PARAGUAY, with an area of 172,000 square miles, belongs to two very different regions. EASTERN PARAGUAY, which lies between the Parana and Paraguay rivers, is part of the western slope of the Brazilian Highland, but the hills seldom reach a height of over 2,000 feet, and the general elevation of the country is probably between 500 and 600 feet. The climate has been described as three months of summer, during which the mean temperature is over 80° F., and nine months of spring, during which it is between 60° F. and 80° F. The rainfall is heaviest in the summer months, when the south east trade winds make their way up the estuary of La Plata. In the north of the region over 60 inches of rain fall, and in the south over 40 inches. Much of the land is covered with dense forest, but there are extensive tracts of country covered with grass.
It is in Eastern Paraguay that the majority of the 800,000 inhabitants of the country are found. These are generally people of mixed Indian and Spanish blood, the native Indians, of whom it is estimated that there are 100,000, being chiefly in the Chaco.
Cattle-raising, which has made great progress within recent years, is the most important industry in the country, which probably contains about 3,000,000 head ; and over 40 per cent, of Paraguay's exports consist of meat, hides, and tallow. Salting works, packing
establishments, and extract factories, have all sprung up within recent years. Sheep farming is also carried on, and an increasing amount of wool from Paraguay is exported each year through the Uruguayan port of Montevideo. When the native sheep are crossed with better strains from Europe, it is probable that this industry will become of considerable importance.
Yerba mate, or Paraguayan tea, is obtained by drying and grind ing into a kind of coarse powder the leaves and twigs of an evergreen shrub known as Ilex paraguensis. When infused, it yields a drink used as a tonic and stimulant, which is much in request throughout South America, and which is beginning to make its way into Europe. The yerba plant is found in a wild condition especially in the north and east of Eastern Paraguay, but attempts are now being made to cultivate it on a large scale. Mate ranks next to the products of the cattle ranches among the exports of the country.