all about
them.

At last the brig reached Baxadar de Santa Fe, a town of some size, built
partly at the foot and partly on the side of a lofty hill, which rises
above the river. It is surrounded by corrals, or cattle-farms, where
thousands of animals are slaughtered for the sake of their hides and
tallow alone, which are shipped from the port. As there are not human
mouths sufficient to consume the enormous quantities of beef, it is
thrown away and carried off by vast flocks of gallinasos, caracaras,
carrion crows, and other birds of prey, which hover over the country,
their appearance and the odour arising from the putrefying flesh making
the place far from agreeable. Here the _Supplejack_ found a large fleet
of merchantmen, which had been further increased by others which had
come down the river. The question was how they all were to get back
again to the sea. Two or three steamers, which came up after the
_Supplejack_ had suffered by a hot fire, opened on them from the
batteries, newly thrown up by Rosas, several officers and men having
been killed and wounded. The most formidable batteries were those at
San Lorenzo, which were now completed, and it could not be expected that
the fleet would be allowed to repass them without a strong opposition.
Several plans were thought of, the bluejackets and marines might land
and storm the batteries, but such an undertaking could only be carried
out with great loss of life, as the troops of Rosas were not to be
despised, and as the batteries were open in the rear they could not be
held without a strong force.

Some weeks were spent at this most undelectable of places, so that
everybody was eager to return. No one, however, knew what plan of
operation had been determined on. At length the long-looked-for signal
was hoisted, and the fleet of men-of-war and merchant-vessels got under
weigh and proceeded down the stream. They presented a truly beautiful
spectacle, as their clouds of white canvas covered the entire breadth of
the river, and certainly never before had so many vessels floated
together on its waters.

On the 31st of May they came to an anchor on the Entre Rios shore, about
four miles above the formidable batteries of San Lorenzo. Still, no one
besides the commander and a few officers entrusted with the secret knew
what plan had been determined on. All that the rest were certain of was
that a plan had been formed, and should it prove successful that the
f