19 



not occur in sufficient quantities to be considered. For further 

 information in regard to these plants see under head of ' ' Descrip- 

 tion of Plants" (p. 24). 



SHEEPHERDERS. 



The sheep are divided into bands of from 2,000 to 3,000 in a 

 band, each band usually being cared for by two men, one the 

 herder, the other the cook and camp-tender. The former has 

 charge of the sheep while grazing, and usually sleeps wherever 

 the sheep camp down for the night, keeping a close watch on 

 them and returning to the cook's camp only for his meals. The 

 latter, the camp-tender, has charge of the cooking and the moving 

 of the camp, which takes place usually about every three days. 

 Where a large number of bands are owned by one man, he 

 usually hires one or two foremen who superintend the work at 

 the time of dipping and shearing, and who go ahead on horseback 

 during the summer, finding out the condition ot the ranges and 

 directing the sheepherders as to where their boundary lines lie 

 and the route they wish them to take. 



The class of men which were in demand for herding the 

 sheep were known as Basques or "Bascos." They come from the 

 Pyrennees Mountains, and are designated French or Spanish 

 Basques, according to the side of the mountains in which they 

 lived. They naturally take to the life of solitude, as they and 

 their ancestors have been employed in a similar occupation in the 

 Pyrennees Mountains for many years past. The wages paid them 

 are from $30 to $40 a month, with board. Their savings are 

 often spent in a trip to their homes in Europe, where they live a 

 life of ease for one or two years, and then return to America to 

 herd sheep again. Italians, Americans and other nationalities 

 are sometimes employed, but they are rarely as contented and 

 successful as the Basques. 



An Italian sheepherder at whom the other sheepherders 

 poked a great deal of fun on account of his peculiarities, invari- 

 ably had the best batch of lambs for the market. On asking the 



