as do innumerable water birds, ducks and geese of many native varieties. Pheasants, partridge, snipe, and pigeon fly over land and water, great flocks of parrots, with harsh, strident cries, break the silence of the evening calm. At sunset, when the dying hues of the sun incarnadine the expansive waters, the prevailing tone of greyness comes as a welcome relief, after the blinding glare of the daytime, when from a myriad diamond points the reflected light dances upon the rippling waters. The western sky is diffused with a golden or ruddy glow, and forms a mellow background to the rich, mysterious greens of the tree-clad banks. Cormorants, kingfishers, and storks sail above the surface of the water in search of prey, and when the brief period of twilight ceases the starry swarms of the heavens shine from the blue vault overhead with an amazing brilliance. The long-drawn reflections of the night-lights of the sky in the river form streaks of opal light, which move ever forward with the ship’s advance like dancing will-o’-the-wisps, the rare beauty of the tropical night is deeply impressive, and, in the silence, ideas of space are magnified by many reflections, nature becomes more mysterious, the passing hour more trivial, and man and all his efforts shrink into insignificance. CHAPTER XIX _Asuncion_ The sun was just beginning to dispel the white morning mists when we came alongside the Aduana or custom-house of Asuncion. Our fellow-passengers were all anxious to learn the latest developments of the revolution in progress, and to discover if it was wise for them to trust themselves on shore, for it is proverbial that Paraguay is like a mouse-trap, easy enough of entrance, but difficult of exit. Alongside of the wharf or quay of the Aduana lay a small steam trawler, which, upon closer inspection, proved to be the Government battleship, its deck swarming with a dirty, ill-clad, frightened crew, who were confused by the conflicting orders shouted at them from time to time by youthful officers, barely out of their teens. The restlessness of the crew of the _Liberdad_ extended to the small tender that rushed about with noisy, feverish haste on various errands, and to the small row-boats manned by crews of mere boys whose faces were smacked and punched by the officers in charge whenever they missed a stroke or pulled out of time. Upon the wharf soldiers, with bayonets fixed to their loaded rifles, lounged and smoked in the company of dark-eyed market women, who also puffed and pulled at fat cigars rolled between their protruding lips with an easy familiarity.