To the River Plate and Back 



CHAPTER I 



THE DIPLODOCUS 



"I wish I were an ichthyosaurus 

 And could swim the Lias ocean, 

 And eat fish. But, oh! I am not. 

 Alas! I cannot be an ichthyo- 

 Ichthyosaurus ; for I 'm a diplo- 

 Diplodo-do-docus. I can tie 

 My rubber neck into a knot." 



SONG-BOOK of the Geological Society of America. 



ON November n, 1911, Mr. Andrew Carnegie 

 dictated a note to the writer, in which he stated 

 that he had received from Dr. Roque Saenz Pena, the 

 President of the Argentine Republic, a letter suggesting, 

 that, inasmuch as replicas of the skeleton of Diplodocus 

 carnegiei had been presented to the national museums 

 of various European countries, a like donation to the 

 National Museum of Argentina would be greatly 

 appreciated. Mr. Carnegie went on to say in his note 

 that the expression of the wish of a king or president 

 is not to be lightly set aside, and accordingly instructed 

 me to prepare such a replica, as soon as it could be 

 conveniently done, and to arrange for its installation 



