92 
CONTRIBUTIONS TO BOTANY. 
five millions of pounds; but Mr. Robertson states that in 1812 
(two years after Paraguay became independent) the exports of 
Yerba still amounted to eight millions of pounds, or 3750 tons, 
from the port of Assuncion alone, at which period, too, its cul- 
tivation in the Missions had become almost annihilated. In 
all these Missions, during the devastating wars then raging 
throughout the Argentine provinces, the Indian settlers were 
robbed of all their cattle and horses, their farms were destroyed, 
the men forced to become soldiers, and otherwise were so op- 
pressed, that the greater number sought a refuge in Paraguay. 
Some idea of the extent of this depopulation may be formed 
from the records preserved of the seven Uruguay Missions, 
which in 1768 had a population of 30,000, nearly all Indians; 
in 1801, when taken by the Portuguese, they numbered only 
14,000 ; by the subsequent wars they were further reduced, in 
1814, to 6395; and in 1821, at the census taken when St.-Hi- 
laire was there, they scarcely amounted to 3000 individuals of 
all ages. This celebrated botanist remarks concerning them — 
“ En un mot, la province des Missions, naguere si florissante, 
oAFre aujourd^hui le tableau de toutes les miseres qui affligent 
notre espece, et dans peu, Fon y chercherait vainement des 
Indiens.” Owing to political causes subsequent to 1812, the trade 
with Paraguay became in great measure suspended ; so that the 
Yerba from the Curitiba Mountains was much sought for, and 
conveyed to the nearest port of Paranagua, on the Brazilian 
coast; and hence the Yerba de Paranagua (though considered 
inferior in flavour to the Yerba de Paraguay) commanded a ready 
sale ; but the quantity obtained from this source was inconsider- 
able in comparison with the amount that still found its way 
from Paraguay. 
At this period, Paraguay was governed by the renowned 
Dictator, Doctor Prancia. That country had been one of the 
earliest of the Spanish provinces in assuming its independence : 
this occurred in 1810, when Prancia was one of the Junta de- 
puted to frame a constitution after the republican model, with 
the executive power confided to two consuls chosen by the 
people. At the end of the second year he was elected one of 
the consuls ; but soon aftei’, his colleague was superseded, and 
aU the power became vested in his hands. His government, 
in most respects, proved well suited to a race of Indians still 
imbued with the highest respect for the paternal rule of the 
Jesuits, under whom they were accustomed to an implicit obe- 
dience to one superior head. The population everywhere spoke 
the Guarani tongue, and only the more educated men in autho- 
rity and the few settlers from the mother country could under- 
stand the Spanish language; on the other hand, the Indian 
