PARAGUAY 65 be healed. The climate is hot from Novem- ber to February inclusive, when the mean tem- perature is 90 F. in the shade, but the maxi- mum seldom higher than 100 ; in the winter months, June, July, and August, the average temperature is 50, the minimum being 40. In the absence of sea breezes, the nearest point of the Atlantic from the centre of the state be- ing 500 m. and of the Pacific 900 m. distant, the only modifying winds are those from the north and the south, the former having a re- laxing tendency, and the latter being the pre- cursor of rain and storms. Goitre is report- ed by Burton to be common at Asuncion, one case occurring in almost every family; but yellow fever and other epidemics are almost unknown in Paraguay, whose climate, particu- larly in the cultivated regions, has been pro- nounced one of the most salubrious in the world. The soil is uniformly fertile, and every species of vegetation most luxuriant. A large portion of the country is covered with forests ; and Du Graty enumerates upward of 50 dis- tinct species of excellent building timber, some almost as hard as iron, as the lapacho, quebra- cho (axe-breaker), urunday, and catigua, and so heavy as to sink in water. The firm tex- ture of the morosimo, polo amarillo, tataiba, palo de rosa, and many others, peculiarly adapts them to the purposes of the cabinet maker. The fruits of the araJian and nangapare are pleasant and nutritious. The Indians powder the fruit of the algarroba and preserve it in skins, and from its juice they make a favorite beverage. The seringar yields India rubber, and the palo san to gum guaiacum. One species of cactus furnishes the food of the cochineal insect. The bark of many trees is useful for tanning, and is an important article of export. From a parasite, the guembe, and from an aloe, the curuguaty, ropes and cables are extensive- ly manufactured ; and the guembetaya bears a fruit similar in appearance and taste to Indian corn, and used like the latter for bread by the natives. The caranday palm (Copernicia ceri- fera) affords an excellent roofing material, flinty, and impervious to moisture, and lasting 30 years. The varieties of the bamboo are numerous. The flora produces also many im- portant medicinal drugs, as copaiba, rhubarb, sassafras, jalap, sarsaparilla, nux vomica, dra- gon's blood, and liquorice, and many dyestuffs. Flechilla or arrow-cane grass, very common along the banks of the rivers, affords a seed somewhat like oats, said to be as good as lucerne for fattening cattle. The yerbales, covering about 3,000,000 acres far in the in- terior, were for many years worked by the Indians under the Jesuits, through whom the yerba mate, or Paraguay tea, became known in most parts of South America as a substi- tute for tea and coffee. Of late years the con- sumption of mat6 has much diminished in Buenos Ayres, where it now brings 25 cents a pound. The quantity shipped in the time of Lopez never exceeded 4,463,425 Ibs. per an- num, worth about $800,000. The exports for 1870 were reported at 4,500,000 Ibs., valued at $1,450,000; but these figures are consid- ered exaggerated. (See MAT) Several varie- ties of parasitic orchids, and the mais del agua, somewhat resembling the magnificent Victoria regia, are among the most remarkable of the flowering plants. In prosperous times, before the war of 1865-'TO, there were few landed proprietors, three fourths of the cleared coun- try having been confiscated by the govern- ment from the Jesuits at the time of their ex- pulsion, and rented at nominal rates to small cultivators, whose plantations of maize, man- dioca, cotton, and tobacco were to be met at intervals along the principal highways. In 1870 a survey of the republic was made, with the following results : ( Arable 42,600 sq. m. Public lands.-; Mountain and forest 27,000 " " ( Yerbales 5,040 " " Total 74,640 sq. Private lands 15,360 u Total 90,000 sq. m. Agriculture is still zealously carried on; but owing to the insufficiency of laborers, not more than half of the most fertile districts are un- der cultivation. The chief agricultural products are maize, a sure and abundant crop, often yielding 150 fold, and mandioca, of which there are extensive farms. Rice is grown for home consumption, and frequently yields 250 fold. Tobacco, of which three crops are ob- tained annually, is largely cultivated both for export and for home consumption, the latter having been estimated at 15,000,000 Ibs. per annum, and the exports at 6,000,000. In the trade returns for 1870 the tobacco exported figured at 3,500,000 Ibs., valued at $750,000. Smoking is universal in Paraguay, by both sexes at all ages. Cigars, called peti-Jioli and peti-pard, are manufactured on a large scale at Villarica and Asuncion, for the Buenos Ayres market. Paraguay tobacco obtained a gold medal at the Paris exhibition in 1855. The sugar cane thrives well, but for want of suitable machinery the crop is comparatively limited ; a liquor called cafta and considerable quantities of molasses are made from it. Ac- cording to official reports, there were 550,000 acres of land under cultivation in 1863, as fol- lows : with maize, 240,000 ; mandioca, 110,000 ; beans, 75,000 ; cotton, 32,000 ; tobacco, 23,000 ; sugar cane, 25,000; mam (peanuts), 11,000; and rice, vegetables, &c., 34,000. Of cotton, 4,000 bales were produced in 1863. Wool, fruits, honey, and indigo and other dyes could be supplied in prodigious quantities, if there were adequate means of transport. Among the rich dyes are the iriburetuia or "vulture's leg," which gives a blue metallic tint, and the acuagay root, a bright scarlet. There are large herds of cattle, estimated at 300,000 head in the year preceding the war ; the iorses are
