A great battle has been fought on the Parana, the
grand South l American river, commonly called in England, from the name of its 'estuary, the Plate. Lopez, the Dictator of Paraguay, moved by events related in another column, has declared war on Brazil and the Argentine Confederation, and on 11th June his fleet, con- sisting of eight steamers and six flat boats, attacked the Brazilian fleet of nine gunboats off Corrientes. The Paraguayans were assisted by a heavy battery on shore and fought splendidly, but after a combat of fifteen hours they were defeated, losing all their flats, all but three of their steamers, and 1,700 men. The Brazilians also suffered greatly, losing 19 officers and 300 men, and most of their steamers being rendered useless. Lopez, moreover, has an army below them which is erecting batteries on the river, and it is quite possible that the Brazilians may not be able to descend. One Paraguayan army still occupies Corrientes, and another has entered the Brazilian province of Rio Grande, and taken Boria. It is asserted that had Lopez won the engagement he would have been master of the whole valley of the Plate, have founded an empire, and decreed the summary extinction of slavery in Brazil.
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