204 To the River Plate and Back 



mostly extinct, which is represented in part by the 

 armadillos of the present day. The great bony cara- 

 paces of Glyptodon, Dcedicurus, and their allies are not 

 altogether uncommon in the Pampean beds, and my 

 friend Hatcher used to tell how at the house of a 

 gaucho, with whom he once stayed overnight, one of 

 these fossils had been utilized as a bathtub, in which 

 Hatcher himself had the pleasure of " taking a swim. ' 

 Talk about luxury! 



Our long walk had taken us far from Mar del Plata, 

 and, as the tide had turned, and the sea was rolling in 

 upon the beach, we climbed up to the top of the cliffs 

 and walked home in the sunset. Below us, where a 

 few hours before we had strolled along upon the sand, 

 great breakers were casting up their foam along the 

 foot of the cliffs, with a roar which was majestic. As 

 the night was falling, we reached the hotel, very tired 

 and a little footsore; and were glad to bathe and dine 

 in comfort. At half -past nine we again boarded the 

 train for Buenos Aires, and on the following morning 

 arrived in safety at La Plata. 



My inspection of the fossil-bearing strata heightened 

 the interest with which day after day I had been regard- 

 ing the noble collection of extinct animals in the 

 Museum. The former mammalian fauna of South 

 America, especially that portion of it represented in the 

 early Tertiary formations, is very remarkable, and dur- 

 ing the past three quarters of a century has become 

 the subject of ever deepening interest to paleontologists. 

 It is so entirely unlike that which occurs in other parts 

 of the world as to prove beyond doubt that it repre- 

 sents an evolution which must have taken place in 

 geographical isolation from all other regions, except 

 possibly the ancient Antarctic continent, through which 



