Page:Letters from the Battle-fields of Paraguay (1870).djvu/489



LETTER XXVI.

AGAIN TO THE ALLIED FRONT.

Asuncion, April 15, 1869.

There are two ways of making Luque, the ex-provisional capital village, where the Allied headquarters lie : by horse along the old road, or by the railway which I told you the Paraguayans neglected to tear up. It is believed that the whole is open as far as Pirayii terminus, 54 miles, which would lead into the heart of Lopez-land; and that the enemy contented himself, after sending down his locomotive battery, with destroying three bridges, in- cluding the Juquery, which is one league and a half beyond the headquarters.

We had been warned that the journey by rail would not be pleasant, and, expecting nothing, we were not dis- appointed. The first daily train, at 6 a.m., is held dangerous. Of late, certain waggoners have been arrested for cutting the trestles, holding that the caminho de ferro spoils their trade. Every train, in fact, 'does the work of nine carts, which can carry only two bales of pressed hay each, and without the iron road, the Brazilian operations, I have told you, would have been greatly delayed.

Mr. Williams and I were introduced to the Major, who, stick in hand, ruled the station. Under the military system of Marshal-President Lopez, all the railway officials were captains and lieutenants, and a military band played on each arrival of the train. We found M. Petersen, a Dane, and inspecting engineer, exceedingly civil. The second