rt of wooden trench into pails, which are emptied as fast as they
become full into a large vat, under which a fire is constantly kept
burning. In this receptacle it is boiled for a considerable time, but
owing to the carelessness of those in charge of the vat about a third of
it is spilled on the ground. What is left is reduced to a kind of sugary
molasses, to which is given the name of "honey." Some of the
cane-growers distill with rude alembics a sort of sweet liquor from the
cane-juice, which is called _cana_. Another distillation is from the
juice of oranges, and is called _cana de naranja_. In the manufacture of
the latter birds of various kinds--ducks, paroquets, young chickens,
etc.--are sometimes placed in the liquor to be distilled, and the
curious mixture that results is known as _cana de substancia_, and is
much affected by gourmets.

Life in Asuncion is remarkably monotonous. It is a long course of
_mate_-drinking varied with meals, the inevitable siesta and cigars. The
_mate_ is the popular beverage of the country, as it is of nearly the
whole of South America. It is a tea of less fragrance but more strength
than the Chinese product, and is made of the _yerba_, the leaf of the
Paraguayan holly, which grows in immense profusion in the Cordillera of
Caaguazu in the interior. The Paraguayan women are active and
industrious, but the men elevate the _far niente_ into an institution.
The people rise early to enjoy the freshness of the morning, but at noon
they make up for their loss of sleep by indulging in a three hours'
siesta in the heat of the day. A singular fact, however, regarding the
climate is, that at Buenos Ayres, where the temperature is a third less
heated than in Asuncion, the heat is more overpowering than in the
latter city, and that one perspires far less in Asuncion than in the
Argentine capital.

While in Asuncion, M. Forgues attended a Te Deum which was sung at the
cathedral to celebrate the anniversary of the proclamation of Brazilian
independence, and a ball given by the Brazilian general in the house
that was formerly the residence of the somewhat famous Madame Lynch, a
star of the Parisian demi-monde whom the late President Lopez had
brought with him from Paris and installed in Asuncion as his favorite.
Each of these events was interesting in its way--the former as showing
how completely Brazilian supremacy shadows Paraguayan authority even in
the very capital of Paraguay, and the latter