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[[underline]] May 9 - Cordoba [[/underline]]

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 town, 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, Frances, Bill and I went to see the Historical Museum, which is an old Spanish house, formerly the residence of the Viceroy, with think walls, heavy old doors, barred windows and charming little patios.  Some of the rooms are given over to glass cases of old costumes, religious articles, harness and trappings for horses, but most of the rooms are furnished in heavy old carved furniture in the [[strikethrough]]style of the [[/strikethrough]] period of the house itself.  Even the oratory of the house has an altar with a sanctuary lamp burning, and in the adjoining room an ancient organ, the bellows of which is pumped by a great wooden handle.  The organ sill plays, though a bit out of tune.

From there we went to the Natural Museum, a small collection but devoted entirely to the archaeology, geology and zoology of the Province of Cordoba, nicely arranged and very instructive.

Next we called on a bird dealer.  He had quite a good collection of cage birds, although it ran largely to budgerigars.  In the house and in the yard were dozens of small cages, each one with gaily 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 "alimentation" of birds.

Martinez took us into the theatre, a big opera house, with gilt and red velvet seats, and circles of boxes ranging four high.  It is a big beautiful theatre, and here the Postal Employees 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 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 - 1781), and contains great art treasure - a Murillo Madonna behind the 

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