Expeditions to collect and prepare it start annually from the capital to the _Yerbales_ or groves in the interior, taking extra mules and bullocks to bring the dried leaves back. On reaching the forests _Tatacuas_ or camps are formed by clearing the ground and beating it down with heavy mallets until it is sufficiently hard and level for the purpose. The leaf in the natural state is from four to five inches long, thick, leathery, glossy and serrated at the edges, and is prepared for use in a network made from raw-hide straps stretched on posts, underneath which wood fires are kindled. The leaves and stems, as they are collected, are placed on these nets and scorched, care being taken only that they do not ignite or burn too much—in which state they closely resemble senna. When sufficiently scorched they are ground, in some instances, into a coarse powder in a rude wooden mill, weighed and packed for export in large bullock hides, holding from 200 to 250 pounds each and left to dry and tighten in the sun for a few days, becoming meanwhile as hard and impervious as stone. This method of curing is very defective, as the stems and other extraneous matter imparts a “woody” flavor to the infusion which is otherwise very agreeable and refreshing. It is prepared for use in a kind of filter or perforated bowl called _Maté_, from which it derives its trade name. The infusion is yellowish in color, almost syrupy in body, possessing an “herby” or weedy flavor, bitterish in taste, much disliked at first by those unaccustomed to its use, but nevertheless pleasant, wholesome and refreshing, pleasanter still when cold, and while approaching in its chemical composition to the regular teas of commerce it does not cause the wakefulness or nervousness attributed to the latter.