TOPOGRAPHY OF PARAGUAY. 315 



Encarnacion lies beyond the zone where maté flourishes ; but the old missions 

 situated a little farther north in the hilly districts watered by several small 

 affluents of the Parana, still possess some extensive yerbalcs, " yerba maté thickets." 

 The native populations, which formerly constituted the congregations of the mis- 

 sionaries, have remained in the country, although in greatly reduced numbers. 

 Here are also the old sisiiion^— Trinidad, Jesus, San Pedro, Santiago, Santa Rosa, 

 Santa Maria, San L/iiacio Guazu—consisimg of low huts above which rise the 

 remains of solid structures and heavy churches. 



Santa Rosa — Concepcion. 



Snnia Rosa, wealthiest of these missions, consecrated to the patron saint of 

 the Guarani, was annually visited by thousands of pilgrims, who never approached 

 her shrine empty-handed. Hence the church, which still exists, was extremely 

 rich in gold and silver objects ; it was enclosed by a ditch to defend it from 

 marauders. Between Santa Maria and Santa Rosa the plantation of Cerrito 

 recalls the sojourn of Aimé Bonpland, who was here interned for nine years by 

 the dictator, Francia. 



Below Encarnacion follow San Juan, another old mission, and the villages of 

 Carmen and San Cosnie just above the Apipe rapids. Beyond this point the navi- 

 gation is open all the way to the Paraguay confluence above Corrientes. 



Concepcion, below the ruins of San Salvador on the Paraguay, was formerly one 

 of the great depots of the maté trade. Lower down follows the pleasant little 

 town of San Pedro, on the Rio Jujuy, a short distance above its junction with the 

 main stream. Farther south Villa Hayes, so named in honour of the President of 

 the United States, who in 1879 awarded North Chaco to Paraguay, stands on the 

 riffht bank at the confluence of the Rio Confuso. 



Asuncion. 



Asuncion, capital of the Republic, is finely situated on a terrace rising some 

 50 feet above the left bank of the Paraguay a short distance below Villa Hayes. 

 Like nearly all American towns of Spanish origin, it has been laid out on the chess- 

 board plan, and its dusty streets are continued beyond the houses far into the 

 country. Although steadily recovering from the effects of the war, the thorough- 

 fares removed from the centre are still grass-grown, and the palaces, which were 

 to make Asuncion the most sumptuous city in South America, were till recently 

 falling to ruins. Since their restoration they contribute to give the place a stately 

 aspect, at letist by contrast with the towns of Matto Grosso. The arsenal, founded 

 before the war, contains dockyards where several steamers have been built. 



As far as this point the Paraguay is accessible to large vessels from Monte 

 Video and Buenos Ay res ; but higher up it is navigable only by small craft. 

 Asuncion, which is traversed by several tramways, is little more than a trading 

 station, with no local industries beyond a little goldsmiths' work. 



