The rivers Parana, Uruguay, and Paraguay are, however, now too well known to necessitate any very minute description. The first originates at no great distance from the shores of the Atlantic in that part of the table land of Brazil which divides the watershed of the Amazon from the watershed of the River Plate. Its most distant branch is the Rio Grande, which it receives at the confluence of the latter with the Paranahyba; and after an interrupted course of about 1,000 miles it finally effects a junction with the Paraguay, its largest affluent. Thence its huge volume of water, further augmented by the Uruguay, rolls to the ocean, forming that wide fresh water sea known as the estuary of the Plate. The Parana runs for nearly 900 miles within the limits of the Argentine Republic, and of this distance quite 750 are navigable throughout the whole year for sailing vessels and steamers of 300 tons burden. It begins to rise owing to intertropical rains towards the end of December, and this continues up to the close of April. Below its confluence with the Paraguay the average rise is eleven to twelve feet. The only tributary the Parana receives between its confluence with the Paraguay and its absorption in the estuary of the La Plata is the Rio Salado, a river of great length, and having its source in the Andine regions of the Argentine Confederation.
The Paraguay, like the Parana, has its origin in Brazilian territory. After passing through the Estrecho of Sao Francisco, (lat. 20° S.) it flows southwards, dividing the Republic of Paraguay from the Gran Chaco; a few miles below Asuncion, at a point called Angostura, the channel is narrowed by rocks, and the current becomes very rapid in consequence, taking a bend west by south until it mingles with the Parana. The Paraguay is navigable by large craft, and steamers have for some years ascended to Asuncion and Matto Grosso. The Paraguay receives the Pilcomayo, a very large stream of over 1,000 miles, and which, taking its rise near the city of Chuquisaca, in Bolivia, traverses a vast portion of that Republic, finally issuing from the Chaco wilderness at a point a little above Asuncion. Of course the Paraguay is augmented by numerous tributaries previous to its junction with the Pilcomayo, but these need not be specially mentioned. The Araguarmini empties itself into it at Oliva, and further down is the mouth of the Vermejo, a very considerable river, the navigation of which opens to commerce a territory of almost unrivalled fertility, and affords an easy access to Bolivia, in which State, like the Pilcomayo, it has its sources. Efforts have been made to facilitate the navigation of this fluvial highway, in connection with which the name of Sor. Arce is deserving of special allusion. This gentleman was the first to traverse the entire length of this previously unexplored river, his first descent having been effected in 1856. He followed its windings on a raft for a distance of 1,200 miles, penetrating in his course dense forests, and braving exposure to the rays of a tropical sun, not to speak of the danger incurred from wild beasts, and the yet more formidable Indian savages. The Vermejo will yet prove of incalculable advantage in conveying to the ocean the valuable products of the Argentine and Bolivian interior.
The Uruguay and the Parana partially enclose the Provinces of Entre Rios and Corrientes, and the former is only navigable from the sea as far as Salto, where rapids and falls occur; but above this point its waters are adapted to small steamers and sailing craft. Its source is in Brazil. On its banks are situated the towns of San Borja, Salto, Pysandu, Concepcion, Fray Bentos, and Soriano. It passes through a well wooded and picturesque country. Up to Salto it is constantly navigated by steamers trading between that place and the lower communities, especially Buenos Ayres and Monte Video.
THE REPUBLIC OF PARAGUAY.
The long and sanguinary conflict which the despotic ruler of this country has been enabled, from various causes, to maintain against the allied arms of Brazil and the other Platine States has naturally excited considerable curiosity in Europe to know something of its past history, people, and form of government.
In order to arrive at a correct judgment in respect of this singular people, and of their political and social condition, it is absolutely necessary to go back to the time when the Jesuits exercised so potential an influence in the River Plate, as in other parts of South America where the members of this remarkable order were permitted to carry out their questionable designs for the religious subjection and social domination of the aboriginal inhabitants.
