The sky of Montevideo seems unfailingly blue, the sun shines constantly, the temperature is that of summer, rarely falling below 50° even in winter. The handsome harbour has been rendered safe for vessels, and docks were built under large expenditure: work carried out by national funds, without the need of a foreign loan--that inevitable Spanish American method of performing a public work. Rio de Janeiro and Buenos Ayres have their advantages, æsthetic or commercial, but Montevideo, in point of climate and other amenities, is their leader. On the opposite shore of the estuary stands the Argentine city of La Plata, capital of Argentina, a few miles inland from the port of Ensenada, a provincial capital founded in 1882. The model taken in its town-planning was Washington, but the streets are of a width so considerable as to give an air of disproportion, in conjunction with the low brick buildings. Here we may visit the most important museum in South America, ethnographical and archæological. But to return to Uruguay. We shall not confuse in our minds the two Republics of Uruguay and Paraguay, as is often done. The one is progressive and wealthy, the other backward and poor. Their boundaries are far from each other, separated by portions of Brazil and Argentina, but they are united by the great waterways of the Plate, as we have already seen. If Uruguay is a small country in point of area, being about the size of the British Isles, which is not large in comparison with the vast areas of territory of her neighbours on the Continent, the Republic contains much that is important, both as regards its own life and development and its relations with foreign lands. As an indication of the latter element, we may recollect the many millions sterling of English money invested here in public works and other matters. The history of the land has been a chequered one. War and peace have alternately succeeded each other ever since independence was gained, and the soil has had its full baptism of the blood of its own sons. But much of this customary dreadful history of Spanish America has here been tinged by the patriotic spirit of the Uruguayans, their strong national mind and their individualism.