ASUNCION, or Assumption, the capital of the Republic of Paraguay in South America. It is situated in the midst of a fertile territory on the eastern bank of the River Paraguay (here upwards of 600 yards in width), about 18 miles above the most northerly mouth of the Pilcomayo. It was one of the earlier Spanish settlements in this part of America, being founded in 1535 by Gonzalo de Mendoza and Juan de Salazar y Espinosa, and receiving its name of Nuestra Senora de la Asuncion, in honour of the festival of the Assumption. Originally a small fort, it soon became, from the convenience of its situation, a town of considerable importance, and in 1547 was erected into a bishopric. Formerly, while the Jesuits were masters of the country, it consisted of a rather irregular assemblage of one story houses, relieved by ecclesiastical buildings of varying pretension, from the cathedral downwards; but under the dictatorship of Francia, the streets were more symmetrically arranged, and a number of secular buildings erected. These were greatly increased under the rule of his successors, and Asuncion was brought into similarity with a European city of corresponding rank, having its government house, its president’s palace, its arsenal, custom-house, barracks, military hospital, theatre, and railway station. During the recent war between Paraguay and the neighbouring states, Asuncion suffered greatly, being taken and plundered in 1869 by the Brazilian forces, who had already bombarded it from the river. The population, Spanish for the most part in language, but of various races, was estimated, before the war, at 48,000, and carried on a somewhat extensive trade in Paraguay tea, or Yerba if até, hides, tobacco, fruits, molasses, and rum.