The Traveller.

Southern Cross, Volume 8, Issue 31, 24 November 1900, Page 3

The Traveller.

SPNTHIANDERS IN ARGENTINA. The many friends in Southland of Miss Drabble and her brothers, who left for South America a few months s,go, will be pleased to learn that they reached Buenos Ayres in due course. The following extract from a letter written by Miss Drabble to a friend in Invercargill gives a good idea’of thejchanged conditions under which the ex - Southlanders are living:— Buenos Ayres, Aug. 6, We arrived hereon the 3rd August. I am afraid I cannot tell you much about the voyage, as for the first fortnight I had to keep to my berth ; for ten days after starting we had a head wind, but otherwise the voyage was good. There was a good deal of illness on bqard (not sea sickness), so the cabin steward was told off to look after the ladies, and leave the stewardess free to attend to the doctor’s patients. The steward was a boy about 20, whom we called ‘ Little Billeb.’ He was very obliging and attentive ; up to all kinds of fun and mischief, and used to come and sing to us —to ‘ cheer us up.’ One of the ladies in our cabin had been companion to Dr Emily Ryder when she visited Invercargill, and knew several Invercargill people. She is great on palmistry, and told all our fortunes. There were some very good singers on board ; Mr Manson, of Dunedin, was one; he is going Home to Join Mrs Manson in London Another was a lady on her way Home to study music ; I believe she intends going on the stage. We had a grand view of The Horn. The captain took us close in, and there was no mist or dull sky; the mountains, covered with snow, looked magnificent. Several of the passengers took photos. As we steamed into Monte Yideo the sight that struck us most was the green grass. Fancy grass six inches high in August in Southland ! We had no trouble about changing steamers here ; the Company’s tender came alongside and took us and our luggage to the river steamer free of charge, and we got a boatman to row ns*to the wharf for 2s. We had time for a look Round the Towm. There are some big buildings, six or seven storeys high, with flat roofs and no chimneys. We created no end of fun for the natives, A. being the only one who could make himself understood. The Paparoa’s passengers also went ashore, but we did not see anything of them till we were returning to our boat. As we passed the wharf we waved to them, and they o-ave us three cheers and the Maori war-cry, Ake! Ake! It quite brought back Hew Zealand to us. The river (Plata) is about 120 miles long, and was as smooth as a pond. Our boat,*a the ‘Venus,’ was a perfect palace. She started at 6 p.m., and we had our first Spanish Dinner on board thirteen courses, commencing with soup, everything reeking with oil; the vegetables were served by themselves, and were also saturated. I saw roast fowl on the menu (which was of course in Spanish), and thought I should get something' to eat there, but it was swamped in oil. There was excellent pudding and sponge cake, and delicious fruits, and coffee pure to wind ■op with. On the table were baskets of beautiful flowers camellias, hyacinths, violets, and other sweet flowers that were new to me. On ©very serviette was a button-hole of hyacinths and violets. About nine next morning we arrived at Buenos Ayres, and went on shore at once, left our luggage to be taken to the Customs, # got a coach and drove to the office. * Our cousin was not there, so we

walked about the streets until ten' o’clock, then returned, and this time found a clerk who could speak English, and who showed us to opr cousin’s room. When we left] the clerk Was sent with us to show us to a good hotel and engage rooms for us. He also showed us a good restaurant, as one cannot get meals in the hotels. As we left the office the rain came down in torrents, so our guide called a cab. At the restaurant we had breakfast (doesn’t it sound funny to talk of breakfast at 12 o’clock P), but it is really a dinner of six courses. At twc p.m. our guide returned and took us to the Customs. Thanks to him we had no trouble in getting our things through ; I had no duty to pay on the nick-nacks, but I am afraid a lot of them will be smashed. The way the things were handled on the Paparoa was something awful—-I saw that big box with the pictures tumbled over and over like a football. We spent the evening at our cousin’s, and there I had the first cup of good tea I had tasted since leaving Wellington. I could never touch that served on the Paparoa. Our cousin had telegraphed to G., announcing our arrival, and next day we had a reply saying he would come to town to meet us, but could not arrive till Monday evening—all the travelling here is done by night. We spent the day looking round the town. One of the funniest things is the Harrow Streets. The one our hotel is in has only just space enough for the tram and two coaches to pass, and the footpaths are just wide enough for two people to walk abreast. The first night I thought I should never get to sleep for the noise of the traffic—tram bells and horns sounding till one a.m. It is the rule for trams to ring, or blow a horn, at all street corners. This hotel is built on a corner, so we get a benefit. There is no sitting-room in the hotel; when you want to rest inside you sit in your bedroom, which is fitted up with sofa and easy chairs ; there is a man as chambermaid, and he ‘ does ’ the room when you are out. There are Ho Fireplaces in the rooms, even in the best hotels ; and as they are all lit by electric light there is no heat from gas. What people do in the winter 1 don’t know. The boys found out an old school-fellow and had breakfast with him. la the afternoon we went to a circus. Of course all the conversation was in Spanish. On Sunday morning, August 12, we went to The English Church, I thought the service very poor, not as good as St. John’s in Invercargill. There was no intoning, and no anthem. In the afternoon we went into the Park and saw all the grand carriages. It is the day for driving out. We saw some lovely pairs in private carriages, and were told that they are all imported from Home. On Monday morning the boys went to meet G. at the railway station. You are not allowed to go on to the platform, so they looked across the barrier, and recognised him at once, but he did not know them. • He has altered in all these years, and has a foreign look about him, but still he is the same, and I should have known him anywhere. It has been decided that A. and I go ba jk with him, while J. goes to the Santa Fe district. G. has not built his house yet, so I expect things will be pretty rough. We have been buying furniture for my room to-day, and dear it is—yon get simply nothing for £SO. -The Shops here are splendid—nothing in Hew Zealand like them; the jewellers’ places are a grand sight, especially at night, when they are open till eleven o’clock, and all day Sunday, except a few which seem to be kept by English people, and are closed for part of the day. At all the principal street corners you see men standing with baskets of Beautiful Flowers for sale, just like London. This

afternoon I went for a drive with my cousin’s wife, and had a good view of the parks. Coming back, we went to a panoramic entertainment —it was called ‘ Going to the Holy Land.’ You get into a train which seems to be really moving with you. The pictures were beautiful. This has been just like a summer’s day in Hew Zealand, To-night we start on our journey up-couutry to the eatancia. Please remember me to all enquiring friends, as I haven’t time to write any more letters.