CHAPTEK XVII. 



Cattle-raising- Don Filiberto Trano's new house Horse-flies and 

 wasps Teustepe Spider imitating 1 ants -- Mimetic species- 

 Animals with special means of defence are conspicuously 

 marked, or in other ways attract attention Accident to horse 

 -The jfygale Illness Conclusion of journey. 



AFTER crossing the trachytic plain, we reached a large 

 cattle hacienda, and beyond, the river Chocoyo, on the 

 banks of which w r as some good, though stony, pasture 

 land. We saw here some fine cattle,- and learnt that a 

 little more care was taken in breeding them than is usual 

 in Nicaragua. The country, with its rolling savannahs, 

 covered with grass, is admirably suited for cattle-raising, 

 and great numbers are exported to the neighbouring 

 country of Costa Rica. Scarcely any attention is, how- 

 ever, paid to the improvement of the breeds. Few 

 stations have reserve potreros of grass ; in consequence, 

 whenever an unusually dry season occurs, the cattle die 

 by hundreds, and their bones may be seen lying all over 

 the plains. Both Para and Guinea grass grow, when 

 planted and protected, with the greatest luxuriance ; and 

 the latter especially forms an excellent reserve, as it 

 grows in dense tufts that cannot be destroyed by the 

 cattle. When not protected by fencing, however, the 

 cattle and mules prefer these grasses so much to the 

 native ones, that they are always close- cropped, and 



