CORUMBA 59 



We were greeted with a reception by the municipal 

 council, and were given a state dinner. The hotel, 

 kept by an Italian, was as comfortable as possible — 

 stone floors, high ceilings, big windows and doors, a 

 cool, open courtyard, and a shower-bath. Of course, 

 Corumba is still a frontier town. The vehicles are ox- 

 carts and mule- carts ; there are no carriages ; and oxen 

 as well as mules are used for riding. The water comes 

 from a big central well ; around it the water-carts 

 gather, and their contents are then peddled around at 

 the different houses. The families showed the mixture 

 of races characteristic of Brazil ; one mother, after the 

 children had been photographed in their ordinary cos- 

 tume, begged that we return and take them in their 

 Sunday clothes, which was accordingly done. In a 

 year the railway from Rio will reach Corumba, and 

 then this city, and the country round about, will see 

 much development. 



At this point we rejoined the rest of the party, and 

 very glad we were to see them. Cherrie and Miller 

 had already collected some eight hundred specimens of 

 mammals and birds. 



