the foot. The operations of a steam saw-mill, nearly completed by an enterprising Frenchman, will do away with the old whipsaws now lining the beach. I visited the saladero (slaughter-house) of an Englishman, which was just opened near the city, on the banks of the Parana, to witness the operation of converting cattle into jerked beef, hides, and tallow. Each animal is brought up to the "bull-ring" by the lasso, pierced at the back of the head by a sharp-pointed knife, and rolled off on a rail-car, to be skinned. The corral was large and well stocked, Mr. Hughes having a few days before purchased from the southern part of the province a fine lot of cattle, for which he paid $9 the head, a threefold increase in price within a few years. In the Buenos Ayres market the hides were worth $6 50 each; the jerked beef-about 200 lbs. to the animal-$12; and the tallow-from 25 to 50 lbs.-about $3; the latter, intestines, bones, head, and feet, are thrown into immense wooden vats, and subjected for some time to steam pressure, which extracts nearly every particle of grease; it is then drawn off clean and put in hogsheads ready for shipping. The refuse of the vats is used for fuel. On the 30th of January, the Taquari, a Paraguay steamer, half man-of-war, and half merchantman, with an armament of five medium 32-pounders, arrived at Corrientes; she received from the Water Witch the usual official visit and offer of service. This vessel was built in England, and purchased by General Lopez, son of the President, who had been on a general mission to several of the European Courts, and was now on his return to Asuncion, having crossed the Atlantic in her. Hoping that the alterations in the small steamer would make her suitable for the exploration of the Salado, and intending to form there two parties, I detailed for the service all the surveying officers, with the exception of Lieutenant Jeffers. He was left in charge of the Water Witch, with instructions to ascend the Parana so far as the island Apipé, a distance of over one hundred miles from its juncture with the Paraguay, at which point there were supposed to be rapids-the first obstruction met with from the Capes of La Plata. Lieutenant Jeffers was instructed to determine their character. This short work, of a hundred miles or more, I felt assured could be accomplished before my return. With Lieutenants Powell, Murdaugh, and Henry, Assistant 304 ATTACK UPON THE WATER WITCH. Surgeon Carter, Assistant Engineer Stump, and eighteen men, I left Corrientes on the 31st of January, 1855, for the Salado, expecting to encounter, from all I could learn, numerous inhospitable and daring bands of Indians. The performance of the Pilcomayo was miserable-worse than before the alterations were made in her. She was, in fact, worthless. This I had feared, and considered possible, and, as a reserve for surveying purposes, I had in tow two metallic boats. But I was not prepared for the new troubles that were brewing. not exhausted. The vials of President Lopez were On the 3d of February, when we were about two hundred miles below Corrientes, the Water Witch hove in sight. What could be the matter? Speculation ran wild in our little boat. The suspense was soon over. rana; The Water Witch had been stopped in her ascent of the Pafired into from the Fort of Itapiru; the man at the helm killed, and the steamer slightly damaged in her hull. My feelings may be imagined at this outrage to our flag, while borne by a vessel under my command; for absence from her made me not less sensible to the insult. In a few words the tale was told. For a particular account of it, I append Lieutenant Jeffers's official report.* Lieu The steamer had a native pilot on board, who was as well acquainted with the river as the wood-cutters of Apipé, or the orange-dealers along the shores of Corrientes usually are. tenant Jeffers had advanced but a short distance above the junction of the Parana and Paraguay, plotting the work as he progressed, when, from very deep water, the vessel was run upon a sand-bank in six feet water, the lead at the gangway indicating no material change in the depth. While in the act of getting the steamer afloat, a boat came alongside from a fort on the Paraguay shore, where was a flag-staff, but no flag flying, and presented a paper to Lieutenant Jeffers, who returned it to the messenger, informing him that he did not read Spanish. This, with the substitution of the word "Spanish" for "English," was President Lopez's reply to my communication in behalf of Americans in Asuncion. He observed some bustle and activity at the fort, and, to be prepared for any emergency, put the vessel in the best state of defense he could, but scarcely admitting even to himself the possibility of attack. *See Appendix II. ATTACK UPON THE WATER WITCH. 307 She was got afloat, and on asking the pilot where lay the channel, he unhesitatingly said that it was near the Paraguay shore; but he had supposed the river high enough to enable the Water Witch to pass over the shoals near the left bank, and made the attempt without informing the commanding officer. The pilot, like many other Argentinos of the same class, looked upon Paraguay as a semi-civilized country, and was anxious to put a great distance between the Water Witch and Fort Itapiru. He was ordered to change the course of the vessel, and the nature of the work was again intelligibly explained to him, that he might understand the importance of keeping her in mid-channel, regardless of its vicinity to the Paraguay shore, or whether or not there was water enough outside of it. I beg to call especial attention to the two drawings of the river at this point-the fancy sketch sent by President Lopez to our government and one from the actual survey. I do not hesitate to assert that they never would be recognized as representing the same locality. When the Water Witch was within close shot, two or three blank cartridges were fired from the fort in quick succession, followed by a shot. At what part of the vessel it was aimed I can only judge from President Lopez's dispatch to our State Department, where he magnanimously says it was directed so as to "pass ahead." If so, it struck wide of the mark, and was unfortunately effective; for it passed through the after port, cut away the wheel, and killed the helmsman. Lieutenant Jeffers had disregarded the blank cartridges, and up to this time had withheld his fire. Indeed, his means of defense, with three howitzers-one 24-pounder and two 12-pounders-were small against a brick or stone fort. But when this shot came, he returned it as rapidly as the reduced number of officers and crew and the disabled condition of the helm would admit. The accuracy of the fire was seen in cutting away the flag-staff and in the shrapnell grazing the low wall; for the guns were mounted en barbette. We learned afterward that several Paraguayans were killed; some reports said eleven, others fifteen. The Water Witch was struck ten times, but the first was the only shot that did any execution, though we learned that the firing from the fort was directed by a person formerly of the French navy, who had entered the service of Paraguay. The pilot, very much alarmed, ran below; and during the shipping of the spare tiller the steamer drifted with the current |