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On one occasion, after a heavy skirmish, two or three hundred slain Argentines remained unburied, the army having marched forward in pursuit of the retreating Paraguayans.
Thus a trooper was on one occasion executed for having ventured the remark that, although the Paraguayans rejoiced over the numbers of their enemies who were slain, they invariably forgot to count their own dead. A second soldier met with a similar fate for having, on his return from a reconnaissance, stated that the enemy lay in great strength to the front.
One of the most sanguinary battles of the war was fought on May 24, 1866 very nearly a year after the first naval action off the river port of Corrientes. At this Battle of Tuyuti the Paraguayans lost no fewer than 8,000 men, and the casualties of the allies amounted to an equal number.
Lest it might be thought that I am strongly prejudiced, I give this extract from a responsible historian of that unhappy land: "The simple-minded and superstitious Paraguayans reverenced a Pai, or father, as the immediate representative of God. They blindly and implicitly followed the instructions given to them, and did whatever was required at his hands.
When peace was declared there were less than a quarter of a million Paraguayans left to enjoy its benefits, and of these only 28,000 were men! A holocaust such as this would scarcely seem to come within the range of sane and modern history.
"Ah! there was no one!" replied the Sergeant, shrugging his shoulders "really no one, and us, too, our arms crossed! Nothing to do!" "But why?" "War." "War?" "Yes, civil war between the Paraguayans and Buenos Ayriens," replied the Sergeant. "Well?" "Well, Indians all in the north, in the rear of General Flores. Indian pillagers find pillage there." "But where are the Caciques?"
A few only of the Paraguayans had had the advantage of travelling in Europe, and on their return to their native land its atmosphere very seldom permitted them to remain for long without the local and somewhat demoralizing influences.
The line fixed by the Brazilians follows the Apa River from its junction with the Paraguay to its source, and thence extends along the summit of the cordillera to the falls of the Parana the Salto de la Guayra of the Paraguayans and the Siete Quedas of the Brazilians. The Brazilian commissioners took advantage of the fact that the Apa River has two forks, and chose the south fork as the boundary.
There was a German lieutenant with the Paraguayan officers; one of several German officers who are now engaged in helping the Paraguayans with their army. The equipments and arms were in good condition; the enlisted men evidently offered fine material; and the officers were doing hard work.
The Jesuits made a model community of Paraguay; but they altered the habits of the Paraguayans so fast that the reverend fathers, who were, of course, themselves celibates, were compelled to take strenuous and even grotesque measures to prevent the complete and immediate extinction of their converts. Other cases in abundance I might quote an I would; but I limit myself to these.
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