The Sun.
London, England, 1867-08-31 00:00:00

THE WAR WITH PARAGUAY.

Official correspondence relating to the hostilities
in the River Plate, and the abortive attempt at
mediation on the part of the United States, has been
laid before Parliament. Paraguay has, it is said,
a population of no more than 600,000 souls, and
since the commencement of the conflict has had no
means of obtaining supplies from abroad. In March
the invading land forces amounted to about 60,000
men, and the naval fleet comprised 67 vessels, ten
of them ironclads, while the forces of President
Lopez were believed not to exceed 22,000 men.
But so energetic was the defence, that the whole
Brazilian fleet was kept at bay for 40 days by a bat-
tery built on a spit of land at ltapiru armed with two
68-pounder guns; and after a campaign of two years
the allies held but about nine square miles of Para-
guayan territory, a space hardly more than suffi-
cient to contain (were they laid side by side) the
bodies of those who had perished from sickness
and wounds during the attempts to gain possession
of it. A report on the military operations which
was transmitted to the Foreign-office of London in
April states that the allies could not then place in
the field more than 32,000 effective men, a fifth
of these being three months' recruits ; the whole
number of the troops of Lopez was supposed to be
reduced to about 20,000, and they were suffering
great privations The women and children are
made to work for the army, and some of the former
are supposed to have fought by the side of the men,
as the bodies of several have been found among the
heaps of slain. The devotion of the Paraguayans to
their leader—whether inspired by love or terror is
not very clear—almost surpasses belief. The body
of one was recovered who must have been drowned
while successfully attaching a torpedo to the screw
of a Brazilian ironclad. They have repeatedly been
cut down at the very muzzles of the guns which
they have been madly endeavouring to drag by
main force out of the embrasures. It is, however,
confidently asserted that they have never been able
to withstand in the open field the bayonet charges
of the Brazilian infantry, and that of late they have
shown signs of discouragement. The Brazilian
troops of whom fully one half are negroes, and the
greater part of the remainder mulattoes or Indians,

appear to be in a very efficient state. Although
great attention is paid to their drill it is said that, in
spite of their individual bravery, which cannot be
called in question, when under tire they lose the
steadiness which characterises European,troops,and
sometime become unmanageable. Each soldier is
provided with three complete suits of uniform made
of good serviceable material. When in heavy march-
ing order the weight carried by the rank and
file, including 60 rounds of ball cartridge, has
been reduced from 521 b. to 401 b. With the
exception of one battalion, lately supplied with
needle guns, the troops are all armed with Minie
rifles of a large bore, but the grooves of
many of these seem to be much worn by constant
use. The cavalry are principally armed with lances
a certain number, however, in each corps carry car-
bines instead of lances. The men have the reputa-
tion of being splendid horsemen, and all use both
the ' lasso' and the bolas.' Since the Field-Mar-
shal has assumed the command the utmost order and
cleanliness are to be found in the Brazilian camps.
The officers live in huts and the men in small can-
vas tents, which hold two in each. The latter aro
a little larger than the French ' tentes d'abri,' and
afford but little protection either from the sun or
rain. The great amount of sickness prevalent among
the Brazilians may in a great measure be attributed
to the use of these tents, as the Argentines, who
are both ill fed and poorly clad, but live in huts,
are far healthier than their allies." In May the Go-
vernment journal of Buenos Ayres, had an account
of the capture of a Paraguayan picket of soldiers,

three of whom were only 13, 12, and 11 years of
age, and they stated that the whole force was under
12,000, and three battalions were made up of boys
and one of old men, and that provisions were scarce
and ammunition running out. The name " Repub-
lic" is adopted in Paraguay, but the Government of
that fine country is one of pure despotism, with au
espionage extended to all classes ; yet there is a real
devotion to the service of Lopez, which is said on all
sides to be beyond the powers of belief of those who
have not witnessed it. Mr. Lettsom, reporting to
Lord Stanley from Montevideo on the 29th of May,
writes :—" I cannot but hope that ere long the voice
of some strong and disinterested Power will make
itself heard in a manner which will at once put an
end to this desolating war, and secure for the peo-

ple of Paraguay more freedom than they have
hitherto enjoyed, and to which boon they have
proved themselves to be fully entitled. Writing
again on the 29th June Mr. Lettsom says :—" What
the result of the war will be I do not pretend to
predict ; but it seems probable that Paraguay will
succumb from exhaustion."

LIVERPOOL COTTON MARKET—This Day

The Market opens very flat. Sales probably
7,000 bales.

THREE MEN KILLED.—On Thursday evening a
lamentable accident occurred at Pembroke dockyard. Some
men were engaged in testing a crane, and during the ope-
ration the crane gave way; the result was that three of
the men lost their lives, and two others were badly in-
jured.

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