The Jesuits first arrived in Paraguay at the beginning of the 17th century, when they obtained from Spain the concession of a vast territory of their own choosing, traversed by the Parana and Uruguay rivers, and capable of growing a great variety of products, including the sugar cane, indigo, cotton, tropical fruits of every description, and almost every kind of edible root and vegetable. The forests contained woods of the most valuable character, and the region in question also possessed great mineral wealth. The Fathers, having established themselves in their conceded territory, forthwith set about devising schemes for its population by civilised, or, at least, subjected Indians. The means adopted were characteristic. Azara describes the ingenious, if not very ingenuous, system adopted for this purpose. Having failed in their attempts to subdue the wilder Indian tribes, the Fathers soon directed their efforts to the reduction of the Guaranis, who were of a milder and more tractable temperament. By great industry, and by dint of patience, a small community was formed, over whom the Jesuits possessed the most entire control, and whose members were used for the reduction of savages in much the same fashion as the fowler uses his “call-birds” for the capture of others. The following is a brief description of the method usually adopted:—
They sent to a savage community some small presents by two Indians speaking the same language, and who had been chosen in their oldest communities. They repeated these embassies and presents at different times, the messengers always stating that they were sent by a Jesuit who loved them tenderly, who desired to come and live in their midst, and to procure for them other objects of greater value, including herds of cows, in order that they might have food to eat without exposing themselves to fatigue. The Indians accepted these offers, and the Jesuit started with what he had promised, accompanied by a considerable number of Indians selected from amongst those of their early redacciones. These Indians remained with the Jesuit, as they were needed to build a house for the curate and to take care of the cows. These were very soon destroyed, for the Indians only thought of eating them. The savages asked for more cows and they were brought by additional Indians chosen like the first; and the whole of them remained on the spot, under the pretext of building a church and other edifices, and of cultivating maize, the yucca root, &c., for the Jesuit and for all the others. Food, the affability of the priest, the good conduct of the Indians who had brought the cattle, festivals and music, the absence of every appearance of subjection, attracted to this settlement all the savage Indians in the neighbourhood. When the priest saw that his selected Indians greatly exceeded the savages in numbers, he caused the latter to be surrounded on a determined day by his people, and mildly told them, in a few words, that it was not just their brethren should work for them, that it was therefore necessary they should cultivate the earth and learn trades, and that the women should spin. A few appeared dissatisfied, but they perceived the superiority of the Indians of the curate, and as the latter was careful to caress some and punish others with moderation, while exercising a surveillance over all for a time, the new mission was at length entirely and successfully formed.
The internal government of the Jesuits was quite as peculiar as the proceedings by which they widened their influence and brought the outlaying savage populations under control. From the Indians an unquestioning and absolute submission was exacted, and the hours and the nature of their labours were fixed without appeal by their clerical masters. M. Quentin, in his very interesting work, translated from the French by Mr. Dunlop, thus depicts the interior life in these redaccions, the name given to their establishments by the Jesuits themselves:—
The Indians knew no other authority than that of the Father. The Father fed and clothed them, and promised the joys of Paradise as the reward of their submission and assiduity in labour. They lived in common, they worked in common, they prayed in common, under the direction of the Father, who was the representative of God. The Indian laboured, but nothing belonged to him individually; everything was the property of the whole community. The Father distributed amongst the different families the things necessary for their sustenance, and the remainder was carefully stored and guarded in immense warehouses. The Indians had nothing to do with the traffic; the Father it was who sold in distant markets the precious woods cut in the forests, the Paraguayan tea, the tobacco, and the hides: he it was who brought back fine garments, the most beautiful of which were given to the most docile and submissive, and returned with implements of agriculture, looms for the weaving of cotton, and splendid stuffs for the adornment of the chapel on holidays, when work was suspended and the bells sent forth jubilant peals. These days were days of high festival in the redacción. The Fathers of the neighbouring missions assembled. They invested themselves in copes resplendent with gold; children, clothed in white robes, carried censers, which they waved to and fro; and the whole population, in good order, and to the sound of music, slowly advanced, singing canticles as they went under the shade of the orange trees which fringed their path.