Jesuit, Sigismund Asperger, who spent forty years among the missions of La Plata, and died after the expulsion of his order, at the advanced age of one hundred and twelve years.* Asperger, who had in early life been a physician, was indefatigable in botanic research, and an accomplished pharmacologist. He left a manuscript of medical recipes and examples of acute cases which he had successfully treated with medicines prepared from the indigenous vegetation of the country. Several curanderos-the only physicians of Paraguay, have copies of this valuable manuscript.

"Least depth of water to-day (fifteen feet) since leaving Pan de Azucar. Anchored before sundown off Albuquerque; saw near the river only two huts, for the town is three miles inland, at the foot of a sierra of the same name. As the water is falling, I have determined to push on to Corumba, and visit the authorities of Albuquerque when I return. Strolling along the banks before dark, we saw at a short distance a rancho, and near it a corral filled with cattle, the first seen since leaving the frontier guardia of Paraguay. Endeavored to procure some milk, a luxury not appreciated by the people of this river country; indeed, it is never used by the Argentinos or Paraguayans except with hominy."

In moving from one nation to another, bordering on the same great water-course, it is curious to observe how circumstances, habit, and local influences make certain articles essentials of life. We have left behind us the region of maté, and here, on the very confines of Brazil, far from her coffee districts, the decoction of this berry is the favorite drink of all who can procure it. We got our milk fresh from the cow, procured a novel and primitive vessel in which to carry it to the steamer, and on that evening feasted with tea, coffee, and milk.

water, 88°; maximum, Position of anchorage

"Température of air at six P.M., 81°; meridian, 90°; minimum, midnight, 76°. off Albuquerque, latitude 19° 26' 53" south, longitude 57° 28′ 51′′ west; distance from Coimbra forty-seven miles. Put up a gauge to ascertain the fall of the water during our absence.

"November 30th, 1853. At an early hour this morning under way. Four miles above our last anchorage, the River Miranda, or, as it is marked on Azara's map, Mbotetey, empties into the Paraguay on the east by two mouths: one only, the lowest, is

* Azara.

184

MAPS.-MALO PASO.

navigable. It rises in the Cordillera San José, a range which, under various names, extends through many degrees north and south, and is the watershed for several of the western tributaries of the Parana and the eastern tributaries of the Paraguay. The Miranda is, I am told, navigable to a town of the same name, one hundred and sixty miles in the interior; but as the Paraguay is falling rapidly, and I do not wish to be caught here, a fixture for some months, I can not spare the time for its examination.

"To the right the sierras are continuous, extending west beyond the horizon: they are, without doubt, part of the Bolivian range of San Pantaleon. Six miles above the Miranda is the mouth of another eastern tributary, the Tacuary, which also rises in the Cordillera of San José. I can not at this time explore these tributaries, and find it difficult to obtain any reliable information of their characteristics. Even upon the Paraguay we find in this vicinage but one settlement of the white race, an estancia belonging to a gentleman of Albuquerque, about six miles above the mouth of the Tacuary: it is well stocked with cattle."

On the east, back to the Cordillera of San José, is a fine rolling country, marked on several maps as the Lake of Xarayes. This is a geographical error, but not greater than many I have had occasion to remark, in the course of my professional experience, in various parts of the world, and this, too, in an age when the perfection of instruments leaves no excuse for inaccuracy. There are no indications here of a lake. The land is low, and doubtless not exempt from inundation at the season of high water. The growth on the banks is shrubby, but back, and immediately adjacent, is a dense forest, which looks as if it might be the growth of ages.

In alluding to received errors in the geography of this country, I must except the maps of Azara. His latitudes are remarkably correct, and his longitudes are as much so as we have a right to expect, when we remember the period at which he worked, and the perfection which three quarters of a century of improvement has given to the construction of instruments. On his map the southern border of this lake is fixed at 18°.

"November 30th. Twenty-one miles above Albuquerque. Another malo paso. It really offers no obstacle to a continuous navigation of the Paraguay, but there is a shoal extending from the right bank, and rocks on the left, which contract the width of the channel, and reduce its depth to twelve feet, when it still has seven to

SADDLE-SHAPED MOUNTAIN.

