Montevideo and the River Plate 107 



down to a table abounding in good cheer. After dinner 

 we were driven in the darkness to the residence of the 

 Director of the Observatory, where we received another 

 cordial welcome. The air was chilly, and it was pleas- 

 ant to gather in the cosy sitting-room before the grate in 

 which glowed a cheerful fire of Welsh anthracite. The 

 fuel of Argentina as well as the pavements come from 

 across the seas. We talked about the far-away land in 

 the north which we had recently left. We discovered 

 that we had many mutual friends. And then at last I 

 was ushered into my bed-room, a chamber recalling in 

 its appointments and lordly size the stately homes of 

 Spain. Adjoining it was a handsomely furnished salon, 

 which my host informed me I was free to use as a place 

 in which to receive visitors. 



The silence of the night was unbroken save by the 

 voice of a small owl in the tree-tops, and I fell asleep 

 dreaming that I was still being ' ' rocked in the cradle of 

 the deep, " on which for nearly a month my nights had 

 been passed. 



