48 Through the Brazilian Wilderness 



violence. They are introducing universal military serv- 

 ice in Paraguay; the officers, many of whom have studied 

 abroad, are growing to feel an increased esprit de corps, 

 an increased pride in the army, and therefore a desire 

 to see the army made the servant of the nation as a 

 whole and not the tool of any faction or individual. 

 If these feelings grow strong enough they will be power- 

 ful factors in giving Paraguay what she most needs, 

 freedom from revolutionary disturbance and therefore 

 the chance to achieve the material prosperity without 

 which as a basis there can be no advance in other and 

 even more important matters. 



Then I was driven to the City Hall, accompanied by 

 the intendente, or mayor, a German long settled in the 

 country and one of the leading men of the city. There 

 was a breakfast. When I had to speak I impressed into 

 my service as interpreter a young Paraguayan who was 

 a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania. He was 

 able to render into Spanish my ideas — on such subjects 

 as orderly liberty and the far-reaching mischief done by 

 the revolutionary habit — ^with clearness and vigor, be- 

 cause he thoroughly understood not only how I felt but 

 also the American way of looking at such things. My 

 hosts were hospitality itself, and I enjoyed the unex- 

 pected greeting. 



We steamed on up the river. Now and then we 

 passed another boat — a steamer, or, to my surprise, per- 

 haps a barkentine or schooner. The Paraguay is a high- 

 way of traffic. Once we passed a big beef-canning fac- 

 tory. Ranches stood on either bank a few leagues apart, 

 and we stopped at wood-yards on the west bank. Indians 



