BUENOS AIRES AND ITS RIVER OF SILVER 



415 



which rims up the Alto 

 Parana, passing Po- 

 sadas, the ancient Jes- 

 uit town in the semi- 

 tropical territory of 

 Misiones. 



THE LAND OF PARA- 

 GUAY TEA 



Down the Alto Pa- 

 rana come lighters of 

 cedar logs, cattle, and 

 verba mate, or Para- 

 guay tea. This latter 

 consists of the pulver- 

 ized leaves of a scrubby 

 species of ilex (holly). 

 Though scarcely 

 known on the Euro- 

 pean or American 

 markets, it is univer- 

 sally used in South 

 xAmerica, especially by 

 the poorer classes. 

 Nearly every one who 

 tries it learns in time 

 to like it, finding it 

 slightly more stimulat- 

 ing than ordinary tea, 

 and especially bene- 

 ficial when used to 

 counteract the ill ef- 

 fects of a meat diet. 



The Jesuits culti- 

 vated yerba mate in 

 great plantations in 

 Misiones, but when 

 they were expelled 

 from the country, a 

 hundred and fifty 

 years ago, they took 

 the secret with them ; 

 so that up to a few 

 years ago the total 

 supply came from the 

 plants in the forests. 



The first sight of 

 Paraguay, which lay 



Publishers' Photo Service 



GAUCHO MINSTRELS IN PICTURESQUE GALA COSTUME 



Utility is combined with showiness in the costume of the freedom- 

 loving gaucho. To him it is more important that his bombachos, or 

 wide trousers, shall be comfortable than that they be new. His soft, 

 light boots are models of comfort, and his wide belt, heavily deco- 

 rated with silver, is far easier on his body than one of narrow 

 leather. His favorite musical instrument is a dreamy guitar (see 

 illustration, page 385), but the love lyrics and adventurous ballads 

 of a former age are already becoming more rare and his once ever- 

 ready dagger is less frequently drawn. The cowboy of Argentina is. 

 like his North American cowboy brother, becoming "civilized," and 

 it may not be long before a starched collar takes the place of his 

 picturesque neckerchief. 



revealed 



to our right from now on, 

 flooded islets and vast grassy prairies. 

 Humaita, the first Paraguayan town to 

 which we came, is famous as the scene of 

 an important battle between Paraguay 

 and a coalition of her neighbors. The 

 prominent feature of Humaita is the im- 

 posing red-brick ruin of a great church, 



whose thick walls, arches, and tower sur- 

 vived the cannonading. 



Surrounding the ruin is a beautiful 

 velvety green parade ground, with low 

 barracks behind. The streets of the 

 town debouch on this parade ground, and 

 they, too, are like green lawns — wide, 

 quiet, old-worldy, with cows placidly 



