A great waterway--The river compared with the Paraná--Some questions of navigation--The lower stretch of the Uruguay--The stream from Montevideo upwards--Montevideo--The docks--An imposing array of Mihanovich craft--Breadth of the river--Aspects of the banks--Various types of vessels--The materials of their cargoes--The meeting of sister steamers--The etiquette of salutations--Fray Bentos--The Lemco factory and port--A notable spot--The paradise of the eater--The islands of Uruguay--Method of their birth and growth--The responsibility of leaves and branches--Uncertainty of island life--The effects of flood and current--Sub-tropical bergs--The vehicles of wild creatures--A jaguar visitation in Montevideo--Narrowing of the stream--Paysandú--The home of ox-tongues--The second commercial town of the Republic--Some features of the place--Variety of the landscape--The _Mesa de Artigas_--An historical table-land--A monument to the national hero--Salto--A striking town--Pleasant landscape--The Salto falls--The ending of the lower Uruguay--A rocky bed--Some minerals of Salto--Alteration in the colour of the water--The beauty of the upper Uruguay. As a waterway the Uruguay River is of infinite service to the Republic whose western coastline it serves. It is true that, compared with the Paraná, the stream suffers somewhat both as regards length and navigable facilities. Both rivers have much in common, in that either has its source in the mountain ranges that fringe the coast of Brazil, and either flows first to the west, then southwards until the junction of the pair forms the broad River Plate. But, whereas the Paraná rises in latitude 22° south the first waters of the Uruguay do not come into being until 28° south. The latter, in consequence, has to content itself with a course of a thousand miles, rather less than half the length of its neighbour. The lower stretch of the Uruguay holds an obstacle to navigation that is unknown in the corresponding waters of the Paraná. At Salto, some two hundred miles above the mouth, falls extend from the one bank to the other, and thus bar the passage of all vessels. Above this place, however, is the starting-point for the lighter draught steamers that continue their northward course for many hundreds of miles.