 In the eastern part of South America are two vast low areas, the basin of the Amazon in the north and in the southern half of the continent, a sprawling plain that is drained principally by tributaries of the Rio de la Plata. Of these, the greatest is the Paraná. This was the river which early Spaniards hoped would lead them to the gold of Peru, or the Rio Paraguay, or the Pilcomayo. Today within the branches of these three rivers is located the Republic of Paraguay. Tolar the Niagara, the Iguazu Falls form their giant arc just east of the Paraguayan border. This is the splendid site which greets the 20th century traveler flying from Rio to Asuncion, only a few minutes before he crosses into Paraguay itself. Almost as unchanged in 500 years as the thundering waterfalls are these Makka Indians, members of one of the few Aboriginal tribes of Paraguay which have remained unabsorbed. In remote areas in the western part of the country, they continue to lead a simple primitive life, clinging still to ancient rites and customs. This is charqui or dried beef. Fresh meat is cut into long thin strips, then hung out to be cured in the sun. Belts are woven as they were hundreds of years ago. Then in 16 too came Paraguay's greatest colonizers, the Jesuits. Many were killed by the Indians, but the work of others prospered. By 1768 the Jesuits had been expelled, but only after they had built 32 missions of brick and stone. Thus the new nation was gradually formed. Some missions failed. Yet among their desolate ruins, we see still traces of those unique Jesuit colonies, where for more than 100 years, Spaniard together with Native Indian created a self-contained economy and practiced communal living. Illustrating this thorough fusion of colonizer and Native are the people and town of Itagua. Typical of an overwhelming majority of the citizens of Paraguay, these people have in their veins both Spanish blood and that of the Guarani Indian, and they still speak both Spanish and Guarani. In the homes of Itagua, a traditional craft of the early Jesuits is still practiced. This is Paraguayan Lace. This Paraguayan Lace ranks easily with the best in the world. The Guarani word for this lace is Niantu Ti, which means spiderweb, Yerba Mate, or Paraguayan Ti. Skill pruners strip off the tree's small tender leaves, then roast and dry them over fires in special ovens. When hot water is poured over these mate leaves, the result is an excellent and healthful beverage. On the east bank of the Paraguay River lies Asuncion, capital of Paraguay, and its chief center of population, industry, and culture. And since the river furnishes Paraguay's principal means of transportation to and from the outside world, the docks of Asuncion present a constantly busy sea. Their thousand mile voyage from Buenos Aires has taken these passengers as long as a transatlantic crossing from London to New York. In this business section of Asuncion, I transacted most of the commercial affairs of Paraguay. Here you will find offices controlling the nation's small, but steadily increasing export trade. Here, too, is the principal wholesale and retail market for imports. Scattered through other sections of the city, we find Asuncion's architectural and historical monuments. This is Francisco Solano Lopez, who led Paraguay in her disastrous war of 1865. Today, however, Paraguay's small but efficient army drills not for aggression, but defense. These military cadets are training for the officer's corps. Headquarters for Paraguay's expanding cotton industry is also located in Asuncion. And this particular mill with modern machinery sets a high standard for the future industrial development of the entire nation. Not two percent of the land is under cultivation. Yet, agriculture rather than industry forms the backbone of Paraguay's economy. Here, a typical countrywoman who has just spent the day selling her vegetables in the Asuncion market returns to her suburban home. This is typical of the average Paraguayan farm. Where on a small plot of land, the farmer can harvest a crop sufficient for his needs. The climate is mild, similar to that of Florida. The rainfall ample and the red clay soil fertile. Food is plentiful. There are no famines in Paraguay. The prosperity of Paraguay depends ultimately on the river, for the river is the country's only real link with the outside world. The cost of shipping goods from Buenos Aires to Asuncion by rail is about equal to the cost of shipping them to Yokohama. Even transportation via the Paraná, Paraguay river route is extremely expensive. Here aboard a shallow draft cargo vessel, we are moving upstream on the Paraguay toward a northern port of the Grande Chaco. Divided among Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil and Paraguay, the Grande Chaco, or Great Plain of South America, is geographically unique. Its swamp lands and prairie stand in startling contrast to the rest of Paraguay. Paraguay, bisected by the river of its name, to the east gently rolling hills, to the west a low flat plain, the Chaco. From September to April is the season of rains. Great shallow ponds form. When the dry season