502 THE TROPICAL WORLD. 



The introduction of the horse and the ox has wrought an entire change in the char- 

 acter of the Indians of the great plains of North and South America. When the 

 Spaniards first visited the llanos and pampas they found them almost destitute of 

 inhabitants, for the Indians were wholly unacquainted with agriculture. They could 

 exist only in the spots where grew the Mauritia palm. This tree grows to the hight 

 of a hundred feet, its slender trunk surmounted by a magnificent tuft of great fan- 

 shaped fronds, under which grow in large clusters scaly fruit, resembling pine cones. 

 Like the banana they differ in taste according to the stage of ripeness ; and the trunk 

 affords a nutritious pith like sago, which when dried forms a large part of the food of 

 the natives. From its sap they prepared an intoxicating drink; its leaves covered 

 their huts ; from the fibres of the petiole they manufactured threads and cordage, 

 and the sheaths at their base served for sandals. The Mauritia grew abundantly near 

 the mouth of the Orinoco ; and among its branches the Guaranas dwelt like monkeys, 

 high above the reach of the great inundations. They built platforms, floored with its 

 leaves, from trunk to trunk, a patch of moist clay serving for a fire-place. The early 

 voyagers were by night astonished at the light of their fires, gleaming like beacons 

 up among the dark foliage. 



The Grand Chaco, lying along the Paraguay and Parana rivers, is one of the most 

 remarkable of the pampa regions. It covers an area of 200,000 square miles, nearly 

 equal to France, and is nominally partitioned among the neighboring governments ; 

 but is really in the possession of hordes of Indians, who acknowledge no allegiance 

 except to their own caQiques. Neither time nor intercourse with the whites has miti- 

 gated their deep feeling of hostility against the whites for the wrongs inflicted upon 

 their race. The horse, the gift of the Spaniards, has put them upon an equality with 

 their enemies, and given them the means of making continual predatory inroads. 

 When pursued by a military force they scatter and are lost in the depths of the forest. 

 They are admirable horsemen, using neither saddle or bridle, but control their animals 

 by a rude rein of raw-hide passing around the lower jaw, and secured by a thong of 

 the same material. 



The guachos, or herdsmen, inhabiting the pampas are of Spanish descent, but have 

 relapsed into an almost savage state. The wild life of a guacho begins from infancy. 

 As soon as he can walk he has a little lasso made of twine, with which he amuses 

 himself in catching the chickens and dogs. By the time he is four years old he is put 

 upon horseback, which he soon learns to consider the only place for a man, thinking 

 it degrading to walk for any considerable distance. He early acquires skill in the use 

 of the lasso and bolas. With the former he will capture the wildest bull or stallion, 

 throwing from horseback the noose with unerring aim over the horns, or around a leg 

 of the animal. He is equally dextrous in the use of the bolas. This consists of three 

 balls, about three inches in diameter, joined together in a common center by thongs a 

 yard long. Holding one ball in his hand, the guacho whirls the other around his 

 head, and then flings the whole at his victim. The instant one thong strikes the leg 

 of an animal, all wind themselves around, each by its own independent motion, and 

 the more the victim struggles the more inextricably does he become entangled. 



The so-called deserts of Southern Africa, including the great Kalahari, are savannas 

 rather than deserts. This region has of late years been thoroughly described by 



