esses which are the brightest attributes of the women of the
present century."

"Among the Jesuit missions in the Gran Chaco," observes another writer,
"are found no remaining evidence of better knowledge, than that the
Indians now prefer horse-flesh to any other kind of meat."

The same writer gives us the derivation of the names of several of the
rivers:--Parana, resembling the sea; Paraguay, from the Payaguas, a
tribe of Indians who were met with by the discoverers navigating the
river; and Uruguay, from a bird--the uru--which is found on the banks of
that stream.

LANGUAGE.

With regard to the two prevailing Indian languages spoken in the
southern part of the continent, it is remarkable that the Quichua, the
language of the Peruvians, is still used by the natives found on the
banks of the River Salado, in the province of Santiago del Estero,
though far-distant from the Andes, in the centre of the Argentine
territory; while it is not in use in the intermediate provinces. This
proves, either the distance to which the Incas extended their conquests,
or perhaps the fact that the natives of Santiago are descendants of a
Peruvian colony. The Guarani language is still spoken in Entre Rios and
Corrientes, while in the Republic of Paraguay it is more generally used
than the Spanish; indeed, paragraphs printed in it appear in one of the
papers published in that province. The Jesuits compiled a number of
grammatical and other works in the Guarani, for the purpose of teaching
the novitiates in their establishments at Paraguay.

The Guarani nation occupied the whole sea-coast, from Uruguay northwards
through Brazil, Cayenne, and even into Venezuela.

PART FIVE, CHAPTER TWO.

PARAGUAY.

THE PARANA.

After entering the Parana, the voyager sails for hundreds of miles up
the mighty stream between lofty clay-banks of a red colour; sometimes
absolutely perpendicular, and at others consisting of broken masses
covered with cacti and mimosa-trees. Here and there may be seen,
projecting from the cliffs, huge skeletons of the toxodon, megatherium,
mylodon, and other monsters which once in countless numbers inhabited
the plains of South America. Now the river expands into lake-like
proportions, its surface dotted with numerous low and wooded islands.
At intervals, towns, villages, or forts may be seen on the summits of
the cliffs, sixty feet above the water. Generally the country on the
western side is a level, treeles