Water for drinking purposes was formerly as scarce in the city as that for anchoring ships in front of it. Down to a few years ago the inhabitants depended upon wells within the city limits, and carts which brought water from the river, where it was not affected by the tide from the sea. The well water was brackish and hardly drinkable, while the river water was sold at a high price. Now the city has been provided with waterworks and the old troubles have ceased. The drainage has been improved, and altogether it is a cleanly place, though less so than Montevideo. The latter owes its name to the mountain or hill on which it is partly built, and from which there is a fine view; while the former is named for its "good air." It is certainly a healthy place, according to the reports of residents, though it is liable to sudden changes of temperature. The thermometer rarely exceeds ninety degrees or descends below eighteen degrees; yellow fever comes occasionally, but not often, and there are no other epidemics. Two days in Buenos Ayres were sufficient to exhaust the characteristic features of the place, and give the youths an insight into the history of the country of which it was the seaport. We will again exercise our privilege of peeping into Fred's note-book for information which will interest our readers. [Illustration: SOLDIERS OF THE ARGENTINE REPUBLIC.] "Buenos Ayres," the record says, "is the capital of the province of the same name, and also of the Argentine Republic, or Argentine Confederation, of which the province forms a part. The country has been through a series of wars which it is not necessary to describe here; from present indications it has a destiny of peace before it, though a revolution may break out at any moment. The Argentine Confederation includes fourteen provinces; it has a president, who is elected for six years, a cabinet of five ministers, a congress of two houses, a national debt, an army and a navy, together with other paraphernalia of government. It has two thousand miles of railway, and another thousand is in process of building; it has frequent disputes with Chili as to its rights in Patagonia; a population of about two millions; and herds of cattle, sheep, and horses too large for careful enumeration. "Of late years it has encouraged emigration from Europe, and there are probably half a million people of European birth now living in the country. One fourth of these are Italians, and the rest are Spaniards, Irish, English and Scotch, Germans, Portuguese, and a few other nationalities; in the province of Buenos Ayres there are seventy thousand Italians, forty thousand of whom are in the city of that name. At every step we hear the Italian language spoken, and the signs over the shop doors bear more Italian than Spanish names. The Spaniards were the original settlers of the country, but their identity is rapidly disappearing under the influx of immigration from Europe. [Illustration: A GUACHO.]