-19- 
May 9 - Cordoba 
Bill and I went to the Zoo again, with Mr. Martinez, to take 
some photographs, and to discuss possibilities of exchanging animals 
with the director, Mr. Pereya. We came back through one of the 
pretty parks of the t own , weeping willows over a creek, rose 
gardens, clover fields, and white-washed statues. The autumn 
coloring and the dry grass seem so incongruous with the present 
date line. 
We lunched at the hotel, where Bill was much impressed with 
his 80 centavo (about 20 cents ) beefsteak, which was delicious but 
three times as much as he could eat. 
In the afternoon Martinez , Prances, Bill and I went to see 
the Historical Museum, whi ch is an old Spanish house, f orme rly the 
residence of the Viceroy, with thick walls, heavy old doors, barred 
windows and charming little patios. Some of the rooms are given 
over to glass cases of old cos tume s , religious articles, harness 
and trappingsf or horses, but most of the rooms are furnished in 
heavy old carved furniture in the xkgctocaiixkkg: period of the house 
itself. Sven the oratory of the house has an altar with a sanc- 
tuary lamp burning, and in the adjoining room an ancient organ, 
the bellows of which is pumped by a great wooden handle. The organ 
still plays, though a bit out of tune. 
Prom there we went to the Natural Science Museum, a small 
collection but devoted enti rely to the archaeology, geology and 
zoology of the Province of Cordoba, nicely arranged and very in- 
structive. 
Next we called on a bird dealer. He had quite a good collec- 
ti on of cage birds, although it ran largely to budgerigars. In the 
house and in the yard were dozens of small cages, each one with 
gai ly colored, chirping birds. In the window hung a cage full of 
humming birds. The lady of the house had just hung the laundry 
in the patio, and we had to peer behind wet sheets to see many of 
the specimens. Bill found it difficult to get theman to talk 
business, as all he wanted to do was give a lecture on the '• alimenta- 
tion" of birds. 
Martinez took us into the theatre, a big opera house, with 
gilt and red velvet seats , and circles of boxes ranging f our high. 
It is a big beautiful theatre, and he -e the Postal Employes had been 
dined last night. Workmen were busy putting back the gilt chairs 
and screwing them again to the floor. 
Our hotel looks out over the Plaza San Martin, a typical 
Spanish plaza, according to Bill, with its equestrian statue, its 
flower bordered walks, its Cathedral, police department, hotel and xfc 
shops around it. 
The Cathedral is impressive in a baroque, Jesuit Colonial 
style . Its massive dome and the two bell towers are balanced to 
a great sense of strength and symmetry. It was built in the latter 
part of the seventeenth and most of the eighteenth century ( 1680- 
i/Ql;, and contains great art treasures - a Murillo Madonna behind the 
