Tulsa daily world. [volume] (Tulsa, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1905-1919, 1914-08-02
TEA IS NATIONAL DRINK
IN RURAL DISTRICTS
OF PARAGUAY.
TEA IS A POPULAR DRINK
The Tea Is Not Like the Varieties
Used Here; Indigenous to
Tropics,

"Toma usted mate OWH you
make some tea?) is tho customary
welcome extended to the weary tray
eler i'm the rural districts of Para
quay, aud if the traveller is some
thing of diplomatist he Will And
that, too, even if the host does take
the first sip from the hombilIa
through which it is sucked from the
mate or gourd, in which il is pre-
parcC, and which is then passed over
to hin, for mate is the drink and
pledge Of hospitality all over the
country districts of Paraguay por-
tlous Of southern Brazil and north
eru Argentina. To refuse the hos
puahiy offer is to give Offense, al
though the courteous Haraguayan,
Brazilian or Argentine, is not in the
habit of urging the invitation by a
little gun-play as is said to have
been the custom of our cowboys and
heroes Of the west some years a-I
when "A tcnderfoOt refused to "hayy
a drink. Still. the stranger had bet
ter take sip or two if he wishes
to become persona grata', even :
the hombilla has been moistencd 5J
other lips than his, and the tea -
somewhat bitter and hcrby in taste
He Will get used to it,
This peculiar tea is not the tea of
china or Japan that the average
North American or European knows
il is brand that is distinctivcV
South American, and is made FROM
the leaves of shrub whose botau-
meal name is Hex paraGuayeusIs. In
pamphlet on Paraguay recently
published by the l'an-Amcrican Tn
ion of Washington, -. G.. may be
found detailed description Of this
wonderful weed or shrub among
other statements being the following
Yerba mate is altogether indigo
nous TO a woll-dcfincd area Of South
America The aboriginal Indians OF
the basin of the Rio dc la Plata, the
Guarani, knew and used the plant
long before the invasion OF their
country by the Spaniards. When
these Indians were subdued, cspc".
ally by ne Jesuit missionaries they
were trunu to be using drink mad
of a plant that grew wild and abun-
dant over the subtropica region IN
which they lived Caa was the nam,
given to this plant by the Guaran,
Caa means simply weed and the
| Europeans, translating it literally,
called it yerba, equivalent to the
English herb Mate is Spanish for
gourd. Hence yerba mate, the gOurd
weed COR herb) or, more extended,
the herb from which tea is made in
a gourd for it was, and is often now,
prepared as follows: a dried gourd
is followed out, leaving an aperture
where the stem was connected; into
this gOurd a small quantity Of the
crushed leaves are placed boiling
water poured on them, a little sugar
or lemon juice added. and the tea is
ready TO be sucked through the
aperture by means Of the hollow
tube. called bomblla, usually made
OF metal and having a perforated.
spoon-shaped end which serves as a
strainer.
Paraguaycnsis. Too.
The lex paraguayensis is really
South American holly growing spon-
taneously in the southern portions OF
Brazil i'm the northeastern region of
Argentina. and in all the eastern and
central portions of Paraguay 1t Is
an evergreen tree or shrub which
grows from Il to 20 feet I'm height.
is very bushy and beautiful and re
semhlcS an orange tree. II has no
spincs, the leaves are bright green.
the small flowers are Of a yellowish
color. and the tiny berries are pur-
plish black. The most suitable
leaves for the tea are small and dark
green. and arc picked from the small
ler and younger plants.
In gathering the natives 20 out
and cut the branches from the trees
found IN the forests. and pile them
no i'm the form of q -aNstaCk After
AIN available material has been gath
cIcl. the piles are then carried 90
their villages where they undergo a
process of turrefaction. or smoking
for about three days. and the leaves
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