Page:Letters from the Battle-fields of Paraguay (1870).djvu/398



'S6S FROM HUMAITA TO GUARDIA TACUARA.

six oxen. There is no sign of fortification. The main features of the interior are a church dedicated to the Virgin of El Pilar^ an elemental square, and a long grass-grown street^ the Calle del catorce de Maio^ running parallel with the barranca. It is backed by orange groves, with sweet fruit. In the stream lie two wrecks, and one Brazilian cannoniere rides at anchor.

Resuming our way from El Pilar of the Oranges, we passed on the left bank the Arroyo Neembucii and the Laguna de Oro. About four miles above the town, and thirty below our destination, was the bad bend, the Cancha de Gadea. Here, on September 4, the Linnet ran aground in a falling river, and narrowly escaped detention during the dry season. A cold south wind set in, and before night we anchored off the Guardia Tacuara — '^ the bamboo,^^ which Lieutenant Day corrupts to " Tacuava.^^ The port did not look so busy as that of Humaita, but the appearance of the craft was much more business-like. Here lay the mass of armoured fleet, fourteen in number. Five ironclads and floating batteries anchored up stream, looking much like dredges, with all but the central bit of bulwark cut away. From afar they resembled coffins or hearses upon gondolas or half-swamped barges. There were two double- turret ships, with 150-pounder Whit worths, and the rest were monitors. Battered chimneys, deeply-pitted towers, and bows pierced by steel-pointed cones, told the staunchness of the Paraguayan gunners; whilst the strong boarding-nets spoke volumes for the valour of the enemy. The flanks of the Brazil had been severely peppered by the shot of Curupaity, while the Lima Barros had her bulwarks converted into lace-work by the grape of her consort, which relieved her of Paraguayan boarders. Higher up the river were steamers embarking the wounded for the several hospitals down stream ; and the proveduria or