120 To the River Plate and Back 



ments was merely preliminary, and was intended to 

 enable us hereafter to be able to get our bearings. Then 

 we descended to the basement and the laboratories and 

 the work of opening boxes began. Thanks to the skill 

 of the operatives in the Carnegie Museum and the good 

 judgment employed in packing the specimens we found 

 that there had been no breakage of consequence in 

 anything which we took out that morning, and this 

 experience was renewed on following days. Although 

 our boxes had traveled farther than ever on similar 

 occasions, the damage sustained in transport was less. 

 But thus far we had not seen anything of the "grass- 

 grown ' ' streets of La Plata. We were told that a stand- 

 ing invitation to lunch and dine at the Colegio Nacional 

 of the University had been extended to us, and the 

 Principal, Dr. Ernesto Nelson, came in person to rein- 

 force the kind invitation. It was the noon-hour, and 

 accordingly we quitted our work in the Museum, and 

 repaired in company with Dr. Hussey and Dr. Nelson 

 to the residence of the latter. Our walk led us by an 

 avenue, lined with stately eucalyptus-trees, to the 

 plaza, upon which stands the rather imposing building 

 of the municipal court, then to the right, past the main 

 buildings of the University to the buildings of the 

 Internada, or students' lodging-house. But we found 

 no grass in the streets. In fact the day of grassy streets 

 in La Plata has passed. It has survived the days of 

 its infancy. It is to-day a city of nearly one hundred 

 thousand inhabitants, and is fulfilling the hopes of its 

 founders. It is growing rapidly, and the fact of its 

 advancement is most plainly revealed in the increase 

 in the value of real estate which has taken place in 

 recent years. Listening to the accounts given me by 

 my friends, it was easy to understand that La Plata has 



