soon to follow their companion's example. The poor people,
nevertheless, seemed very cheery and contented, and hospitably gave
us each a drink of some remarkably muddy water.

After a thirty-mile ride under a hot sun, fortunately on the easiest
of horses, we were none of us sorry to stop for a short time at
Carcarana, and obtain some refreshment, before proceeding--horses,
carriage, and all--by train to Rosario, another colony on the line.
Arrived at the latter place, I thought I had had enough riding for the
first day, and therefore visited the various farms and houses in the
carriage, the rest of the party going, as before, on horseback. After
a round of about fifteen miles, we returned to the station, where we
were kindly received by the sister of the station-master. An excellent
dinner was provided for us in the refreshment-room, before we entered
our special train, and Rosario was reached at about ten o'clock.

_Sunday, September 17th_.--A kind friend sent his carriage to take us
to the English church, a brick building, built to replace the small
iron church that existed here previously, and only opened last month.
The service was well performed, and the singing of the choir
excellent. We paid a visit to the Sunday schools after luncheon, and
then drove to the quinta of Baron Alvear. The road lies through the
town, past the race-course, crowded with Gauchos, getting up scratch
races amongst themselves, and on, over undulating plains and
water-courses, into the open country. Sometimes there was a track,
sometimes none. In some places the pastures were luxuriantly green; in
others the ground was carpeted with white, lilac, and scarlet verbena,
just coming into bloom--for it is still early spring here. Here and
there came a bare patch, completely cleared by the locusts, who had
also stripped many of the fine timber trees in the garden of the
quinta. On the gate-posts, at the entrance, were the nests of two
oven-birds, like those we had already seen on the telegraph-posts, so
exactly spherical as to look like ornaments. In one of the shrubberies
a fine jaguar was shut up in a cage, who looked very like a tiger.
Though he had evidently just had his dinner, he was watching with
greedy interest the proceedings of some natives in charge of a
horse--an animal which he esteems a great delicacy, when procurable.

On our way across the camp we saw a great quantity of the seeds of the
Martynia proboscidea, mouse-burrs as the