1892 Drinks of the world

MATE.

— Districts where Grown— Its Manufac- — The Mate Cup and Bombilla — Method

Its Use in South America — Early Notice of ture

of Drinking — Its Rapid Deterioration. YKRBA Mat^, or Paraguay Tea, which is of Thea Sinensis in nearly the whole of South America, where it has been used by the Indians from time immemorial, and by their conquerors and settlers since the seventeenth century. It grows abundantly in Paraguay, Corrientes, Chaco, and the south of Brazil, forming woods called yerbaks. One of the principal centres of the Mat6 industry is the Villa Real, a small town above Asuncion, on the Paraguay River ; another is the Villa de San Xavier in the district between the rivers Uruguay and Parana. If let alone, it grows into a tree some fifteen or twenty feet high ; but the plants from which the Mat6 is col- lected are moderate-sized shrubs, with numerous stems from one root. The leaves are from four to five inches long, and the finest Mate is made from the smallest shrubs. One bush will furnish three different kinds of tea^ which are called caa-cuys, caa-miri, and caa- made from the leaves of the Ilex Paraguetyensis, or Brazilian Holly, takes the place