40 ON THE PARAGUAY TEA, 
* 
to make it worth their while to halt and collect the leaves, - 
they begin by constructing a long line of wigwams, covered | 
with the broad leaves of the Banana and Palm, beneath — 
whose shade they expect to pass nearly six months. z 
next process is to prepare the piece of ground, on which the 
small branches, twigs and leaves of the yerba are first ` 
scorched. The soil is beaten with heavy mallets, till it be- P 
comes hard and smooth, and the leaves* when thoroughly | 
dried, are thither carried and placed on a kind of arch, made ` 
of hurdles, and called a Barbagua. A large fire is kept up | 
beneath, and the foliage thoroughly scorched, without being ` 
suffered to ignite; after which, the dry platform is swept ` 
perfectly clean, and the leaves are beaten off the branches 
by means of sticks, and reduced nearly to powder. Each man ` 
is assisted by a boy called a Quayno, who receives, in pay- 
ment for his services, the proportion of two pounds of leaves, i 
for every twenty-five pounds which he helps to clear from the 
branches. Mr. Robertson informs us, that a rude mill 1s - 
generally now substituted for this part of the human labour, ` 
where the scorched foliage and slender twigs are together ` 
ground to powder, thus completing the process, and render- 
ing the Paraguay Tea fit for use. It is then conveyed toa 
large shed, called Perchel, where it is received, weighed, and 
stored by the Overseer. d 
The operation of packing is the most laborious part; this — 
is effected by cramming and beating into a bull's hide, which 
is damped and fixed firmly to the ground, the greatest : 
possible quantity of the pulverized Yerba. From 200 to ` 
220 lbs. are often pressed into one of these leathern sacks, : 
which is then sewed up and left to tighten over the contents, q 
and the heat of the sun will shrink the hide in two days, into ` 
a substance as hard as a stone, and almost as weighty and : 
impervious too. : 
From the smallest shrubs of the Yerba Tree, the finest | 
* Gathered every morning by the cutters, who disperse singly and on E 
foot through the woods, and return laden with as many branches as they 1 
can carry, 2 $ 
