[Illustration: PALERMO PARK, BUENOS AIRES.] It is not easy to make the reader realise foreign scenes, even when small towns or glimpses of natural beauty are attempted, and it is probably impossible to give any satisfactory description of a vast city, for the great towns and their crowds have a peculiar spirit and their own harmony of noises which render photographs or lists of streets and buildings inadequate and misleading. Probably few cities are more difficult to describe than Buenos Aires. Its streets are quite as narrow as those of Italian towns, but every one is full of noise and bustle. This absence of wide streets, squares, boulevards, and parks greatly detracts from its magnificence; the wood can never be seen for the trees. As is the case with practically all Spanish-American towns, the streets are perfectly straight and intersect one another at right angles, so that it is very easy to find one's way about, for if a pedestrian desires a cross street, say to the north, he has only to march northwards up any given street and he must eventually reach his designation. The people regret the cramped proportions of the town, and, in the days of the great boom, they cut the handsome Avenida de Mayo through the congested streets, and its fine effect shows what a sumptuous city Buenos Aires would be if the process were extended. But that any more avenues of this kind will be made is very unlikely, for the expense would be prohibitive. Not only is land of immense value, but costly buildings have been erected all along the narrow streets, and the loss entailed by their demolition would be immense. It may be added that during a period of inflation the wisest policy is to spend all available money in bricks and mortar, streets and squares, for when the bubble bursts the buildings remain. Bombay is an excellent instance, as also is Buenos Aires. It is true that Rio de Janeiro has during the last few years cleared out many acres of narrow streets and rebuilt itself in brave fashion, but the old edifices demolished were insignificant in value compared with those of the great Argentine capital. The Avenida de Mayo is inferior to the Avenida Central of Rio in length and splendour of appearance, as Buenos Aires must always be inferior to the Brazilian capital in beauty, but this disadvantage is far more than counterbalanced by the prosperity and enterprise of the inhabitants who in these respects leave their neighbours far behind.