summit, where is an immense, surprising and commanding figure of the
Christ. On the Argentina side we again took train to Mendoza, an
important town and centre of the fruit and wine country. Thence a
straight run over the immense level pampas, now pastures grazed by
innumerable cattle, sheep and horses, to Buenos Ayres. Many rheas
(ostriches) were seen from the train. These birds, the hens, lay in each
other's nests, and the male incubates--perhaps to save the time of the
hens; which reminds one of the cuckoo, who mates often, and whose stay
is so limited that she has no time to incubate. Yet she does not lay in
nests, but on the ground, and the eggs are deposited by the male in the
nests of birds whose eggs they most resemble, and only one in each.

By-the-by, whilst in Santiago a quite severe quake occurred, but there
were few casualties, only two people being killed. It was at night, and
my bedroom being on the third floor of the only three-storey building in
town, I continued to lie in bed, not indeed knowing what to do, and
resigning myself to fate. I distinctly do not want to live in quaking
countries!

The sensation produced on one by an earthquake is peculiar and different
from all others. One is not so much alarmed as overawed; one feels so
helpless, so insignificant; you know you can do nothing. What may happen
next at any moment is beyond your ken; only when you realize that the
disturbance has actually shaken these immense mountain masses and these
boundless plains do you appreciate the forces that have caused it. The
Krakatoa outbreak raised the water in our Thames four inches. A great
Peruvian earthquake sent a tidal wave into the Red Sea.

Buenos Ayres is a city of some 1,200,000 people, half Italians (the
working and go-ahead half) and half Spanish Americans. But there is
also a very mixed population. There are many fine buildings and palatial
residences, but the business streets are ridiculously narrow, save and
except the Avenida de Mayo, which is one of the handsomest streets in
the world. The new boulevards, the parks and race-tracks all deserve
admiration. The hotels are not quite good enough--not even the palatial
"Plaza." Prices, and indeed the cost of living, are quite as great as in
New York. It was too hot to remain long, so I crossed to Montevideo,
went all over the town; but beyond seeing (not meeting, alas!) one of
the most beautiful girls I ever saw in my life, there was not much to
inte