276 To the River Plate and Back 



building which patriotic pride is preserving. The men 

 who gathered here came across the pampas, the 

 snowy mountains of the West, and through the hot 

 tropical jungles, enduring such hardships in travel 

 as none in this generation is called upon to under- 

 go. Life in these regions a hundred years ago had in it 

 no touch of luxury; the conditions were even sterner 

 than in the great Republic of the North. The heroism 

 displayed by the patriots who met at Tucuman was not 

 less than that displayed by the men who had gathered 

 for the same purpose in Philadelphia in 1776. 



It is possible, however, for a traveler to surfeit him- 

 self with sight-seeing. Too much of anything palls. 

 There comes a time in European travel unless you 

 have great endurance when the sight of a cathedral 

 disgusts, and the thought of an art-gallery provokes 

 a yawn. After having spent half an hour in cudgeling 

 from the dark chambers of memory what little I knew 

 of South American history, I began to feel exhaustion. 

 Strained by this form of mental exercise, I resolved that 

 I would follow the advice of Antonio, who informed me 

 that he knew a brickyard in the outskirts of the city 

 where there were butterflies mariposas in abundance. 

 He had been examining my butterfly-net, which I had 

 left on the seat of the fiacre, while I was exploring the 

 Casa Historica. "Very well, then, good Antonio, we 

 will go to the outskirts, stopping on the way to see 

 anything which may be of interest. ' We halted at two 

 of the churches, which I entered, but, not having letters 

 of introduction to the Roman Catholic bishop of the 

 diocese, failed to detect anything which was profoundly 

 interesting in their interiors, though no doubt with a 

 competent guide, such as a bishop might be, the tourist 

 could obtain some satisfaction by a visit to these old 



