196 To the River Plate and Back 



the spot as a pleasant place in which to spend the hot 

 summer months within reach of the sea-breezes. There 

 is a superb beach, though the undertow is said at times 

 to be a little dangerous. The cliffs, or barrancas, rise 

 back of the beach to the height of about sixty or seventy 

 feet, and afford pleasant views over the ocean. Here the 

 first families who resorted to the spot built comfortable 

 homes for themselves. It was not long, however, before 

 their example became contagious, and all the world came 

 to regard it as 'the correct thing' to possess a villa 

 at Mar del Plata. The front of the cliffs is protected 

 by a low stone wall, back of which is a wide pavement 

 for pedestrians, and alongside of it a broad driveway, 

 which is well-paved and wilich is at the present time 

 being greatly extended toward the north. This is 

 known as the 'Rambla, ' and it was to inspect the 

 manner in which its construction was being carried out 

 by the contractors that my friends, the Minister of 

 Public Works and the Treasurer of the Province, had 

 come down upon the train. 



Having settled in our room at the hotel, Dr. Roth 

 disappeared and presently returned with a stout boy 

 bearing a big basket. The boy had been hired to act 

 as our porter, and the basket was to be used as a 

 receptacle for the fossils we might collect. Armed 

 with our picks and attended by the lad we left the 

 hotel and went to the beach. Our walk led us past 

 the bathing-houses, of which there are many just 

 at the foot of the cliffs, raised on high piles above 

 the level of the flood-tide. It was the time of ebb, and 

 the beach was exposed for miles to the north. There 

 was a fine sw r ell on the sea, and the rollers were coming 

 in grandly and breaking upon the sand, their foaming 

 crests being cut off by the stiff breeze which was blow- 



