172 



CUYABA. 



neglected to send them provisions from Villa Real, a town some distance 

 down the river. There was not a solitary article of food to be gathered 

 about the fort. No man dare go more than one hundred paces from 

 the walls, for fear of being murdered by the savage tribe of "Guaicurus," 

 who inhabit the country around. 



The "Capitan Commandante" was rather ancient, having arrived near 

 his hundredth year, and very seldom left his bed. Oliden said he had 

 great confidence in his soldiers, as there was only one musket outside of 

 the storeroom, in the hands of the sentinel at the entrance of the forti- 

 fication. The soldiers were almost naked, and not a woman among them. 

 Several of the sergeants came to the canoe to converse with Oliden. He 

 observed two old men sent by the commander to hear what was said, 

 news being rather scarce in those regions. Mr. Oliden invited them to 

 speak of the state of their country, which they declined; and when 

 Oliden spoke of the Supreme Dictator, they immediately took of! their 

 hats, but refused to talk politics or express their opinions with regard 

 to the Paraguay government. The term for which the soldiers enlisted 

 on this station was twenty years. 



A soldier returned with the passport granting Mr. Oliden permission to 

 retire — to return to his own country. His Cuyaba crew pulled the little 

 canoe up stream towards the north, and slowly paddled against the cur- 

 rent. Oliden's patriotic spirit saddened when he found the expedition 

 a failure. He was the son of a man who had fought for the liberty of 

 Bolivia. 



Mr. Oliden reports the Paraguay navigable for all classes of vessels 

 from Borbon to Alburquerque, and mentions no falls either in the Cu- 

 yaba or in the Paraguay up to the Villa Maria, which place he reached 

 in twenty -four days from Alburquerque. 



The road from Villa Maria to Cuyaba is travelled by mules and 

 horses. For heavy articles, the route is down the Paraguay river to the 

 mouth of the Cuyaba, and up that stream to the town of the same name, 

 in large canoes made of a single log, and manned by the Indians of the 

 country. I am induced to believe that this trip can be made in canoes 

 in the dry season ; that these rivers may be navigable for small steam- 

 boats at least six months in the year, and below the junction of these 

 rivers for the whole year. 



Cuyaba is between 15° and 16° south latitude. The river from that 

 town flows south, winding through a rich country, more than one thou- 

 sand miles, to the south Atlantic ocean. Any road, constructed of wood, 

 iron, or water, which passes through that latitude, must exhibit great 

 varieties of vegetable growth. At Cuyaba, the coffee and chocolate 