comes, the standing pools evaporate into air and the sun bakes the earth to a dry salty crust. With extensive development, this riverless plain might become one of the rich regions of the world. But today most of it remains a wasteland, tough and forbidding as its cactus grows, and the thorny Palo Baracho or drunken tree. Until 1926, a colorful profusion of butterflies and birds had the lonely land all to themselves. In that year, however, a group of Mennonites from North America and Europe made a start in the colonization and development of the Chaco. After years of trial and sacrifice, they have succeeded in making the reluctant Chaco earth yield them a livelihood. With the aid of native Chulipi Indians, the Mennonites have developed a variety of crops. Here they are cutting the tassels from sorghum, a source of sugar and molasses. In spite of transportation difficulties, they are successfully marketing dairy products. From the point of view of the country's economic welfare, the Mennonites cotton crop is their outstanding achievement. But most significant of all is this. The Mennonites have proved that the Chaco wilderness can be tamed for man's benefit. In 1546, the Spaniards succeeded in transporting eight head of cattle into Paraguay. Today there are five million, raising over 35 percent of the entire country. Modern frigorificos or meat packing plants, the beef is boned and packed for export. Not only meat but tallow and highs are valuable byproducts of Paraguay's cattle industry. So tough it's called cabracho, meaning axe breaker. This medium-sized tree affords Paraguay her most profitable industry. Together with Argentina, Paraguay is responsible for almost the world's supply of the extract of the cabracho tree, the most important source of tannin. Stripped of its bark, the heartwood of the cabracho yields from 25 to 30 percent of this strong acid compound needed to tan leather. Workmen use the age-old principle of the lever to lift the heavy logs. Forests which are some distance from the river, two large corporations operating in the northern Chaco have constructed narrow gauge railways. One of these companies, an Argentine concern, makes its headquarters at the river port of Casado. Here workers in their families take the necessary precaution of sleeping under nets or insects thrive in the Chaco swamps and malaria takes a steady toll of the careless or the unlucky. Carpenters and builders prize cabracho as a tough durable lumber and they make with it huge wheels for those same ox carts used to haul more cabracho from the forests. As an investment in their future development, Paraguay is today spending considerable time and money in a war against illiteracy. In city nursery schools, more fortunate youngsters start their training early. This is in preparation for their standard primary education, which Paraguay plans to extend to all children between 7 and 14. Supervised play, the habits of cleanliness and a balanced diet, these will one day pay high dividends to the youngsters themselves and to their country. In government schools, these students are being trained as teachers. Here they are adding English to their knowledge of Spanish and Guarani. The babies receive their rightful share of attention too. With United States cooperation, the Paraguayan government has recently established clinics in areas which long existed without medical aid of any sort. Mothers trudge into these clinics from miles around to have their babies examined and prescribed for. In a nation where disease has long been a scourge, standards of health are now being improved. Visiting nurses are being trained, many receiving their instruction from nursing personnel recruited in the United States. A new hospital by now completed in Asuncion illustrates the nation's effort to improve public health. Visiting nurses, clinics, general hospitals with these three weapons, Paraguay should make significant progress. For an inland country like Paraguay, the airplane holds an exciting promise for the future. Motor highways are almost non-existent and transportation by riverboat is uncomfortable and slow. Even small aircraft such as this can make the flight from Asuncion to Concepcion a voyage of days on the river in little more than an hour. In the future development of the nation, its skyway should play an important part. One thing is certain, Paraguay has today the opportunity to achieve that success which has so stubbornly eluded her during the past. Her children and her people are strong of body and have shown a willingness and an ability to learn. And the land they live in has been blessed by nature with a mild climate and productive soil. A good start has already been made in education and health, in agriculture and industry. But her uninhabited undeveloped lands of the northeast and of the Chaco offer a challenge which must be faced and squarely met if Paraguay has to take her rightful place among the nations of Latin America. The ingredients for success are there, a good land and a good people. Properly developed and strongly directed, Paraguay has every chance to realize a sound and lasting prosperity.