126 



TEA. 



Parana, Brazil, from the leaves alone, and these being unpulverized, 



are used in the same way as Chinese tea. 



At first Europeans do not like mate, it having a herby and somewhat 

 bitter taste, but among the inhabitants of the South American States 

 it is a much prized article of luxury and necessity, and is the first 

 thing offered by them to their visitors ; indeed their tables are rarely 

 seen unoccupied by it ; and the " gaucho " of the plains will travel on 

 horseback for weeks, asking no better fare than dried beef washed 

 down by copious draughts of mate. The demand being great and 

 increasing, there is unfortunately continually going on a rapid 

 destruction of the tree. The Jesuits foreseeing this, started large 

 plantations in Paraguay, and at their branch missions in the provinces 

 of Parana and St. Pedro do Eio Grande, some of which still exist and 

 furnish the best tea made ; and of late years some of the landowners, 

 sensible of the short-sighted policy pursued, have established many 

 plantations with the best results, as the quality of the tea improves 

 with the cultivation of the tree. 



It is difficult to get at any consecutive or reliable returns for the 

 entire traffic in this commodity, the production of which is carried on 

 in such a desultory and rude manner, and extends over so vast an area 

 of wild country. A careful consultation of the official returns of the 

 several republics and of Brazil, as well as British consular reports, 

 enables me, however, to make an approximate estimate of the trade and 

 consumption. 



Forty thousand arrobas (or 10,000 cwts.) were imported into the 

 Argentine Eepublic in 1870. In the next two years the consumption 

 was as follows in the Argentine Confederation : 





Description. 



IStl. 



1872. 







Paraguay Yerba . . 

 Brazilian „ 



lbs. 



260,000 

 17,688,000 



lbs. 

 3,356,000 

 23,506,000 







Total .. .. 



17,948,000 



26,862,000 





The total consumption of yerba in the Argentine Republic in 1872 

 thus averaged 13 lbs. per head of the population, against 2 lbs. of 

 coffee, and only i lb. of tea. Altogether,^ nearly 27,000,000 lbs. 

 appear to have been consumed in the republic during that one year. 

 Surprising as this amount is at first sight, it is explained by the fact 

 that yerba constitutes the only vegetable nourishment of many classes 

 of the community. In the rural districts, as well as the smaller towns, 

 this herb is considered a regular form of diet, and not, like tea in 

 England, a mere accompaniment of the breakfast table. The method 

 of manufacture is to mix ordinary sugar with the decoction of yerba 

 until a thick syrup is produced, when it is ready for drinking. Pro- 

 bably the nourishing qualities attributed to the herb by the natives are 

 derived from this mixture of saccharine matter. As might have been 

 expected from the prevalence of this practice, the annual consumption 



