THE ARGENTINE REPUBLIC. 607 



bone-ash, go to England, the rest principally to the United States ; that 

 the horns go to England, France, Italy, and Belgium ; that the hide- 

 cuttings go to Belgium, Germany, United States, and England ; that 

 the animal oils go to France; that the live animals go to Chili and Bo- 

 livia ; that the animal-black goes to France 5 that the artificial guano 

 goes to the United States and England, and that the dried blood goes 

 to the United States. 



The gradual decrease in the above shipments would seem to corrobo- 

 rate the general impression that there has been a decrease in the num- 

 ber of horned cattle in the country. According to the official estimates 

 already mentioned, it appears that there are about 2,500,000 less in the 

 Argentine Republic to-day than there were fourteen years ago. This 

 count does not include the number in the territories of Patagonia, Gran 

 Chaco, Pampa, and Misiones, which probably amounts to 300,000 more. 



It will further be seen that over one-half are on the pampas of Buenos 

 Ayres, Santa F(S, and Cordova, the rest being scattered in smaller num- 

 bers over the uplands of the interior, and the mesopotamian provinces 

 of Entre Eios and Corrientes. 



HOW CATTLE ARE MANAGED IN THE ARGENTINE REPUBLIC. 



It may be said that the cattle of the country are now all tame, in the 

 sense that they all bear the brand or mark of their owners, are accus- 

 tomed to the range of the estancia to which they belong, and allow 

 themselves to be handled by those whose duty it is to watch after 

 them and make uf> the rodeos, that is, bring them to the place where 

 they sleep at night. When the young bulls have been castrated they 

 go by the name of novillos; and the number of bulls left entire is about 

 one to every fifty cows.* It is very important that the men should con- 

 stantly watch after the animals, for if left to themselves they soon be- 

 come intractable and difficult to manage. Where the attendance is 

 negligent, they are readily frightened at the sight of a horseman, and 

 disastrous stampedes sometimes are the consequence. Where these 

 occur, it is only with infinite pains that they can be restored to former 

 docility. 



When the number of bulls are allowed to become too numerous, 

 furious and fatal combats not unfrequently ensue, the cows taking part 

 in the deadly encounters, and thus the annual calving is apt to be re- 

 duced. A few years ago, during the civil wars in Uruguay and pending 

 the long siege of Montevideo, a great portion of the cattle on the aban- 

 doned estaricios having nobody to take care of them, returned to a wild 

 state (alzado), and upon the restoration of peace, it was found absolutely 

 necessary to kill all the old bulls and castrate the young ones in order 

 to tame the cows and make them easier to manage ; and even then it 

 took an enormous amount of time and the ruin of hundreds of horses 

 on each establishment, before the herds could be reduced to a tractable 

 condition. And the same thing occurs wherever, for any cause, the 

 cattle of an estancia are neglected. In a very few months they return 

 to a wild state, thus entailing great losses on the owners. 



With proper attendance and careful management, however, it is as- 

 tonishing how easily the cattle of the Argentine Eepublic are handled. 

 The bulls exhibit none of the ferocity which is characteristic of those of 

 other countries, and even to supply the bull fights which are still al- 

 lowed to be exhibited in Montevideo, it is necessary to import the bulls 

 from Spain, those of the country not being sufficiently savage and fero- 



* V. Martin <Jo Moussy, vol. ii, p. 110. 



