New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1851-06-28
PARAGUAY.
ssvae Account or the Country and 'S
History.

Deur MOndes very Interesting a''loi0 ""
Paraguay, containing many particulars IN
relation 10 that mysterious Republic "ficn
viii he new to our readers. The rulers OF
the country have always exercised jealous
noIcv toward strangers, and for long
course of years Paraguay was almost as
completely hidden from the outer world as
China or Japan. We have prepared for
The Tribune the following summary OF the
article in The ReUUe
No beaten track leads by land TO this mciosed
,eV;on of south-America The desert surrounds
# on all sides. 1t is girded by two large
streams the Parana g. pO~e.f% as the sea- IN
the language OF the ssvages,) and the Paraguay
or River of the Payaguas, trlbe OF Indian iish-
e.s who live on its waters and along Its oanAs.-
The northern frontier Is lost in a region abound
ing m lakes and streams, and for the most part
inundated; and there the feroclous tribes OF the
M'bavas wander at will. On the west IS the
Desert OF Chaco. sealed to all civilization, and,
like Germany in the time Of Augustus, stretch
ING its impenetrable forests, It's sayannas ana
marshes to the confines Of BOLIVIA, Iucuman
and Cordoya. On the south are the lakes OF
Couientes, and the ancient missions OF the
Jesuits, now waste and savage The eastern
side, finally, is protected by the unexplored Tor
ests of Brazil and by a cham OF mountains
whence many streams plunge from the rocks INTO
the CULTS below In order to penetrate into Par
asuay. there remains to us only the path OF the
Al fbo
clio Of all the streams which flow to the south
from the mountains OF Brazil and Peru.
The Parana is at present the great artery OF
internal navigation for the Argentine Coniedera-
ton. During the three centuries which have
elapsed since the Conquest, nothing has changed
the grand aspects of its course ltls always the
same mass OF water, blowing It's burrows through
depths which the pummet often fails to sound,
sometimes expanding into an immense sheet
whose shores the eye IN vain strives TO reach
sometimes crowdlng It's waves INTO the narrow
passes between the islands which shackle It's
course Thus flows the Parana, as large as the
Mississippi, for nearly nine hundred miles, from
the point where it receives the Paraguay TILL ITS
waters are lost IN the Rio de la Plata. As far as
the little village of ST Nicholas, distance OF
sixty leagues, the river Is toruous and inter
rupted, and fresh pGmpTO Is required at the
oars, TO stem the four-knOt current, which the
poets of the Discovery compared to the flight OF
an arrow. The sight is fatlgued by the im2nensc
monotOny of the pampas, and loses itself on the
swampy horizons of Entire Rios renowned for
those humid pastures which nourish the strong
est equine race OF America, besides mules, which
the traders of Santa F6 send to Peru by thou
sands. Here and there one sees miserable
bark belonging TO the Italian coasters who go
from point TO point exchanging their merchan-
disc for wool and hides, which they carry to
Buenos Ayres. They are the only appliances of
the commerce demanded by the iar.sown pOpu-
lation OF these provinces. So rare are the traces
of Man and of Civilization, the traveller might
imagine himself in the desert, except when he
hears the bell of some herd of cattle wandering
slowly over the PLAIN. Sometimes, across for
est of thisles almos. nign as oaks, he VIII see
n troop of bounding deer, flying ostrich pur-
sued by some Indian, or gaacho horseman, halt
ing on the brlnk of abauanca, motioness as the
sentinel chamois on peak of the Alps.
After ascending beyond the province of Santa Re,
the voyager enters wild and uncultyated region.
With the exception OF the fortress of Goya, peo-
pied by about five hsndred souls, there is neither
city nor village, and scarcely the trace OF habl-
ta,lon for more than hundred and thirty leagues.
There are fertile valleys, bearing cotton, tobacco
and maize graceful hills whose SUBMITS, hol-
lowed out like the chalice of a flower, conceal
reservoirs of water which might fertlllze their
sides, but which still nourlsh only tapirS and cay
mans, the terror of the watering places OF those
savage horses, which. small but full OF nerve,
contribute SO much to the efficiency OF the native
armies.
At the end of several weeks ofdilicult navIga-
ton, we reach the mysterious Paraguay. The
river which gives its name to the country, rolls
limpid and peaceful current very different from
the turbulent Parana. Its bresdthiS three times
that of the Seine at Neuilly. ABOUT equal to the
East River at Fulton Ferry Nothing can be
more charming than its shores, or more fresh
than the semitropical vegetation which covers
them, lacking neither the high plumes of the
bamboo, the undulating dome OF the place, the
sombre fronds OF the cedar, nor the elegant fret
work of the carob-trce The landing place Is the
Villa del Pillar, village OF about four bundled
inhabitants, twenty leagues iroa the frontier of
CorrieEtes Every other landing is prohibited
This is, moreover, the only estrepo, OF all the
foreign commerce, the principal station 81 the
nver police, and the guard of the frontier: 50
willed the Dictator FTancia and 50 wills MS sue.
cessor, President Lopez. There, whoe er you
are, Charge d'Aaaires of your Government, or
merchant only, you must await a special permis
sion from the President of the Republic, before
proceeding further. All the avenues of the conn
try are guarded like those OF prison 10 one
enters, no one goes out, without the Presidents
express order. Ii caprice or some political rea-