Mr. Welson, a prominent official of the Panama Railroad Company, had accepted the freedom proffered by the steamship lines plying between the maritime cities of the eastern coast of South America, for his recuperative vacation of three months, and on his arrival in Montevideo had been induced by Captain Greenwood to extend his voyage up the river. A Scotsman by birth, he possessed in an eminent degree the predilection of his people for dry, caustic humor; and in his position of commercial agent had cultivated the art of extracting fun from the vagaries of migrating humanity in their transit across the isthmus. Scientific whimsies were especially adapted to his quizzical vein, and a happier combination of material could scarcely have been conjured for his entertainment, than he found on board of the _Tortuga_. Padre Simon was his especial favorite as a stimulating provocative. Won by his naïve simplicity, he had soon interested himself to learn the object of his river voyage, with the intention of rendering him assistance. Greatly to his surprise the padre informed him that he had no other expectations in visiting Entre Rios than the chance one “of hitting an opportunity to make a strike.” Amused with his vernacular, and the easy carelessness of his manner, which seemed to defy disappointment, he was delighted to discover his growing fondness for polemical disputations, which was gratified by a kindred disposition cultivated by Dr. Baāhar, the naturalist of the corps. On the steamer’s arrival at Entre Rios, the port of his destination, the padre’s thoughts were absorbed in the dogmatic discussion of the soul’s material identity with the body after the resurrection, so that he gave no heed to the frequent repetition of the name of the town. Aware of his total abstraction from all thoughts and anxieties connected with the business responsibilities of life, necessary for material sustenance, Mr. Welson connived with the doctor to hold him in argument until after the steamer’s departure, well assured that no material harm could arise from the derangement of plans so lightly impressed as to give place to chimerical argument. For a characteristic illustration of the disputants’ peculiarities we will give the burden of their colloquial subjects of exposition.