y on this line was most disappointing to any one who
has seen the Andes in their real grandeur farther north; but for the
average traveller the journey may prove interesting enough, although hot,
dull, dusty, and not particularly comfortable.

While I was travelling on the railway between Mendoza and Buenos Aires
there was a serious strike of railway employes. The railway had been
attacked at many different points. Amateur engineers and attendants ran
the trains. We were only two hours from Buenos Aires. The heat and dust
were intense as we crossed the great pampas. The shaking of the train had
tired me to such an extent that I placed a pillow on the ledge of the
open window, and was fast asleep with my head half outside the carriage,
when I woke up startled by the sound of an explosion. I found myself
covered with quantities of debris of rock. A huge stone, as big as a
man's head or bigger, had been thrown with great force at the passing
train by the strikers, and had hit the side of my window only about three
inches above my head, smashing the woodwork and tearing off the metal
frame of the window. Had it struck a little lower it would have certainly
ended my journey for good.

[Illustration: Llamas in Bolivia.]

[Illustration: Borax Deposits, Bolivia.]

As it was I arrived in Buenos Aires safely. A few days later I was on my
way to Rio de Janeiro, by the excellent steamer _Aragon_. Shortly after,
by the equally good vessel _Araguaya_, of the Royal Mail Steamship
Company, I returned to England, where I arrived in broken health on April
20th, 1912. It was a relief to me to land at Southampton, with all my
notes, the eight hundred photographs I had taken, and the maps which I
had made of the regions traversed.

APPENDIX

SOME OF THE PRINCIPAL PLANTS OF BRAZIL

(C.) = Colouring and Tanning.
(C.W.) = Woods good for Construction.
(M.) = Medicinal.
(F.) = Fibrous.
(R.) = Resinous.
(P.) = Palms.
(L.) = Lactiferous.
(O.) = Oliferous.
(S.) = Starchy.
(T.) = Tanning.

_Alocasia macrorhiza_ Schott Inhame (S.)
_Anchietea salutaris_ St. Hil. Cipo suma (M.)
_Andira spectabilis_ Sald. Angelim Pedra (C.W.)
_Andira vermifuga_ Angelim amargoso (C.W.)
_Apuleia praecox_ M. Grapiapunha (F.)
_Arachis hypogoea_ L. Amendoim (O.)
_Araucaria Brasiliana_ Lamb Pinho do Parana