MATERIAL CONDITION OF PARAGUAY. 321 



In the interior Taijuti and Tuyucué, guarding the passes of tne great estero 

 BcUaco morass, were also the scene of fierce combats, and after the struggle, an 

 invasion of cholera turned the whole region into a vast necropolis. 



The fortress of Humaita itself was not actually taken by assault ; but the 

 summer floods having risen to an unwonted height, the strong iron cable barring 

 the passage was submerged to a depth of over 16 feet, and four of the seven 

 Brazilian ironclads took advantage of a foggy starless night to gain the upper 

 reaches. The defenders of Humaita, taken between two fires, on the one hand by 

 the warships, on the other by the troops lining a rampart of circumvallation 

 drawn from Itaplru on the Parana to Tuyi on the Paraguay, a distance of 24 

 miles, had to evacuate the stronghold and fall back on other lines of defence 

 farther north. 



A few military posts, erected on piles or on artificial mounds, formerly guarded 

 the confluence of the Parana and Paraguay ; but no town or village was ever 

 founded in this miry district. According to Felix de Azara the Paraguay 

 discharges at low water a volume of not more than 7,000 or 8,000 cubic feet per 

 second. 



Material and Social Condition of Paraguay. 



The first census of Paraguay dates from the end of the eighteenth century, 

 when, according to Azara, the whole population of the province, including the 

 Indians, numbered 97,480. Between that time and the great war profound peace 

 prevailed, even during the political changes caused by the movement of indepen- 

 dence, and if a document issued by the dictator, Solano Lopez, can be trusted, 

 the Paraguayans had increased to 1,337,4-39 in 1867. But the details were never 

 published, and many doubted the possibility of such an increase in the absence 

 of any great access of immigrants. Yet with fewer numbers it is difficult to 

 understand how the nation could have maintained such a stupendous struggle 

 for five years against her three powerful neighbours. From the first an active 

 force of 50,000 men was organised, besides a strong reserve and several thousands 

 engaged in the arsenals constructing floating batteries and steamers, in repair- 

 ing damages, casting guns, manufacturing small arms, munitions of war, and 

 uniforms, for Paraguay was completely isolated and could import no supplies 

 from abroad. 



In 1887, eighteen years after the war, a fresh census was taken, showing a 

 population of only 239,774, according to which over a million, or four-fifths of 

 the whole nation, must have perished in the war. In 1890 the civilised 

 Paraguayans were estimated at 500,000, and the unreduced Indians of Chaco 

 between the Pilcomayo and the Paraguay, at 30,000. In recent years immi- 

 gration has contributed to the re-peopling of the land, and the incomplete 

 returns for 1887 comprised nearly 8,000 strangers. Since then the yearly 

 arrivals have been ab ut a thousand, and in 1890 as many as 2,395, mostly from 

 Argentina. 



