THE MATfi TRADE 111 



was mainly fed by the yerbales of the right bank of the 

 Parana, on Paraguayan territory. Posadas has now 

 succeeded Candelaria, and the yerbales that depend 

 upon it are scattered over both banks up the Parana. 



The yerbales of Misiones lie outside the tropical forest 

 proper. They are on the lower fringe of the pine- 

 forest, and begin at some distance from the river, with 

 which they are connected by muddy and difficult mule- 

 tracks. Mate can bear a cost of transport that would 

 be fatal to timber. At the point where these tracks 

 reach the river, the river-steamers stop at the foot of a 

 shed that is almost hidden in the foliage. These are 

 the " ladders " of the yerbales. 



Work in the yerbales lasts six months out of the 

 twelve. The pruners who collect the bunches of 

 leaves and bring them to the furnaces, where they are 

 dried, include Brazilians, Paraguayans and Argentinians. 

 The Brazilians go to the yerbal to offer their services. 

 The Paraguayans and Argentinians, nearly all from the 

 province of Corrientes, are recruited at Posadas and the 

 sister-town of Encarnacion, which is opposite to it 

 on the Paraguay bank. 



The hiring at Posadas is done according to a traditional 

 custom that does not seem to have changed for more 

 than a century. The description given by D'Azara 

 is not yet out of date. " The people of Villa Rica/' 

 he says, " depend mainly on being hired for the yerbales. 

 Theyerba industry is sometimes profitable to the masters, 

 but never to the natives, who work cruelly without any 

 profit. Not only are they paid in goods for the yerba 

 they gather, but the goods are put at so high a price that 

 it is terrible. They have even to pay for the hire of 

 a bill for cutting the mate . . . The natives contract 

 as much debt as they can before they start for the 

 yerbales, and as soon as they have done a little work, 

 they say good-bye to the yerbatero, who loses his money. 

 And the yerbatero in turn is exploited by the merchants 

 who control him." Before he starts for the yerbal, says 



