FOSSIL REMAINS IN URUGUAY. 291 



district. Complete skeletons are, of course, not 

 commonly found ; but large bones in good condition 

 are, as I learned, easily procured. My stay was 

 necessarily so short that I could not expect to obtain 

 any, but I entertained a hope, not yet realized, that 

 through the kind intervention of Dr. French, some 

 valuable specimens might be obtained for the Cam- 

 bridge University Museum. But to complete our 

 knowledge of the very singular extinct fauna of this 

 region of America, prolonged research on the spot, 

 conducted by experienced palaeontologists, is a 

 necessary condition. These plains are the cemeteries 

 in which myriads of extinct creatures lie entombed. 

 We probably have got to know the majority of the 

 larger species, but it is probable that many others have 

 as yet escaped the notice of naturalists. 



The steamer in which I had travelled ascends the 

 river as far as Salto, about sixty miles above Paisandu ; 

 but at that placp the navigation is interrupted by 

 rapids, and travellers pursue their journey by land 

 until they reach the steamers that ply on the upper 

 waters of the Uruguay. I should have wished to visit 

 Salto, but the steamer was to arrive at night and to 

 depart on the return voyage next morning. By 

 stopping at Paisandu I secured the opportunity for 

 seeing a little of the country and the vegetation. 



By way of seeing something of the natives. Dr. 

 French took me to one of the best houses in the town, 

 and introduced me to one of his patients, an old lady 

 ninety years of age. She did much credit to the skill 

 of her medical adviser, as I found her full of life and 

 activity, conversing freely and intelligently on the 



