and a few yellow flowers, were the chief kinds that we noticed. In some parts were tussocks of pampas grass; the rest was springy turf or else tall thistles, which are said to be a sign of fertile land. We passed here and there skeletons of dead horses and cows left to rot on the pampas. It is said to be a not uncommon crime to kill a bullock and steal the best parts of its hide and flesh, and then make believe that the animal died from natural causes. We arrived at the lagoon, or salt marsh, and saw multitudes of white wild swans, with black tips to their wings; flamingoes, ibises (of two kinds, the smaller of dark glossy green, the other, four times his size, green and brown mixed); sandpipers, wild duck of many sorts, teal and herons, which literally blackened the sky. The rose-coloured flamingoes looked very pretty: their bill is four inches long, their body about one foot and a-half, and their legs a little over a foot. The shooters waded into the water and to the reed-beds in the centre, from which the birds were rising, and those of our number who were not shooting rode in on horseback on the opposite side to beat them up. We shot a large turkey-buzzard or crested screamer; his plumage was slatey, and he had two talons or spurs on each of his wings, one at the tip joint, large and very strong, the other smaller and lower down the wing. Chaja is the native name of the bird; he had a black ring round the neck, his legs were bright red. At four o'clock we drove back to Negreti, which is visible, with its clump of trees, twelve miles off.

Two gaucho out

riders, in their ponchos, trimmed with mauve braid bands, galloped along at the side. So to lunch, to which we all did full justice. After that there was a game of polo; on one side were Mr. Shennan (il Patrone), George, Prince Louis, Mr. Cooper; and on the other side were Mr. St. John, the captain, Eddy, and Osborne. Six games were played; of these the first three were won by the latter (the Bacchantes, as they called themselves), and the last three by the other side. The ponies were well trained, and the game is often played here, and makes an agreeable variety in the 'camp' life, which is said to be monotonous, owing to the want of neighbours.

Jan. 4th.-All we youngsters went off in a trap at 8 A.M. to another lagoon for some more wildfowl shooting, and the others had their last ride over the pampas; but we first went over the farm buildings, and saw, especially, some fine specimens of the Negreti breed of sheep, which is striped, and was introduced by Mr. Hannah, Mr. Shennan's predecessor, from Spain. The breed was the exclusive property of the King of Spain, who sent the first

ram and ewes straight from his own farm. It has been much improved, however, by skilful crossing with English Leicesters since it left his hands. The estancia itself is, in fact, called after the breed, and not the breed after the place. On this estancia, which is eighteen miles square (where Mr. Shennan has been ten years) there are 35,000 sheep, 10,000 cattle, and 800 horses. A square league (three miles) of land of fair quality will carry 2,500 head of cattle or horses, and 10,000 sheep, giving fleeces weighing on an average 6 lbs., but not unfrequently as much as 18 lbs. But the wool is often deteriorated by the curious persistency with which the seeds of a kind of clover cling to it. We are told that the best land in Australia will only carry one-sixth of what the best land in this province can, and is about on a par with the lightest and poorest here.1 The chief drawback here is the frequent occurrence of droughts. The evil can be met by digging wells served by horse-pumps. Last drought Mr. Shennan lost only 150 animals, because his estate is all carefully fenced and divided off into paddocks. Water abounds at depths of from ten to fifteen feet, and in carefully managed estates a well is sunk in each paddock with a horse-pump to fill the tanks, which is done morning and evening when necessary. No man can do anything without thus fencing his camp,' and to do so costs from 40l. to 50l. per mile. These plains, with their free, open, boundless expanse, and their brisk, healthy air, will long dwell in our memories. One might imagine at first, that a huge expanse of grass, all at a dead level, could not exert any power over the mind and imagination, yet it certainly does, somehow, with its herds and birds and wild. flowers, and we were all very sorry when it was time to go to the train. Before this, however, we walked round the grounds near the house, and groves, and paddocks, enclosed by plantations. We went to the gum-trees to try and find an opossum, but if the opossum was there he was not to be caught. We visited the little cemetery, which lies within old red-brick walls in one corner of the

1 Fairly good land, to the west, south of Buenos Aires and within ninety miles of the capital, is worth 25s. an acre. Further away and down to Bahia Blanca, land is worth 5s. an acre. Mr. Shennan had bought three other estates further south near Bahia Blanca, forty-five square miles (fifteen square leagues) in all. South of Bahia Blanca the Government is selling the land at 74d. an acre. It is being rapidly bought up, for the railway will soon enhance the value. Tussocky grass beyond Bahia Blanca covers the plains right down to the Straits of Magellan. Napp, The Argentine Republic, 1876, with elaborate statistics, makes out (p. 308) that at the lowest estimate the gain on capital invested in estancias in the province of Buenos Aires is 20 per cent., and often more than 35 per cent. But if there are some who by pluck and good luck make this, there are others who are ruined over the business.

