cloth with the rain dousing the
last embers, I have found the Correntino, or Santa Fecino, a cheery and
uncomplaining companion, who compares well with the recently arrived
Englishman, who, under the same circumstances, is generally sleepy or
bad tempered.

Treat him well and he will treat you well, but if it is necessary to
chasten him for his soul's good, keep your hand a little nearer to your
revolver than his is to his knife.

DUST AND OTHER STORMS.

DUST AND OTHER STORMS.

Life in South America has many and varied experiences, though not so
uncomfortably exciting perhaps to-day as they were, when more than three
years seldom passed without a revolution of some kind, either national
or provincial. The year 1893 was marked by two revolutions in Rosario,
the first provincial and the second national, with perhaps little more
than two months between them. It sounds terribly alarming to hear that a
revolution has broken out, and pictures of the French Revolution
immediately rise before one, but, fortunately, those of South American
cities are not of that calibre; reports and rumours fly about of the
terrible things that are going to be done, but these generally end in
rumour, and after a few persons, those who have nothing to do with the
movement, have been killed, probably by soldiers letting off their
rifles up some street just on the chance of hitting something (often
that at which they are _not_ aiming), the revolution fizzles out very
quickly.

In the second revolution of 1893 great excitement was caused in Rosario
by a revolutionary gunboat being pursued by a Government boat and a
naval battle (!) being fought on the river outside Rosario. These two
boats blazed away at each other till the revolutionary gunboat was
reduced to a wreck; the Government boat then threatened to turn its guns
on Rosario unless the revolutionists capitulated. The town was given
twenty-four hours to decide, and, after various disasters, including a
terrible battle, had been threatened, as usual the revolution came to a
sudden end, on this particular occasion owing to the revolutionist
leader, D. Alem, committing suicide. That same year, 1893,
distinguished itself by drawing to a close with three of the most
terrible dust storms ever seen in a country that, after any lengthened
period of dry weather, suffers from dust storms of a greater or lesser
degree. The first of these occurred early in December, after many months
of d