NATIONAL EXPOSITION AT RIO DE JANEIRO 121 



rain-water, which is flowing downhill — nothing more — and, unfor- 

 tunately for the railroad, nothing less ! 



Another exhibit, mention of which is suggested by the above note 

 on coffee, is that of mate. Barrels and bags and smaller samples of 

 mate are seen best in the exhibits of the state of Parana. The com- 

 mon name for mate, " Paraguay tea," associates this plant with Para- 

 guay, but Brazil is becoming a more and more important mate-pro- 

 ducing country. Wlien white men came to these parts of South 

 America, the Indians were found to be drinking mate, and the Jesuit 

 missionaries soon discovered the excellent properties of the plant and 

 forthwith adopted the native custom of using it. The mate tree grows 

 to be 10 to 20 feet high; its natural habitat is on the plateaus 1,500 

 or more feet above the sea, and chiefly in Matto Grosso, Parana and 

 Paraguay. It is now extensively grown on plantations. Advocates of 

 the use of mate as a drink, in place of tea and coffee, have gone very 

 far in attributing to this herb medicinal, nutritive and stimulating 

 qualities which would seem to make mate an absolute essential to 

 health and happiness. The writer has before him at this moment a 

 report on mate, made to a commercial and industrial body in Parana a 

 few years ago, and in this account the benefits to be derived from the 

 use of mate tea are enumerated at great length. But whether these 

 beneficial qualities are exaggerated or not, the fact remains that mate- 

 drinking is very much on the increase, and that those who indulge in 

 it are practically unanimous in stating that mate is far superior to tea, 

 in not producing insomnia or nervousness. Americans who want to see 

 a mate factory will do well to visit Curityba, the capital of the state 

 of Parana. There the " Fabrica Tibagy," one of the largest in Brazil, 

 will be freely opened to their inspection. This factory exported last 

 year 3,000,000 kilograms of mate, the whole amount exported from 

 Parana being 30,000,000 kilograms. The leaves and small stems are 

 brought to the factory in burlap or rawhide bags, and after being thor- 

 oughly dried, in ovens, are passed through a screening process, which 

 separates the stems and leaves, according to their size. The coarsest 

 stems are used for fuel; the less coarse ones are sold for the cheaper 

 grades of mate. The leaves are then carefully sorted, according to 

 their quality, and are next run through crushing machines. The best 

 mate is in the form of a very fine olive-green powder. Mate tea is 

 prepared much like ordinary tea. It may be taken in a cup, if prop- 

 erly strained, but the native way is to leave the powder in the water 

 and to suck up the tea through a tube provided at the lower end 

 with a fine strainer. The taste of mate to the novice is not unlike that 

 of a very weak solution of hot turpentine. It is therefore safe to say 

 that mate-'drinking is an acquired taste for those who are accustomed to 

 ordinary tea. Most of the Brazilian mate goes at present to the 



VOL. LXVIII. — 9. 



