THE ROOSEVELT EXPEDITION 199 



run biweekly. It was composed of seven Pullmans, two 

 baggage, and a dining car; the service was good. Leaving 

 Buenos Aires on the afternoon of Sunday, November 2, we 

 reached Rosario at dark. Here the train was run onto a 

 steel boat and carried up-river a distance of sixty miles, 

 after which it continued the journey on the east bank of 

 the Parand. The next night we recrossed the river on a 

 ferry, and were landed at Encarnacion, Paraguay. Asun- 

 cion was reached late on the afternoon of Tuesday. 



The railway journey had been through level plains, in- 

 terspersed at long intervals with small clumps and strips of 

 low woods; but it is essentially a grazing country and we 

 passed numerous herds of cattle feeding on the vast, fence- 

 enclosed ranges. Stalking about unconcernedly among the 

 herds were small bands of semi-domesticated rheas, but 

 they were not abundant; I doubt if we saw a hundred dur- 

 ing the entire trip. Caracaras, or carrion-hawks, glossy 

 ibises, our old friends the jacanas, which resembled huge 

 grasshoppers when on the wing, rails, and spur-wing plovers, 

 or lapwings, were plentiful. Frequently we saw the domed 

 mud-nests of oven-birds perched upon fence or telegraph- 

 poles, or on the lower branches of trees. Villages are few 

 and far between, and the natives, a motley crowd of dark- 

 skinned individuals, usually left their shambling, grass- 

 thatched huts and came down en masse to see the train. 



Asuncion is a quaint old town, plainly showing the marks 

 of violence that have been left by frequent revolutions. 

 Mr. Ferris, the American consul, who met us at the station 

 and rendered us every assistance possible, had witnessed 

 five revolutions in as many years; there had been seven 

 presidents in the same period of time. The streets of the 

 city are narrow and paved with cobblestones; the buildings 

 are low, constructed of adobe, and have red-tile roofs. 

 There are one or two banks, a college, several churches, a 

 public market and good hotels, as well as fair electric car 

 and light service; there is also the inevitable lottery. We 

 noticed little business activity. An air of depression seemed 



