222 Mr. J. Miers on the History of the ' Mate' Plant. 



conveyed to the nearest port of Paranagua, on the Brazilian 

 coast ; and hence the Yerba de Paranagua (though considered 

 inferior in flavour to the Yerba de Paraguay) commanded a ready- 

 sale : but the quantity obtained from this source was inconsider- 

 able in comparison with the amount that still found its way 

 from Paraguay. 



At this period, Paraguay was governed by the renowned 

 Dictator, Doctor Francia. That country had been one of the 

 earliest of the Spanish provinces in assuming its independence : 

 this occurred in 1810, when Francia was one of the Junta de- 

 puted to frame a constitution after the republican model, with 

 the executive power confided to two consuls chosen by the 

 people. At the end of the second year he was elected one of 

 the consuls ; but soon after, his colleague was superseded, and 

 all the power became vested in his hands. His government, 

 in most respects, proved well suited to a race of Indians still 

 imbued with the highest respect for the paternal rule of the 

 Jesuits, under whom they were accustomed to an implicit obe- 

 dience to one superior head. The population everywhere spoke 

 the Guarani tongue, and only the more educated men in autho- 

 rity and the few settlers from the mother country could under- 

 stand the Spanish language; on the other hand, the Indian 

 language was not spoken in any of the Argentine Provinces. 

 The system of government adopted in Paraguay was completely 

 at variance with that followed in all the Argentine Provinces, 

 where the rule was based upon the more democratic model of 

 the North American States, which enjoined the annual election 

 of the municipal officers, whose executive power was always sup- 

 posed to be controlled by a representative and legislative assem- 

 bly triennially chosen by universal suffrage. The Paraguayans, 

 however, preferred their own system, and were so fully confident 

 in the talents and integrity of Dr. Francia, and so well satisfied 

 with his rule, that he was soon afterwards, by universal consent, 

 elected perpetual Dictator, with the most ample powers to act 

 as he judged best for the interests of the country. His govern- 

 ment was quite patriarchal : he required no large standing army 

 to overawe the people, who were only too willing to follow his 

 injunctions ; his military force was not larger than was necessary 

 to form a sort of custom-house guard round the coast, as well 

 as to prevent the ingress of the many adventurers and partisans 

 from the adjoining provinces who sought to disturb the system 

 he had established. He had previously followed the legal pro- 

 fession, and, as a civilian educated under the Jesuits, his policy 

 was based on a desire for peaceful quiet ; and in all his measures 

 he sought to prevent the contagion of that military turbulence 

 which agitated the surrounding states, and which kept them in 



