THE OX 285 



hides, or at least this is in great part the purpose. " 



"They kill the cattle just for the hides !" asked 

 Jules incredulously. "Then the meat isn't good 

 for anything?" 



"It is excellent, but they do not know what to do 

 with it, there is so much. The population of the 

 country not being sufficient to consume this enor- 

 mous quantity of food, the cattle are slaughtered, the 

 hides removed and cured, after which they can be 

 kept indefinitely, and the flesh is left behind as a use- 

 less encumbrance. This is a waste much to be re- 

 gretted, for with us meat is becoming scarcer every 

 day, and our food problem would find a* ready solu- 

 tion in the pampas cattle that now feed only carniv- 

 orous animals. 



"It is true that attempts are made to save a part 

 of this copious supply of provision. The meat is 

 cut into strips which are dried in the sun or salted 

 or smoked, as a means of preservation ; and in this 

 state commerce carries them to all parts of the 

 world. Unfortunately, I must acknowledge, this 

 meat preserved by salting, smoking, or 'drying is not 

 very palatable eating. Let us hope that improved 

 methods of preserving will be introduced, and that 

 some day South America will furnish Europe a rich 

 supply of butcher's meat. 



"In the present state of things the pampas cattle 

 are hunted principally for their hides. I say 

 hunted, for the cattle of the grassy plains of Buenos 

 Aires may be called veritable game, since these ani- 

 mals do not fall, as do our cattle, under the blow of 



