To countless people South America is little or nothing more than a geographical expression, and to such the Argentine Republic is the representative State, typical of all the rest. There could be no greater error, for the natives of the great southern continent are sharply differentiated, alike in many traits of character, the vocations which they pursue, and the physiography of the territory which they inhabit. There are, it is true, certain ties between them all; they all boast a common ancestry in the Iberian Peninsula, and they are also united by a common religion, and, to a lesser extent, a common language. Still, the uninitiated person does not go so very far wrong in supposing that the Argentine dwarfs all its neighbours. It would be a veritable Triton among the minnows were it not for the juxtaposition of Brazil, which vastly exceeds it in the matter of size, if not in prosperity. The rivalry between the two countries is of long standing, but even Brazilians have to reluctantly admit that their neighbours are easily first both in the development of their resources and the extent of their commerce. There is yet another factor which gives the Argentina pre-eminence. In its capital, Buenos Ayres, it has the largest city south of the Equator, and, next to Paris, the largest Latin city in the world. The noise of its fame has reached the ears of thousands of people to whom Rio de Janeiro and Lima are mere abstractions. Nor is that predominant fame undeserved. Buenos Ayres is a mighty place of habitation boasting avenues and architecture which would grace any city in the Old World. The progress has been almost incredibly rapid. From an ill-paved, wretched settlement on the flat banks of the muddy River Plate, a splendid city has arisen. There is no “Colonial” atmosphere about it; it has instead all the impress of a European city, and in this respect it stands apart from every other town in South America.