Montevideo and the River Plate 103 



of the Ferrocarril del Sud on the Plaza Constitucion. 

 We were informed that by an arrangement kindly made 

 by the authorities of the National University of La 

 Plata we would have our home in the residence of the 

 Director of the Observatory, which is very near the 

 National Museum, and instead of making Buenos Aires 

 our place of stay we would presently go to La Plata. 

 A cup of tea in the handsome restaurant of the railway 

 station was proposed, and, as the hour was early, Dr. 

 Roth suggested that the journey to La Plata be deferred 

 until about five o'clock, and that we should together 

 take a little stroll through some of the more interesting 

 parts of the great city. We went by tramcar to the 

 Avenida de Mayo, the 'Broadway' of the Argentine 

 metropolis, recalling in many of its features the avenues 

 of Paris. Seated in front of the restaurants were groups 

 of well-attired men puffing cigarettes and drinking coffee, 

 as they may be seen in the summer upon the boulevards 

 of the French capital. The waiters, clad in white, 

 looked as if they might have stepped out of the Cafe 

 de la Paix. We felt as if we were not on American soil, 

 but in France. We turned into the Calle Florida, the 

 fashionable street for shopping, in which at that hour 

 of the afternoon vehicular traffic is prohibited, and 

 which was filled with a crowd of people bent either on 

 business or pleasure. Gowns in the latest Parisian 

 style were everywhere in evidence. Gentlemen in cor- 

 rect walking costumes passed along, bowing to acquaint- 

 ances. At the corners young dandies congregated. 

 The street, like most of the older streets of the city, is 

 narrow. The shop fronts are imposing, and behind the 

 plate-glass windows, the choicest products of European 

 and North American skill were displayed. 



We had not gone far when the writer recognized in 



