The department of Montevideo constitutes the small extent of territory in the neighbourhood of the capital itself, a considerable portion of which is taken up by the outer suburbs of the main town. The country in the neighbourhood here is very fertile and highly cultivated. There is probably no climate in South America that offers greater attractions than that of Uruguay. Throughout the Republic the conditions are favourable; but it stands to reason that those which obtain upon the coast-line facing the Atlantic are the most ideal of all. The climate in these neighbourhoods is essentially temperate, and may be likened to that of the Riviera of France, without, however, suffering from the occasional winter frosts and intense summer heat that characterise this latter seaboard. Nevertheless the winter temperature of the Uruguayan littoral when a southern wind is blowing can be quite as keen as is compatible with comfort. As is the case in the majority of temperate countries, there is no accurately defined rainy or dry reason, although the rains are wont to be far more abundant in the winter months. The heat of summer in the south-eastern provinces is very seldom oppressive; indeed, one of the most striking characteristics of the warm season is the continuance of the refreshing and bracing airs that temper the heat, and that render midsummer itself as enjoyable as the delightful spring months. The climate of Buenos Aires is distinctly pleasant, but, so far as the summer season is concerned, the difference between that of the capitals of Argentina and Uruguay is curiously marked, when it is taken into consideration that not more than 120 miles of water separate the two. The exceptionally pleasant conditions that prevail on this portion of the Oriental coast are acknowledged by none more readily than by the Argentines, who flock there in great numbers for the purposes of bathing and general climatic refreshment in January and February. The wind-swept uplands of the interior are favoured in a similar degree when compared with the districts of the other countries in corresponding latitudes. In the northern provinces upon the Brazilian frontier the increase in the normal temperature is, of course, very distinctly perceptible, and for the first time the vegetation gives undoubted evidence of an approach to the tropics. [Illustration: STREAM ON THE SAN JUAN ESTANCIA. To face p. 272.]