Asunción

“ There is no doubt that to the new-comers the country in the neighbourhood of Asuncion, with its pleasant valleys, rolling country, and forest-covered hills, must have come in the shape of a relief after the apparently interminable passage of the plains. It was the spot at which the pioneer would naturally halt, and endeavour to found his settlement.
The Guaraní Indians extended but a cold welcome to the daring adventurers. Their temperament was by nature far less warlike than that of the savage and intrepid natives in the regions of the coast. ”

“ The bishop having now the civil as well as the spiritual power virtually in his hands, lost no time in making it felt by the Jesuits. They were prohibited from preaching within Asuncion, and their schools were closed. But if the governor was subdued by the ecclesiastical authority, the Viceroy of Charcas and his council were not. The governor of Paraguay was severely reprimanded for having submitted himself to an arrogant prelate, who was in turn denounced, and was compelled to retire for some years from Asuncion. ”

“ Zambos, blacks, Mestizos, Italians, Spaniards, most of them as dirty and lazy and insubordinate as they were high. The negroes and whites had never been farther up than Corrientes, but some of the half-bloods had been as far as Asuncion, and these said unhesitatingly that even if the Englishman could get canoemen to take him up the Paraguay to the capital, every inch of the way was dangerous on account of the uncivilised Guaranis; and that—supposing he reached Asuncion alive—he would not be permitted to enter upon the Chaco. ”

“ Just before a turn in the river reveals the presence of Asuncion the Republica steams by the Cerro de Lambare, a cone-shaped hill about three hundred and twenty feet high, covered with so dense a growth of bushes that no one has ever succeeded in climbing to its summit. The river-channel in its length between this elevation and Asuncion still contains remains of the obstructions which Lopez placed there to check the progress of the Brazilian fleet and protect the city. As the steamer rounds the bend the Paraguayan capital comes in sight. ”

“ The formation of the Asuncion hill is of grit and pudding- stone, often covered with a cape of iron ; the rock is evidently ferriferous, and the metal occurs pure in pyriform grains. The surface is a sand composed of fragmentary quartz, milky and coloured pale -red by oxide: the pieces are all more or less polished, and water, often chalybeate, bursts through the covering. The streets of Asuncion are the streets of Buenos Aires, only these are on a flat, and those are on a slope ”

“ Learning the tale of treasure to be found in the interior, Irala now bent his attention to discover it. At Buenos Ayres wealth could only be the reward of industry, and therefore the settlement founded by Mendoza was abandoned, and the whole Spanish colony flocked up the river to Asuncion. They mustered six hundred souls, and Asuncion thus became the earliest founded permanent city in the region of La Plata. ”

“ Asuncion is to be regarded as a picturesque city. There is a wealth of flower, which often covers the hovels on the outskirts. The city is built partly on its hills and partly on the sandy riverine plain, and contains some interesting buildings. Life here is generally simple, and has certain attractions by reason of this simplicity. It is nigh upon the tropic zone, but its environment is such that the climate is pleasant indeed, and, in fact, has been enthusiastically described by some as "containing all the elements of perfection." ”

“ The country about Asuncion is the very perfection of quiet rural beauty. The scenery resembles the prettiest parts of New England, enhanced by the richness of the verdure of the palm-trees with which the whole country is studded. The cultivated land is divided into fenced fields, wherein grow maize, mandioca, and sugar-cane, and the cottages dotted about complete the pleasantness of the picture. There are roads in every direction—not kept in first-rate condition, but still good ”

“ I am giving their names and population together with those of their capitals and their population according to the estimate of 1917 in Héctor F. Decoud's Geografia de la Republica del Paraguay, Asuncion, 1917. The population of these district capitals includes the commune as well as the town, for with the exception of six cities, Asuncion, Villa Rica, Caazapá, Villa Encarnacion, Villa Concepcion, and Villa del Pilar there are no incorporated places in the republic:—
Total population, 828,130 inhabitants exclusive of about 50,000 wild Indians living in the Gran Chaco. ”

“ When a high wind is blowing, the roar of the cataract can be heard nearly twenty miles away. A rough estimate of the horse-power represented by the falls is fourteen million."
Proceeding up the Paraguay River, we arrived at Asuncion, the capital of Paraguay, and anchored in a beautiful bay of the river, opposite the city. As many necessary preparations had still to be made, the expedition was detained in Asuncion for fifteen days, after which we boarded the S.S. Leda, for the second stage of our journey. ”

“ With the whole labouring population under control, these holy men soon waxed so strong as to awe into subjection the few white settlers whose estates dated from the conquest; and by degrees, extending their sway from the country into the towns, and even into the capital, Asuncion, they set themselves above all civil and ecclesiastical authority, snubbing the intendente of the province and worrying the bishop of the diocese. ”

“ Villa Concepción, 130 miles up the river from Asunción, the third if not the second city of commercial importance, with a population given as 16, 25, also 30 thousand, is a port for yerba, cattle, quebracho, and sugar. The town of one story houses has better streets than those of the Capital, and a comfortable inn. ”

“ On the left bank of the Paraguay, at the point of its confluence with the equally great Pilcomayo, the traveler comes to the ancient city of Asunción, the capital of the country. Here was the seat of the colonial authority over Plata settlements until Buenos Aires grew into importance. It has a population of 52,000, and is now thriving and prosperous, rapidly taking on the cosmopolitanism that characterizes the other ports of South America. ”

“ Not wishing to seem egotistical in making this statement, I was not long in Asuncion, before I discovered that I appealed to Paraguayan womanhood. Oftentimes of an evening while passing along the residential streets I would notice women in the act of closing the doors or the shutters. ”

