VISIT TO PARAGUAY. 



203 



Asuncion, the capital of Paraguay, is of interest not alone from being 

 the capital of that country, which to-day remains the most distinctive of 

 all the South American Republics. It was the home of Francisco Solano 

 Lopez, one of the greatest military spirits that South America ever pro- 

 duced. Not only was he an absolute dictator within his own country, but 

 at one time he actually aspired to the proud distinction of being known 

 as the Napoleon of South America, with authority over all the surround- 

 ing states. For a time, notwithstanding his limited resources, it did not 

 seem at all improbable that he would succeed. He and his followers 

 were possessed of such indomitable courage, that they were suppressed 

 only after a protracted and bloody struggle, in which the combined armies 

 of Brazil, Uruguay and Argentina were pitted against those of Paraguay. 

 The latter were finally vanquished, but not until after the country was 

 well-nigh depopulated. 



Asuncion is a city of some forty thousand inhabitants, with fairly-well 

 paved streets, poorly lighted, and with an indifferent tramway service, 

 and quite destitute of carriages or other vehicles for getting about. The 

 business portion of the city is ugly and monotonously uninteresting, but 

 in the suburbs, where the better classes and the aristocracy dwell, there 

 are beautiful villas with exquisitely laid-out and well-kept grounds. 



As a people, the Paraguayans are unique among South Americans in 

 that they have retained more of the original blood, manners, customs and 

 language of the Indian people that formerly inhabited the region than 

 those of any other country. The written and spoken language of the 

 country is Paraguayan, the Spaniards, French and Portuguese never hav- 

 ing been able successfully to introduce their own tongues. The upper 

 classes are proud but not haughty. The women, though small, are re- 

 markably handsome. The miasses of the people are exceedingly poor, and, 

 indeed, the country as a whole, at the time of my visit, seemed poverty- 

 stricken. The soil is fertile, the wants of the people are few, and living 

 correspondingly inexpensive. There is a single poorly-built and badly- 

 equipped railway leading from Asuncion into the interior. Over this I 

 travelled, and as we passed along, stopping at the not very frequent 

 villages, I was struck with the great number of mendicants, who at the 

 various stations fairly swarmed at the windows of the coaches, soliciting 

 alms from the occupants. Most of these were suffering from the effects 

 of syphilis or other loathsome diseases, usually already in an advanced 



