Chapter XIX: The Uruguay River 225

A great waterway--The river compared with the Paraná--
Some questions of navigation--The lower stretch of the
Uruguay--The stream from Montevideo upwards--
Montevideo--The docks--An imposing array of Mihanovich
craft--Breadth of the river--Aspects of the banks--Various
types of vessels--The materials of their cargoes--The
meeting of sister steamers--The etiquette of salutations--
Fray Bentos--The Lemco factory and port--A notable spot--
The Paradise of the eater--The islands of the Uruguay--
Method of their birth and growth--The responsibility of
leaves and branches--Uncertainty of island life--The
effects of flood and current--Sub-tropical bergs--The
vehicles of wild creatures--A jaguar visitation in
Montevideo--Narrowing of the stream--Paysandú--The
home of ox-tongues--The second commercial town of the
Republic--Some features of the place--Variety of the
landscape--The _Mesa de Artigas_--An historical table-land--
A monument to the national hero--Salto--A striking town--
Pleasant landscape--The Salto falls--The ending of the
lower Uruguay--A rocky bed--Some minerals of Salto--
Alteration in the colour of the water--The beauty of the
upper Uruguay.