130 
THE GOLDEN RIVER. 
Take all your fishing tackle out with you. 
There are good shops in Buenos Aires; but 
London gives a wider choice; and, as you must 
cast long distances, you ought to be absolutely 
suited with rod and reel. Steel piano wire you 
can buy out there. 
For the Alto-Parana you must have a launch. 
True, there are passenger steamers which run 
from Posadas, and they will land you at any 
puerto on the river; but once there you would 
not be much further on. Most of these so-called 
ports are only landing stages for shipping 
timber or yerba, and you might well find no 
accommodation, and indeed it would be difficult 
to get a canoe or boatman. Even if you over¬ 
came these troubles, you would find your range 
restricted. The Alto-Parana is not exactly a 
boating river. It is extremely dangerous. 
The radius of a canoe is limited. You cannot 
get up and down the river as if it were the 
Thames. No doubt if you went there deter¬ 
mined to get fishing you could get it without a 
launch, for if a man means to get fishing 
nothing can stop him. If two young men were 
to take their luck in their hands, and to get 
themselves put on shore at one of the puertos 
and to chance it, they might have a most 
amusing time if they travelled light and could 
look after themselves and speak Spanish. But 
if they want to do this sort of thing, I should 
recommend them to go to the Uruguay River. 
