s very
width, its silent moving power, and its majesticness give it a beauty in
my eye that few rivers I know of possess. We gazed on it as the sunset lit
up its wondrous waters till an island we were passing appeared to rise
into the sky and float along in the crimson haze. We gazed on it again ere
we retired for the night. The stars were now all out, and the river's dark
bosom was studded here and there with ripples and buttons of light; but
still it was silent, as if it hid some dark mysterious secret which it
must tell only to the distant ocean.

We slept very soundly this night, for the monotonous throb-throb of the
engine's great pulse and the churning rush of the screw not only wooed us
to slumber, but seemed to mingle even with our dreams.

All night long, then, we were on the river, and nearly all next day as
well. But the voyage appeared to my brothers and me to be all too short.
We neared Rosario about sunset, and at last cast anchor. But we did not
land. We were too snug where we were, and the hotel would have had far
fewer charms.

To-night we had a little impromptu concert, for several of Moncrieff's
friends came on board, and, strange to say, they were nearly all Scotch.
So Scotch was spoken, Scotch songs were sung, and on deck, to the wild
notes of the great bagpipes, Scotch reels and strathspeys were danced.
After that,

'The nicht drave on wi' songs and clatter,'

till it was well into the wee short hours of the morning.

At Rosario we stopped for a day--more, I think, because Moncrieff wished
to give aunt and his young wife a chance of seeing the place than for any
business reason. Neither my brothers nor I were very much impressed by it,
though it is a large and flourishing town, built somewhat on Philadelphia
principles, in blocks, and, like Philadelphia, gridironed all over with
tramway lines. It is a good thing one is able to get off the marble
pavements into the cars without having far to go, for the streets are at
times mere sloughs of despond. It is the same in all new countries.

Rosario lies in the midst of a flat but fertile country, on the banks of
the Parana. The hotel where we lodged was quite Oriental in its
appearance, being built round a beautiful square, paved with marble, and
adorned with the most lovely tropical shrubs, flowers, and climbing
plants.

There seems to be a flea in Rosario, however--just one flea; but he is a
most ubiquitous and a most insatiably