Mr. J. Miers on the History of the 'Mate' Plant. 225 



lican States of South America. Accordingly he reached Buenos 

 Ayres in 1817, with a nominal appointment of Professor of 

 Natural History in that capital. About the same time, a con- 

 siderable number of his countrymen, from similar causes, settled 

 themselves in the Argentine Provinces, at which period the in- 

 ternecine wars before alluded to were raging furiously. Many 

 of these Frenchmen became active partisans in these quarrels, 

 and, either by their direct or indirect interference, soon came 

 under the ban of the several opposing chiefs. When I passed 

 through Buenos Ayres, in 1819, I saw Bonpland; he was then 

 under great excitement in consequence of the execution of two of 

 his companions, who, having been detected in assisting the mili- 

 tary chief Carrera, were accordingly sentenced to be shot. It 

 was in the same year that Bonpland established himself near 

 Candelaria, one of the old Jesuit Missions on the left bank of 

 the Parana, contiguous to Paraguay, where he formed a con- 

 siderable establishment, chiefly, as I understood, with a view to 

 the production of and trade in Yerba, under the special auspices 

 and protection of the Governor-general Artigas, who, as I have 

 before mentioned, intended ultimately to carry out his designs 

 against Paraguay. In the following year, General Ramirez, 

 who commanded Artigas's forces, being bought over by the rival 

 Presidents of Buenos Ayres and Santa Fe, revolted against his 

 chief. Artigas, being hard pressed and deserted by his sup- 

 porters, knowing also that if he fell into his enemies' hands he 

 would be immediately sacrificed, resolved to beg an asylum in 

 Paraguay ; and he obtained this permission, in 1820, from Doctor 

 Francia, for himself and a thousand of his faithful followers, 

 who were distributed in different parts of the country, and to 

 whom portions of land were assigned, upon condition of culti- 

 vating them. The Dictator generously gave his rival a monthly 

 pension, together with a house and lands in the village of Cara- 

 gaty, eighty-five leagues N.E. of Assuncion, where he resigned 

 himself to peaceful agricultural pursuits, and lived in much en- 

 joyment till the period of his death, ten years afterwards. 



In 1821, Ramirez, being then at peace with the other Argen- 

 tine provinces, turned his attention to the invasion of Paraguay, 

 with which view he collected a considerable body of troops, in 

 order to force that country to adopt his policy. While these 

 preparations were going forwards, political considerations of 

 greater moment induced Ramirez to suspend his project : he 

 now marched his forces to the southward, to wage war against 

 the Governors of Buenos Ayres and Santa Fe; and after a se- 

 vere campaign, he was at last defeated, taken prisoner, and 

 executed. Francia, thus relieved of his fears for a while, pro- 

 ceeded to adopt such precautionary measures as he conceived 



Ann. fy Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 3. Vol. viii. 15 



