SPLENIC OR PERIODIC FEVER OF CATTLE. 115 



in that district was found healthy. At Junction City we found a lierd 

 of sick cattle which had crossed the Texan trails at Salina, having been 

 vised in the west for draught purposes. We proceeded to Abilene, the 

 center of the shipment of Texan steers. 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 nidigenoiis stock around 

 Abilene had suffered, and herds had just been seized, from among which 

 we had ample opportunities for examining such cattle, both alive and 

 dead. 



We learned at the Drovers' Cottage that, scattered along the creeks 

 at intervals of four or five miles, large herds of Texan cattle could he 

 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 Eiver; 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 opportu- 

 nity of examining carefully considerably over fifteen thousand head of 

 cattle, which 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 <^mple 

 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 accord- 

 ing to the speed they had maintained on the journej', 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 improve- 

 ment, rather than deterioration, in tlieir condition. The best drovers 

 avoid shouting and the stock-whii); and much depends on the intelli- 

 gence of the person who sujierintends a herd as to the selection of the 

 best grazing ground, and searching for a sufiicient supply of water. 

 The creeks, scattered throughout the whole of the i^rairie 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 

 jioint on the eastern division of the Union Pacific road at or west of 

 Abeline, is attended with some such inconvenience. Nevertheless, 

 wherever proper supervision is exercised that the animals may never be 

 overheated, it is found that they imi)rove in condition, gTow stout and 

 hardy, and are in 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 Xation, wei'c in pasture five miles from Abeline, and all 

 appeared in very fine condition. The greater part of the remaining 



