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MATE.
Its
Use
in
South
America
—
Districts
where
Grown—
Its
Manufac-
ture
—
Early
Notice
of
—
The
Mate
Cup
and
Bombilla
—
Method
of
Drinking
—
Its
Rapid
Deterioration.
YKRBA
Mat^,
or
Paraguay
Tea,
which
is
made
from
the
leaves of
the
Ilex
Paraguetyensis,
or
Brazilian
Holly,
takes
the
place
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-