718 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



[No. 12 



where these animals were first introduced, became 

 a sort of nursery, where they multiplied prodigi- 

 ously, and whence were drawn vast herds to stock 

 the different parts ol' the mainland, the coast ol' 

 Mexico, and the interior. Oviedo tells us, that, 

 in spite of this immense exportation, herds ot'4,000 

 cattle were very common in that island, only 27 

 years after its discovery. Herds even of 8.000, 

 were sometimes to be met with ; and, according 

 lo Acosta, in 1587 the exportation of hides li-om 

 the island of St. Domingo, alone, amounted to 

 35,444. In the same year, were exported from 

 the different parts of New Granada, 64,350. 

 Tills was the sixty-fifth year from the conquest ol' 

 Mexico, an event, previous to which the Spani- 

 ards had been engaged in nothing but war. 



As soon as cattle were multiplied to such an ex- 

 tent as to become almost wild, it was discovered 

 thai a certam quantity of salt was indispensable 

 in their Ibod, and that, if they did not get this salt 

 from the herbs, the water, or certain earths ol a 

 brackish taste, which exist in many countries, 

 they became lean, the females were lesa Iruitful, 

 aod the species rapidly degenerated. In those 

 places where there is a sufficiency of salt, the in- 

 habitants find an advantage in giving some to 

 their cattle, as, besides its beneficial influence on 

 their health, this practice accustoms them to come 

 up at a fixed hour to the place vvhere they are 

 usually led, and where they know they will find 

 salt. If these regular calls be neglected, it is no 

 wonder they soon disperse and become wild. 



In Europe, vvhere milk is regarded as a very im- 

 portant part of the [iroduce of the dairy, the cow 

 is milked, from the moment when it becomes ca- 

 pable of propagating its kind, until the time when 

 it ceases to be so. This plan, constantly exercised 

 on every individual during a long series of gene- 

 rations, has ended by producing important altera- 

 tions in the species. The teats have become of 

 immense size, and the milk continues to flow from 

 them even when the calf is taken away from the 

 mother. In Colombia, a train of circumstances, 

 useless to mention, have contributed to produce 

 very different results ; but only a lew generations 

 are necessary lor this animal, left in liberty, to re- 

 turn to her original organization. For the cow to 

 preserve her milk, it is necessary, in Colombia, 

 that the calf be with her the whole time, and be 

 be able to suck. If it be taken away only for one 

 night, nothing is gained by the milk which is col- 

 lected during this interval ; ibr as soon as the calf 

 ceases to suck, the milk immediately dries up. 



The ASS, in those provinces in which M. Rou- 

 lin had opportunity to notice it, appears to have 

 undergone only some slight alterations in its form 

 and habits. In some places, v.here little care is 

 taken of this animal, and where it is overworked, 

 it is not unfrequenily born deformed ; but in none 

 of the provinces visited by our author has it ever 

 become savage. 



The same observations do not hold good with 

 respect to the horse. From the wild and inde- 

 pendent life of the horse, a uniformity of color 

 arises peculiar to the untamed species. The ches- 

 nut is not only the prevailing, but almost the only 

 color of this animal. 



The gait preferred in saddle-horses, is either an 

 ambling or a stately gait. Pains are taken and 

 kindness is employed, in training the animals to 

 either of these motions that may be preferred. 



VVhilst they are undergoing this system of disci- 

 pline, they are not permitted to move in any other 

 gait. Afier a certain time, the horses contract 

 these motions habitually, and if they are of a 

 beautiful ibrm, they are let go in the forests to 

 propaga'e their breed, as very kw of them are 

 ever gelded. From these result a race of horses 

 in which the amble, among the full grown ones, 

 is as natural as the trot among other horses. 

 These are called aguillillas. 



Dogs were transported into America, during 

 the second voyage of Columbus ; and it is worthy 

 of remark, that in his first battle .with the abori- 

 gines of St. Domingo, he had, in his little army, a 

 pack of twenty blood-hounds. This animal was 

 afterwards employed in the conquest of different 

 parts of the continent, especially in Mexico, and 

 New Grenada. The race is still preserved with- 

 out apparent alteration, on the table-lands of Santa 

 Fe, and is there used lor hunting the stag. It 

 displays, in that region, extreme ferocity, and em- 

 ploys the same mode of attack which for- 

 merly rendered it so dreadful to the native inha- 

 bitants. This consists in seizing the animal when 

 in full career, under the lower part of the belly, 

 and in overturning it by a sudden motion of the 

 head, taking advantage of the moment when the 

 whole weight is suspended upon the lore-legs. 

 The weight of a stag thus thrown to the ground, 

 is frequently six times that of the dog. 



Certain dogs of a pure breed iiiherit, without 

 instruction, the necessary instinct for the chase of 

 the peccasy, (Peruvian hog,) in which they are 

 often employed. The art of the dog consists in 

 restraining his ardor, in never attacking any par- 

 ticular animal, but in holding the whole herd at 

 bay, without permitting himself to be surrounded. 

 One dog, the first time he is carried into the 

 woods, attacks the herd in the most advantageous 

 manner; another rushes indisciiminately upon 

 the whole herd, and whatever may be his 

 strength, he is devoured in an instant. 



The species of sheep transplanted into Ame- 

 rica, is not the Merino, but two kinds, called in 

 Spanish lana basta y burda. 



The sheep propagates very well in temperate 

 climates, and in no part shows any disposition to 

 forsake the authority of man. In the burning 

 climate of the plains it is maintained with more 

 difficulty ; but its existence there ffives rise to an 

 extremely curious phenomenon. The wool of the 

 lamb grows almost likethe wool produced in more 

 temperate regions, with the single exception, that 

 it requires a longer time to mature. When the 

 animal is in the proper state to be sheared, the 

 wool presents nothing remarkable in respect of 

 firmriess, and if ii be then taken irom the lamb, it 

 commences growing again, and every thing pro- 

 ceeds just as among the sheep of more temperate 

 countries. But U] in this warm climate, the shear- 

 ing season is suffered to pass away, and the fleece 

 left on the lamb, the wool thickens, becomes like 

 felt, and finishes by detaching it«elffrom the body, 

 leaving under it not a new growth of wool ready 

 to spring up, nor a naked and diseased skin, but a 

 short, fine, shining, velvety nap, very similar to 

 that of goats, reared in the same climates. On 

 those spots vvhere this nap or hair has once ap- 

 peared, wool never again grows. 



The GOAT, though its Ibrm is evidently that of 

 a native of the mountains, accommodates jlself 