“ In 1620 Buenos Aires was separated from the authority of the government established at Asunción, and was made the seat of a government extending over Mendoza, Santa Fé, Entre Rios and Corrientes, but at the same time remained like the government of Paraguay at Asunción, and that of the province of Tucumán, which had Córdoba as its capital, subject to the authority of the viceroyalty of Peru. ”

“ The earliest Spanish settlement in Paraguay was at Asuncion, under the leadership of Dominges Irala, and the treatment which he and his followers meted out to the Indians was similar to that which the luckless natives experienced at the hands of the colonists throughout the continent. The Indians were reduced practically to a state of slavery by their taskmasters, whose relationships with the tribal women were of none too scrupulous a character, so that when the Jesuit missionaries arrived they found many abuses, which they did their best to abolish. ”

“ Rising from the plain are many huts, the estancias of the natives, half hidden by the foliage. They are built of cane, plastered over, and with thatched roofs.
At Borja the junction for the village of Charara, the scenery changes. The land now high and dry is intersected by numerous rivers. Mountains appear to the north, and from here to Asuncion the country has a well-settled character with numerous well-built villages. Civilization in Paraguay started from Asuncion and followed the high ridge of land eastward. ”

“ When the allies captured Humaita, Lopez, retreating, decided to convert the country lying in the enemy's front into a desert. He issued a proclamation ordering the entire population living south of Asuncion to retire with all their animals toward the interior, and to follow him into the cordillera, eighty leagues to the east of the city. This order applied to all classes without exception, the families of high dignitaries, ministers and superior officers being included as well as the humbler sort. ”

“ Here on the Paraguay the natives hold them in much respect, whereas the caymans are not feared at all. The only redeeming feature about them is that they are themselves fairly good to eat, although with too many bones.
At daybreak of the third day, finding we were still moored off Concepcion, we were rowed ashore and strolled off through the streets of the quaint, picturesque old town; a town which, like Asuncion, was founded by the conquistadores three-quarters of a century before our own English and Dutch forefathers landed in what is now the United States. ”

“ Paraguay’s rural territory shows no signs of the nine years’ war and devastation; but in Asuncion and other cities the case is different. Its spacious edifices, costly churches, and public buildings are in ruins. Some which still stand are disused and deserted, more are only partially occupied, and are in a state of half neglect, too large for the shrunken populace ”

“ Asuncion enjoys direct communication with France, and a Buenos Aires-New York steamship line provides monthly service from Buenos Aires to Asuncion and is about to extend it to Matto Grosso in Brazil. There are 1,130 miles of telegraph.
Cities. The chief cities are Asuncion, the capital, chief port and commercial center, population 84,000; Villa Rica, population 26,000; and Concepcion, population 15,000.
Resources. Paraguay has a wide area of rich agricultural land, producing corn, coffee, rice, cocoa, indigo, tobacco, manioc and sugarcane. ”

“ The general elevation is only 253 ft. above sea-level. Asunción is laid out on a regular plan, the credit for which is largely due to Dictator Francia; the principal streets are paved and lighted by gas and electricity; and telephone and street-car services are maintained. The climate is hot but healthful, the mean annual temperature being about 72° F. The city is the seat of a bishopric dating from 1547, and contains a large number of religious edifices. ”

“ The most prominent edifice in the city is the palace begun by the younger Lopez, which is now occupied by a bank. There are some business edifices and residences of considerable architectural merit, but the greater part are small and inconspicuous, a majority of the residences being thatched, mud-walled cabins. Considerable progress was made during the last two decades of the 19th century, however, notwithstanding misgovernment and the extreme poverty of the people. Asunción was founded by Ayolas in 1535, and is the oldest permanent Spanish settlement on the La Plata. ”

“ At home we eat frog's legs. The Asuncenos delight in eating the body of the cucurús, the great garden toad. The Chaco Indians rejoice in stewed monkey and fried slices of gran vibora, a snake peculiar to that swamp, while the iguana is held in edible estimation by the white population. Locust pies and boiled parrot also find their way down the alimentary canals of the aborigines.
The two places of the greatest interest to the stranger in Asuncion are the cemetery of Mangrullo and the market-place. ”

“ Farmer.)
Along the Santa Bárbara channel the festivities in honor of the strangers were especially lively. At Asunción (Ascension) , a point on the coast five [98] leagues below Carpintería, they received a reception of which we read in Costansó’s diary of the Portolá expedition of 1769, date of August 14: “We reached the coast, and came in sight of a real town, situated on a tongue or point of land, right on the shore, which it dominated, seeming to command the waters. We counted as many as thirty large and capacious houses, spherical in form, well built and thatched with grass. ”

“ The scenery in the vicinity of Asuncion is very fine, and possesses a special feature of its own with the dark shadows of the trees falling on a reddish-yellow sand. Immense avenues lead out in a straight line from the city. They are from seventy to eighty feet wide, but the sand is so deep in them and in the streets that men and horses sink in it above the ankle. Since the war the people have had very few horses, and have been compelled to import them ”

“ The plant or tree from which this "mate" is secured often grows as large as an orange tree and the leaves are green and shiny. There are thousands of acres of this growing wild and the product made from that in the wild state is as good as any. Thousands of Indians, as well as white people, are engaged in the harvesting and shipping of this tea.
The largest city in Paraguay is Asuncion, the capital city. It is nearly as large as Des Moines, Iowa, and a portion of it is simply the ruins of the ancient city that was ruled by tyrants. ”

“ Beyond them the ground droops towards a shallow valley, and the thorough- fares are mere holes or piercings in the dense bush, with here and there a rancho. The ridge-crest is seventy-five metres above the river. At present there is no plan of the city, but this want will soon be supplied.
On the right of the landing-place, between the two redoubts, is the much talked of Asuncion arsenal, where the "busy iron islanders," about thirty in a total of 150 hands, are said to have cast upwards of a hundred guns. ”