198 Information respecting Botanical Travellers, 



I have already alluded to the circumstance that wild cattle are 

 dispersed over those savannahs with a general outline of the vegeta- 

 ble production of which, we have just become acquainted. Two pri- 

 vate individuals, towards the end of the last century, founded cattle- 

 farms in the vicinity of Fort San Joaquim ; and having involved them- 

 selves, the Government made pecuniary advances M^hich they could 

 not return, and their property fell ultimately in the hands of Govern- 

 ment. Many of the cattle have since strayed, and have been re- 

 claimed by nature, roaming in their wild state over the savannahs, 

 and would no doubt rapidly increase if their number were not ma- 

 terially thinned by the attacks of man and tigers. The Brazilian 

 government order annually an expedition against them, the object 

 of which is to capture such as may become reconciled to the domes- 

 tic state, and to kill the untractable for the sake of their hides and 

 flesh, the latter of which is slightly salted and dried in the sun on 

 the spot, and sent to Manaos, at the mouth of the Rio Negro. As 

 an account of the manner of attack and capture may prove of interest, 

 I relate what I have seen during my presence at one of these expe- 

 ditions, coupled with the information which I received from the 

 administrator of these farms. 



A place having been selected in the vicinity of water, the huts of 

 the party are soon erected and the necessary preparations concluded. 

 The men go out in pairs on horseback, each being provided with the 

 lasso, a rope plaited of narrow thongs, and about twelve fathoms 

 long. One end of it is firmly fixed to the girth of the saddle, gene- 

 rally on the right side, and at the other end is a running noose. As 

 soon as a herd of cattle is observed, the horsemen approach gently, 

 but their object of remaining unobserved is generally frustrated, as 

 the cattle begin to run as soon as the horsemen come near them. 

 The animal which is to be chased having been meanwhile selected, and 

 pointed out, the horsemen follow, and as the horses are the swifter, 

 they manage in a short time to get nearly in a parallel line with the 

 animal. The well-taught steed, as if aware which had been selected 

 for the chase, takes care to keep up with it, until its rider finds op- 

 portunity to prepare for the cast of the lasso. This is taken in the 

 right hand, so that the noose may be opposite that part of the circle 

 which he keeps firm in his hand, the other parts of the lasso hanging 

 loosely in coils on the fingers of the left hand. Rising in his stirrups, 

 he gives the noose an impetus by swinging it several times round 

 his head, and discharges it, when he thinks he is most sure in his aim ; 

 it carries ofif the remainder of the string from his left, and, circling 

 in the air, it descends over the horns of the animal, and drawing close 

 around the crown of its head, its swift course is stayed. This is the 



