Page:Letters from the Battle-fields of Paraguay (1870).djvu/483



AT AND ABOUT ASUNCION. 453

kindness of Mr. Wingaard^ a Swede, and Mr. Bertram, who had a Casa de Remate, or auctioneer's office, in the Calle de la Palma. Of the two staples, yerba and tobacco, the first- named once formed half the exports of the Republic j now it is procured with difficulty at the rate of $2 per lb. The latter is equally scarce. Before the war the comercio, or common quality, ranged between 9 ryals and $1 40 (f.). The ^' amestizado '^ was worth $2 (f.). The species most prized in Paraguay are the pety-hobi, or " green to- bacco,^^ which is cultivated about Villa Rica, and the pety- par^, a " spotted " or " speckled " petun. The latter, known by the large yellow discolorations which appear with the flower, grows only in certain places. The plant is carefully topped, and the leaves, selected by the " acopia- dor,'" were tied up into small bundles. A man lately bought for $5 (f.) an arroba of the latter^ but it was pro- bably stolen. The canela, or cinnamon-coloured variety, was ever so rare that it could be purchased only by making interest with a village chief: the value was $4 to $6 (f.) per arroba. Little care was taken in curing the weed. My friend Mr. George Thompson, of Buenos Aires, gave me several varieties of small specimen cigars, made about 1860, and then costing 1/. 126*. per thousand. One of them had a smooth greenish leaf, like the Manilla; another had a " capa '"' of pety-hobi wrapped round common ^' comer- cio."*' All were too rough in appearance to suit the Eng-

(8 riyals) per twenty-four rolls, each of \\ oz. Paraguayan diet chiefly consists of maize and manioc, oranges and mate. All prices are in " pata- coons" of ten ri\'als each. The Boliviano, or Bolivian dollar, is worth two riyals less, or almost three shillings. Wanting small change, the common people have chopped up these pieces into two and four bits ; and the half dollar is popularly termed a " Boliviano." House-rent formerly varied from one to three dollars per month, and a pair of lodging-rooms could he had for $6 to $7 (f.). Furniture is rare; the citizens mostly slept in ham- mocks lushed to rings built in the wall.