THE SPLENIC FEVER. 113 



It had been confidently asserted that the stock, driven by easy stages from Texas through 

 the Indian Territory and unsettled lands of Kansas, had communicated no disease ; but 

 this we found erroneous, as the indigenous stock around Abilene had suffered, and herds 

 had just been seized, from which we had ample opportunities for examining such cattle, 

 both alive and dead. 



We learned at the Drover s Cottage that, scattered along the creeks at intervals of 

 four or five miles, large herds of Texan cattle could be seen over a distance of forty or fifty 

 miles. This led us to undertake a journey across the prairie, as far down as Big Turkey 

 Creek, near the Little Arkansas River; and it is but just that publicity be given to the 

 anxiety manifested, and assistance tendered us in our investigations, on the part of the 

 gentlemen engaged in the southern trade. Major Call, who owned two of the largest herds, 

 zealously undertook the necessary arrangements for our journey ; and, by this means, we 

 had an opportunity of examining carefully over fifteen thousand head of cattle, whicli had 

 arrived at their destination during the months of- July and August. 



In general terms, it may be said that the whole stock indicated how much better it is 

 for cattle to be driven slowly, where there is an ample supply of food and water, than it 

 is to transport them, even for two or three days, in railway cars. There was a difference 

 in the herds according to the speed they had maintained on the journey, and it appears 

 that an average walk of eight miles daily, over the whole journey, is as much as the cattle 

 should be subjected to in order to secure improvement rather than deterioration in their 

 condition. The best drovers avoid shouting and the stock-whip; and much depends on 

 the intelligence of the person who superintends a herd as to the selection of the best grazing 

 ground and searching for a sufficient supply of water. The creeks, scattered throughout 

 the whole of the prairie lands of Kansas, dry up in summer, and cattle must sometimes be 

 driven thirty or thirty-five miles before water can be found. This is rare ; but, under the 

 most careful management, the driving of cattle from Texas to any point on the eastern 

 division of the Union Pacific road at or west of Abilene is attended with some such incon 

 venience. Nevertheless, wherever proper supervision is exercised that the animals may 

 never be overheated, it is found that they improve in condition, grow stout and hardy, 

 and are in a fit state for slaughter at the end of their journey on foot. 



Of the stock we examined, two hundred head of Indian cattle, from the Chickasaw 

 nation, were in pasture five miles from Abilene, and all appeared in very fine condition. 

 The greater part of the remaining stock we inspected was from Northwestern, from Central, 

 and from Eastern Texas. 



The only evidence of suffering was, at first, lameness, which in some cases was due 

 to injuries from animals fighting or spraining themselves in getting through difficult places. 

 At times a steer gets lame from the long sharp grass, wounding the skin between the hoof; 

 and at other points, as on Smoky Hill, the stony surface, with angular fragments of iron 

 stone and other hard and sharp bits of flint, wounds the feet and disables a considerable 

 number of cattle. 



On Smoky Hill we found, on the 27th of August, a herd which had been collected, 

 from forty to two hundred miles from the coast, in Southern Texas, between the 1st and 

 the 18th of May. It arrived at Smoky Hill on the 22d of August. Two animals had died 

 on the route; one died after getting lame, and the other refused to eat, was depressed, 

 languid, and passed blood with the excreta. At the time of our visit there were twenty 

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