During a voyage I made up the river a revolution was in progress, and the town of Villetta was in the hands of the insurgents; an armed steamer lay off the town, its decks swarming with men in khaki uniforms. There were Englishmen and other Europeans on board, members of the great army of soldiers of fortune who always contrive to get mixed up with South American revolutions. On the decks of the innocent-looking tramp steamer which had been re-named the _Constituccion_, quick-firing and other small armaments glistened in the sunlight, whilst a wireless installation and searchlights testified to the resourcefulness of the insurgents. All along the Paraguayan banks of the river we encountered little bands of the rebels and many deserted villages. Passengers were landed upon the banks near the latter, and surrounded by their belongings were left quite contented, if not happy, with no one to welcome or receive them. In some of the villages a few women and children were left in charge, the men and youths having fled across the river to the Argentine. The women would come down to the water’s edge and exchange news with our passengers in half-amused, half-frightened tones, and many of the aspects of the revolution had an irresistibly comic side to them. Farther up the river more primitive methods of life and commerce prevail, and half-amphibious dwellings lie on the borders of the great “esteros” or marsh lands that stretch away from the river. In the rainy season these lands become vast lakes, the thick, stiff, clayey soil forming an impervious bottom. In the dry season the water evaporates, and leaves behind a grey, dusty soil of great gaping cracks, and a strong, wiry grass and stunted shrubs growing in many patches. The dreary malarious wastes extend far beyond the limits of the river’s bank, and on these placid, stagnant areas the mosquito finds a congenial breeding ground. On these swamps numerous aquatic plants grow, and the camalote and many varieties of white and blue lilies, whilst the _Victoria regia_ spreads out its broad, green leaves and snowy flowers. On the higher lands farther to the north the landscape becomes bolder and more picturesque. Vast woods, dense and almost impenetrable, abound, and harbour a wealth of animal life. Beautifully marked jaguars, tiger cats, and ocelots make their lairs in the dark recesses of these gloomy forests, monkeys chatter amongst the trees, whilst snakes and lizards glide and dart through the confused matted undergrowth. The carpincha, the largest of existent rodents, wallows in the muddy margins of the swamps; a droll-looking animal, rapid though clumsy in its movements, possessing a ludicrous truncated face that would provoke a smile from an anchorite. The whole country is a sportsman’s paradise, for it harbours a plentiful variety of large and fierce quadrupeds, and teems with feathered game. The stately heron and gaunt stork haunt the river banks,