Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1867-11-05
FROM TEAZTL.
YoHng's Lettsrs--1o. xii.
MoRRETTEs, Brazil, July 29, 1861.

L SfIle uuW from iiiG Ol oEdZiild
| winter 70 any one who has ever lived--as L
did-twenty-fiyo years in Missouri, the word
wjnter Till recall scenes differing greatly fro<s
those surrounding me to-day. 4 Missouri Win
ter recalls images Of leaden skies With the sun
obscured for days together ef alternate thaw
ings, rendering the roads impossible With mud
ard freezings that drive the thermometer down
below zero, destroying poultry and stock, and
even travellers on the high roads OF lands for
five months safe from the intrusion Of the plow-
Of rivers closed against navigation for three
months-of an almost total cessation OF farm
labor except such as Is necessary TO keep Dan
ard beast from perishing of freezing and star
vation-of coughs and colds, rheumatsms, pieu-
rlSles and winter ievers a time when every
body who can afford it stays within doors, and
none venture abroad unless impeled by duty
ike the doctors, or for profit, ike the Federal
tag gather. Now, by way OF contrast, let me
tell you what Parana winter is.
| write as aforesaid, in mid winter yet sur
rounded with growing crops, bright skies over
head, and mild breezes tanning fields and for
ests which have lost little or none Of their mid
summer greenness. A stranger arriving now
would imagine it to be summer, or early au-
tuma. Eor six weeks the thermometer has
ranged from A to GS degrees, just cool enough
to render outdoor exercise delightful to white
people. There has not been sign OF frost yet,
although / hear there has been as usual good
deal up around Curitibe. Stock, of all kinds,
are fat and sleek-up to their knees in grass
No need OF making hay here The land is in
fne condition for plowing, and the rivers pour
down their clear, cool streams of water with
hardly any perceptible decrease in volume since
spring, while the bright bay, nearly in sight,
and the great Atlantic outside present to yes
sells an open, unobStructed track from one years
end to the other.
There Is no need here of housekeepers put
ting away roots IN their cellars and canned fruit
In their pantries, for the garden and orchard
can be made to yield constant succession OF
vegetables and fruits No need CT removing
ornamental plants to pits to save them, for
even the coffee tree, the tenderest of all trees,
stands out unprotected, and shakes its gIoosy
leaves in defiance at Jack Frost. No nee, of
building close Of workshops and putting I'D
stoves for mechanics. Even dwelling houses
might dispense with tre-places, though would
advise the putting OF them IN for occasional use
on chilly mornings and evenings.
Lock on this picture and on that and add
to them the fact that in Parana the doctor and
tax gatherer are almost unknown, and say
Whicn country presents the most inviting home
to mankind In general and especially to that
numerous class OF people who stand at this mo-
ment IN the land OF their birth degraded below
negro servants. Men who cannot be recon
struoted' if they would, and would not if they
could. And that reminds me OF what has been
a cause OF special wonder to NE, the fact that
the newspapers generalIy-South as well as
North-the Missouri Republican excepted, ex-
hiblt such hostility to the emigration OF these
people. They cannot vote and everything
worth fighting for is ''as dead as door nail. "
But this is not what intended to write about
when / took up my pen. | wanted to, and
viii now, resume the subject Of mate about
which wrote in former letter. The article
is unknown IN your commercial circles, and yet
greater wonders have happened than that it
should in a few years occupy position at least
as prominent as india rubber, clnchona, rose
wood and other exports CT Brazil.
Mate, or Paraguay tea, Is pronounced by high
authority to be "a stinuant, or tea. more
heaithful than that afforded by the Chinese
leaf. 1t does not differ in taste from the Chi
nose tea more widely than various samples OF
the latter article DO from one another while its
cheering, invigorating effects are proved by the
fact that it is used by millions of people in every
rank OF life, who regard it as indispensable to
their comfort and health. By using it, the poor
are enabled to perform the severest labor on the
smallest amount OF food, and the rich to dis
pense with the wines and liquors which are the
fruitful source OF so much disease and crime In
other countries. Besides, it eau be sold cheap
er than Chinese tea, coffee, cocoa, or any other
article of the kind Why, then, cannot the
mate be successfully introduced into the United
States as q substitute for coffee and tea? Why
may it not even become u successful rival OF
lager beer? that befuddling, bitter, bloating
drink, which has, within few years, overhowed
the United States like q 'tLethean stream,
drowning Its users III drunkenness and stupid
ty. All travellers, who have visited the cOun-
tries where mate Is used, bear witness to the
tact that there temperance prevails, and drunk
enueSs Is rare vice. | might quote from
many, but have only two at hand-Fletcher and
Page The former says
This substance, SO little known out Of South
America, forms truly the principal refreshing
beverage OF the Spanish Americans south Of
the equator, and millions OF dollars are annual
~ expended IN Buenos Ayres, Bolivia, Peru
and Chilli, III Its consumption. Americans who
have visited DUenos Ayres aud Montevideo may
remember 10 have seen on fine summer even
Ing the deuiZens OF that portion Of the world
engaged IL slpplng through long tubes inserted
into highly ornamented cocoa-nut bowls, IL
Qud, which, though not as palatabie as iced
juleps, is tar less harmful. They were enjoying
with their domtlth1s refreshing draught Of
mate. atoat virtues are ascribed to this tea.
1t supplies the place of meat and drink. In
dlans who have been laboring at the oar all day
teel immediately refreshed by cup Of the herb
mixed simply with river water. In Chill and
Peru the people believe they could not exist
without it, and many persons take it every hour
IN the day. Its use was learned from the ma
tives, but, having been adopted, it spread
among the Spaniards and Portuguese until the
demand became so great as to render the herb
OF Paraguay almost as fatal to the Indians OF
this part Of America as miners and pearl fish
cries had been elsewhere.
Here, it may be remarked, that the Indians
referred to, are always represented by travellers
as models Of physical beauty, large healthy and
brave and carrying their vigor and activity to
q very advanced age Men over eighty are de-
scribed as mounting horses With the agility Of
youth, and many living far beyond one hundred
years, That their robust frames and longevity
were, in part. owing to their use OF the refresh
ing mate, furnished them by their native woods,
cannot be doubted.
Capt. Page, in his Explorations of the La
Platte says:
'Yegba tmaie) is found in the humblest hut;
.. 259.
Give the Paraguyaas mate, beef and mandi-
oca and they are satisfied; p. 22l.
'Eigly rising is fixed habit Of the Paragua-
yans. Before we we're aware of the hour there
was tap at the door, followed by the entrance
Of a lictie negro holding on each hand mate,
refreshed by this Tea, &C., D. 227.
] was much struck with Gen Urquiza's ex-
trenle temperance in eating and drinking. At
an early hour negro servant took him his mate,
and at noon he dined, using water as his only
beverage The remainder of the dav he ate