Across the Pampas and the Andes Author:Robert Crawford Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: once proceeded to the Eiver Plate to carry out the engagement. Upon arriving at Monte Video, we found that yellow fever was raging at Buenos Ayres to so great... more » an extent that no public business could be transacted. In addition to this, the original popularity of the Transandine scheme, which it enjoyed at the time of its first proposal, was decidedly on the wane. Some little friction appeared to have arisen between the National and Provincial Governments on the subject, and a general feeling seemed to prevail, that the undertaking was one of vastly greater magnitude and responsibility than had been supposed when it was first broached. Under these circumstances the Provincial Government, for whose account the expedition was to be undertaken, was beset with perplexities and embarrassments, which caused considerable delay at first; but the unexpected obstacles which had thus arisen were at last removed, and the party started on the journey. During the progress of the explorations, I kept a careful diary, and, as has always been my habit when travelling in strange countries, made numerous sketches and notes of such objects as attracted my attention. With this diary for a basis, the volume which Inow lay before the reader has been written as a short account of a journey across the continent of South America under circumstances of considerable interest. A few of my rough sketches have been selected to illustrate it, but all the credit that belongs to them is due to the very effective manner in which they have been treated by that excellent artist, Mr. Whymper. One of the illustrations (" Monte Video during the Yellow Fever "), as I have mentioned where it occurs in the book, is from a photograph by Messrs. Bate, I believe, of Monte Video; but I should add that " An Inva...« less