paddock and is overshadowed by trees. Three graves stand here side by side; the first, that of the doctor, who married the lady heiress of the estate; the next, that of her second husband (the doctor's executor), who died of yellow fever three months after his marriage; the third, that of the lady herself and her third husband, who was the first love of her youth, and who happened to be also a widower at the time when his old lady love required his services. There are a few gaucho graves also in the enclosure. After lunch we drove back to the station, and left at 3 P.M. by train for Buenos Aires. After a very good, though dusty run, we arrived at Belgrano at 6.30 P.M. Dined quietly, and afterwards went to the ball given by the British residents to the Admiral and officers of the squadron, at the Opera House. Mr. Carlyle was president of the committee. This was really a very beautiful spectacle. The whole of the house, both the pit and behind the scenes, was floored in at one level, for dancing; in the centre, where the drop-scene would be, was a screen of huge mirrors, which thus divided the house practically into two ball-rooms, and the band played in a sort of balcony above these mirrors. Supper was laid out in another large room up stairs. Many ladies sat in the boxes looking on at the dancing. The amount of flowers that were used in decorating various parts of the house must have been enormous, and most of them were sent as presents from private gardens. A great number of officers from the squadron were there, as the committee had chartered a special steamer to bring them up the river from Monte Video, and besides, were most hospitable in putting them up during their stay in Buenos Aires. The cost of the ball itself was over 2,000l., and there were about 800 people present. The President and his Ministers came, and when they entered, the Argentine national air was played; this is rather a weird and strange medley, with a loud clanging sort of chorus, but the general effect is fine and rousing at any rate; the music is in unison for several of the bars, and reverts to the original air in harmony. We left the ball at 2 A.M.

Jan. 5th.—After breakfast we went into Buenos Aires by train from Belgrano, and walked first to the Stranger's Club, a comfortable, cosy, and cool house. We went to several shops, amongst the rest to see the beautiful furs and ponchos, or riding cloaks, woven from the dark or creamy-brown hair of the vicuna or lama; they are very light and fine, and impenetrable by rain. At 3 P.M. we went on board the Elk, which was lying off the jetty; it was a

calm, fine night, with just a little wind from the south-east, which died away at sunset. We slept on board in the same manner as we had done coming up the river. The rest of the officers who had come up from the squadron returned in the Silex, which started at 6 P.M. So ended our most pleasant voyage up the River Plate. According to the original programme we were to have visited Rosario in the Elk from Campana, and then gone on to Cordova by train, to see the Jesuit Seminary, and Jesu Maria, and the Observatory. This, owing to want of time, had to be given up. But our visit to the Camp' and Buenos Aires will not soon be forgotten. The Minister has been most kind, attentive, and hospitable; and the President has shown every civility and wished to do a great deal more; he sent us this morning a fine present of furs of the country through the Minister; and the warm-heartedness and sincere geniality of the British residents have been displayed unceasingly during our stay.

[No part of South America has advanced so fast within the last twenty years as the River Plate. The Argentine Republic in the South penetrates Antarctic regions, and in the North stretches into sub-tropical lands and perpetual summer, but its central and larger portion is in the temperate zone, with an area ten times that of Great Britain and Ireland, or as large as the whole of Europe without Russia. Half is occupied by Indian tribes, but it is calculated that it would besides these support a population of 300,000,000. At present it contains scarcely 3,000,000; but over 60,000 quiet, hardworking frugal settlers, the greater number from Italy or Spain, are now coming in every year. This is at about the same rate that folk are pouring into Australia ; as the present Argentine population is about equal to that of Australia, it will be interesting in the future to watch the development of these two rival queens of the southern hemisphere. At the end of 1882 there were in the fourteen provinces of the Argentine Federal States over 14,000,000 horned cattle, nearly 73,000,000 sheep, and 5,000,000 horses: in the five provinces of Australia there were at the same period about half that number of horned cattle, about 61,000,000 sheep, and a little over 1,000,000 horses. So if the statistics are correct, the Argentines have the start of the Australians in live stock. As far as trade goes, 95 per cent. of the total exports of the Argentines consist of wool, hides, tallow, horns, and bones; and the imports are chiefly manufactured cotton goods, coal and iron. All foreign merchandize pays 20 per cent. ad valorem duty

on entrance, wines and hardware 40 per cent., grocery 30 per cent., iron 10 per cent. The imports have more than doubled in the last four years, and in 1883 amounted to over 16,000,000l. sterling, about one-third of which came from Great Britain. The imports of Victoria alone in 1883 were over 17,000,0007., and those of the five provinces of Australia amounted in value to more than 51,000,000, or more than three times as much as those of the Argentines. The exports in value amounted to over 12,000,000Z., considerably less than the value of the exports of either Victoria or New South Wales, or about one-fourth that of Australia as a whole. For wealth then they can scarcely compare. The Argentine public debt at the end of 1883 was over 45,000,0007. sterling, more than twice that of New South Wales, but only half that of Australia: the Argentine has to pay over 7 per cent., the Australian only 4 or 3 per cent. on capital borrowed, and whereas the latter has been invested in re-productive works which for the most part already pay to the Colonial Governments a higher interest than they themselves pay on borrowed capital, that of the Argentines has been in great measure hopelessly sunk on their former squabbles and the army and navy expenses of the past, although now much is being spent also in improving the condition of the country. The total Argentine revenue is a trifle over 9,000,000/. sterling per annum, and is raised almost entirely from customs dues from land sales and postage; most years there is a deficit, and the principal item of expenditure is interest on the public debt. The total revenue of Australia is double that of the Argentines.

The Federal constitution very nearly resembles that of the United States. The legislative authority is vested in a National Congress consisting of a Senate and a House of Deputies. There are twenty-eight senators, two from each province, elected by the provincial legislatures from those who have been six years citizens; they sit for nine years, one-third being renewed every three years; and there are eighty-six deputies, one for every 20,000 inhabitants; they are elected for four years, and one-half must retire every two years; each must have been a citizen for four years before election. Senators and Deputies each receive 7001. a year. The executive power is left to the President, elected for six years by representatives of the fourteen provinces, equal to double the number of senators and deputies combined. He is commander-in-chief, and appoints to all civil, military, and judicial offices by and with the advice of the Senate, and to bishoprics. He has five ministers (Home, oreign.