H4 To the River Plate and Back 



to successfully guide the negotiations which led to the 

 adjustment of the boundary dispute between Argentina 

 and Chili. He ably represented his country in the 

 arbitration proceedings which were held in London and 

 concluded before the late King Edward VII. A war 

 between the two southern republics was thus happily 

 averted. Dr. Moreno is undoubtedly one of the most 

 learned men at the present time in South America, and 

 a true patriot. When the plan of creating the new 

 capital at La Plata was formed, he determined to 

 give to the Museum the large collections which he 

 had already made, and to consecrate to it his efforts 

 and a large sum from his private resources. This 

 great national institution may be regarded as a lasting 

 memorial of the intelligent and self-sacrificing labors 

 of this great man, whose best efforts were consecrated 

 to its foundation, and of which he was the first Director. 

 At either side of the main staircase leading to the 

 entrance of the museum are large models of the sabre- 

 toothed tiger, a huge cat which once roamed the 

 pampas, and which must have been more formidable 

 than the jaguar of the present day. To meet the archi- 

 tectural requirements of their position, the figures are of 

 colossal size, like the lions which are grouped about 

 Nelson's Monument in Trafalgar Square. They very 

 appropriately guard the entrance to this institution, 

 in which is assembled one of the finest collections 

 representing the animal life of the past in South America. 

 The rotunda of the Museum, which the visitor first 

 enters, is surmounted by a glazed dome and surrounded 

 by a circular gallery on the second floor. The walls of 

 the rotunda are decorated with large paintings repre- 

 senting the life of prehistoric man in the New World, 

 the customs of the Indians of the pampas, who until 