185.

fall. This pass is called Cambarasa, from a beautiful grove on the left bank. The cambarasa is one of the finest trees of this latitude; the trunk, without limbs, rises to the height of about forty feet; it then shoots out a multitude of branches covered with rich dark foliage, the whole forming an umbrella-shaped crowning.

"Three miles above, on the opposite side, a mountain range approaches the river, and from its base, extending quite down to the water, is a fine growth of lapacho. Two miles above this, on the east, is the mouth of the Omigara, said to be only a branch of the Tacuary. Beyond, on the same side, begins an extensive and beautiful forest of cambarasa, distant from the river, at different points, from one quarter to two miles.

"Have advanced some distance, and observe, eight miles inland, a saddle-shaped mountain, here represented in the sketch; it

slopes gradually in rounded hills and rolling wooded lands to the west bank of the Paraguay, and is one of a broken range extending northward for forty miles from Albuquerque. On the east is a similar wooded range, broken by plains and perpendicular sections of a rocky formation. This mingling of mountain, forest, plain, and rock is inexpressibly beautiful.

186

ASCENT TO CORUMBA.

"The Paraguay Mini-Little Paraguay, here empties into the main river. It is said to shorten, by thirty miles, the ascension to Cuyaba, but has less depth than the main river.

"Fifty-five miles above Albuquerque. For the first time an appearance of a lake upon the east. It is a narrow, shallow strip of water, running parallel with the river, and there is a mountain about two miles in the interior, with a low plain between it and this lagoon. As we approach Corumba, the country presents the appearance of a beautiful and recently-mown meadow, bounded by wooded mountains, artificially terraced to the plain. The silence and solitude is that of a desert. Not a sign of human life, not a vestige or germ of civilization, except our little craft; she puffs over the waters; at her peak the "stars and stripes" are spread by a gentle southern breeze. We are opening, I sanguinely hope, a new path to commerce and civilization.

"In sight of the little settlement of Corumba. As we approach we find the passage of the river intricate; as little as ten feet water. We have on board several men sent by the commandante to pilot us up. There is a vast deal of disputing in Spanish, Portuguese, and Guarani, evidently a diversity of opinion, creating such confusion that the Water Witch has narrowly escaped being run ashore.

"Minimum temperature at 3 A.M., 75°, wind N.N.W. Maximum, 3 P.M., 91.5°, wind south. Width of river, six hundred yards; depth, fifteen feet.

"We have now reached the utmost limit to which Brazil will permit us to ascend."

Permission was subsequently given for the expedition to extend its operations throughout the Brazilian affluents of La Plata, a result I confidently expected from the well-known intelligence and enlightened spirit of the Emperor, notwithstanding the first refusal.

This conviction did not lessen my regret at being obliged to abide by the decision of the Imperial Government. A few days would have taken us to Cuyaba. From that point I could have concluded the survey of the river to its source in a boat, and have sent the steamer so far down as to pass in time all shoal places.

"The west banks here rise fifty or sixty feet to the level of a plain which stretches back to a range of wooded mountains. It has extended forests, with alternations of grass-land. The soil is

undoubtedly fine, but, with the exception of one solitary estancia well-stocked with cattle, and yielding excellent crops of corn and mandioca, there is no attempt at culture in any direction. Aloes and cacti abound; and in our walks through the country we recognized woods seen several degrees south, such as the sabinata. (soap-tree), pala blanco, etc. I procured sections of others not indigenous to a lower latitude; above all, the guatambu. This has the finest imaginable texture, is of a delicate straw color, receives a high polish, and would be, undoubtedly, in cabinet-work, the most precious of arboreal treasures. Gathered four varieties of edible fruits not before seen.

"Shot two vampire-bats; one was flying with young in its claws. Fine specimens of patos reales, a duck very like our domestic Muscovy, but far more delicate for table use, have been added to our collections."

The station or village of Corumba is merely a collection of thatched huts forming two sides of a plaza, at one end of which is a chapel, distinguishable only by its cross from the humble tene