288 NOTES OF A NATURALIST. 



With sunrise the fog quickly melted away, and the 

 turning of the screw soon announced that we had 

 resumed our journey. Up to this point the banks of 

 the river on either side had been absolutely flat, but 

 at an early hour on the 26th we for the first time 

 were relieved by the appearance of some rising ground 

 on the east side of the river. There was nothing 

 deserving to be called a hill, but so impatient is 

 human nature of the monotony of dead-level, that 

 even a rise of a couple of hundred feet is a welcome 

 alleviation. A house on the summit, which must 

 command a vast range of view, appeared to be the 

 only desirable residence I had yet seen in this region. 

 The dead-level soon resumed its place on the eastern 

 bank ; but a few miles farther we began to descry a 

 range of low hills on the opposite, or Argentine, bank 

 of the stream. We had hitherto held no communica- 

 tion with the territory on that side, but before noon 

 we dropped anchor opposite to the landing-place for 

 the town of Concepcion. This is one of the chief 

 places in the state of Entrerios, which, as the name 

 implies, fills the space between the two great rivers, 

 Parana and Uruguay, and extends northward about 

 two hundred and forty miles from the estuary of La 

 Plata. The town stands on a low bill about two- 

 miles from the river. Some passengers went ashore, a 

 few were taken in their place, and after a short delay 

 the screw was again in motion and the voyage was 

 resumed. 



About two p.m. we were at length opposite to Pai- 

 sandu, a name known to most English readers only by 

 the ox-tongues prepared at the neighbouring saladeros. 



