to use the words of Kipling. Because of the slight fall it takes three weeks for the flood waters to flow from Asuncion, a thousand miles upstream but only two hundred and three feet above sea level, to Buenos Aires. It is estimated that this river brings down a cubic mile of soil in twenty-two years. This soil is deposited on the western shore of the La Plata, and, were it not for the work of man, would soon convert Buenos Aires into a landlocked harbour. As it is, the dredging charges entailed by this yearly increasing mass of deposit are very large. In places the banks of the Paraná are lined with reeds and willows, but farther up the trees become larger, and there is a forest growth. In one place may be seen gigantic reeds twenty feet high, then a solitary palm tree with a crest of fan-like leaves, and again a dense forest of various growths may crown the bank. Gnarled trees with clusters of beautiful crimson flowers occasionally add a contrast of colouring. Masses of weeds and grass are continually floating by. One cannot help but think of the voyage of Sebastian Cabot up this unexplored stream, in 1526. In a small vessel of only a few hundred tons he ploughed through these waters, avoided destruction on the islands, and ascended to a point above the site of Asuncion. He was months in accomplishing that voyage, which is now made twice a week in five days. It is not a hard trip, except that the scenery becomes rather monotonous. Otherwise the accommodation is quite good, the fare is cheap, and, as a rule, the cabins are comfortable and are kept very clean. By steamer it is nearly three hundred miles from Buenos Aires to Rosario, the second city in the republic, and takes just about a whole day. The great delta of the Paraná, just above the metropolis, is very interesting, for it is studded with numerous islands. There are several ports on the left bank where large _frigorificos_, meat-freezing plants, are located, where vessels may be seen at the docks at all times waiting for their loads of beef and mutton. The largest of these is at Campaña, only fifty-one miles from Buenos Aires, where the River Plate Meat Co. has its freezing works. At Zarate is the freezing plant of the Las Palmas Produce Co., and at San Nicolas is another large _frigorifico_. At last Rosario, which used to be an unimportant place, is reached, but that designation would not answer for the hustling city of to-day. Soon after leaving Rosario the river passes through the rich wheat belt, with the province of Entre Rios on one side of the bank and Santa Fé on the other. For a distance the banks of the Paraná are quite high on one side, but they gradually become lower. At length the town of Paraná, a city of twenty-five thousand inhabitants, and the capital of the province of Entre Rios, is reached. It is the distributing point for quite a large section of country and a shipping port for the products as well.