the mean temperature of the hottest and coldest months is from 22° to 25° Fahr., while in the middle states of the northern continent the difference is nearly twice as great-from 40° to 45°. The mean summer temperature is here about the same as in places six or eight degrees farther from the equator in eastern North America. The rainfall, which is of such vital importance to agriculture, appears not to be subject to such great annual irregularities as it is in the United States and Canada. The average at Buenos Ayres is about thirty-five inches annually, and in ascending the Paranà this increases to fifty-three inches in Corrientes, and eighty inches in Paraguay. It is only in some parts of the interior-e.g. about Mendoza - and in Patagonia, that the cultivator is, in ordinary seasons, exposed to suffer from drought.

I

Apart from the economic results of the great influx of immigration, the large recent admixture of European blood is effecting important salutary consequences. have seen no recent returns, but it appears * that in the six years ending 1875, the number of immigrants from Europe exceeded 284,000, or about 47,500 annually; and I believe that this average has been exceeded since that date. Of the whole number fully one-half are Italians, and I found unanimous testimony to the fact that they form a valuable element. in the population. With the exception of a small

* Much information respecting this country is to be found in a volume entitled, "The Argentine Republic," published in 1876 for the Centenary Exhibition at Philadelphia. It contains a series of papers prepared by Mr. Richard Napp, assisted by several German men of science.

PROGRESS OF ARGENTARIA.

301

proportion from the Neapolitan provinces, it is admitted that, whether as agricultural settlers or as artisans in the cities, the Italians are an orderly, industrious, and temperate class. The Germans and Swiss are not nearly so numerous, but form a useful addition to the orderly element in their adopted country. It may be hoped that experience and education have not been thrown away on the native Argentine, and that the memory of the forty years of intestine disorder which followed the final establishment of independence may serve as a warning against renewed attempts at revolution; but assuredly the foreign element, which rapidly tends to become predominant, will be found an additional security against the renewal of disorder.

Although a majority of the large commercial houses at Buenos Ayres are English, and the trade with this country takes the first place in the statistical returns, the predominance is not so marked as it is on the western side of South America. Next to England, and not far behind, France has a large share in the trade, and although Germany has only lately entered the field, it appears that the business operations with that country are rapidly extending. Here, and at several other places in South America, I heard complaints that German traders palm off cheap inferior goods, having forged labels and trade-marks to imitate those of well-known English manufacturers. It is true that charges of a similar nature have been recently brought against some English houses. One asks if the progress of civilization is to lead us back to caveat emptor as the only rule of commercial ethics.

If so,

some further means must be discovered to enable the innocent purchaser to protect himself.

The most serious difficulty in the way of the increasing foreign trade of Argentaria is that arising from the shallowness of the great estuary of La Plata, which prevents large vessels from approaching the ports. In the course of ages nature will remedy the defect, when the present shoals are raised by deposits of fresh silt so as to confine the volume of water brought down by the great rivers, which would then scour out navigable channels. Whether the process may not be hastened by human skill and enterprise is a question which I am unable to answer. At present I believe that the only point where vessels of moderate burthen can approach the shore is at Ensenada, about fourteen miles below Buenos Ayres. It is now connected by railway with the capital, and promises to become an important trading port.

Voyage from Buenos Ayres to Santos-Tropical vegetation in Brazil-Visit to San Paulo-Journey from San Paulo to Rio Janeiro-Valley of the Parahyba do Sul-Ancient mountains of Brazil-Rio Janeiro-Visit to PetropolisFalls of Itamariti-Struggle for existence in a tropical forest-The hermit of Petropolis-Morning view over the Bay of Rio-A gorgeous flowering shrub-Visit to Tijuca -Yellow fever in Brazil-A giant of the forest-Voyage to Bahia and Pernambuco-Equatorial rains-Fernando Noronha-St. Vincent in the Cape de Verde IslandsTrade winds of the North Atlantic-Lisbon-Return to England.

ABOUT midday on June 30, I took my departure from Buenos Ayres. The operation was not altogether simple or to be quickly accomplished. Jolting heavily over the ill-paved streets, a hackney coach carried me and a fellow-traveller with our luggage to the riverbank. The sight was very strange. It was a busy day, and there were literally hundreds of high-wheeled carts engaged in carrying passengers and goods out to the boats, which lay fully half a mile from the shore. When, after a delay that seemed excessive, we were installed in a boat, this was pulled in a leisurely fashion to the steam-tender, which lay more than a mile farther out. When the hour fixed for the

departure of the tender was long past, we at length got under way, and finally reached the Neva steamship of the Royal Mail Company, about fourteen miles below the city, at five o'clock.

With iron punctuality dinner was served at the regular hour, although none of the passengers were ready, and the luggage was not brought on board till after dinner. There was, in truth, no reason for haste, as we were appointed to call at Monte Video on the following morning. My chief business at that place was to recover possession of the chest containing my botanical collections, which I had deposited at the custom-house.

Impressed with the attractions of Brazil, and feeling the strict limits of time to which I was bound, I asked myself if I should not have done better to have omitted a visit to the Plata region, and saved nine days by proceeding direct to Brazil in the Iberia, which started on the 22nd of June. I should certainly recommend that course to any naturalist travelling under similar circumstances at the same season; but I am sure that, if I had done so, I should have felt regret at having missed an opportunity, and should have fancied that I had lost new and interesting experiences.

At four p.m. on the 1st of July the big ship began to move from her moorings opposite Monte Video, and for about sixty miles kept a due easterly course. Somewhere near the port of Maldonado we passed a bright light on an island which shows as a bold headland. I was told that this is known as Cape Frio, because of the cold often encountered here by those arriving from Brazil. It may be supposed that the