THE AMERICAN WILD CATTLE. 577 



THE CATTLE OF THE PAMPAS. 



We have already spoken of the herds of horses descended from the 

 domesticated horse which roam over the wide plains of South America. 

 A similar phenomenon is presented in the enormous herds of cattle 

 which are found there. At the discovery of this continent no cattle 

 existed in South America. Columbus imported some on his second 

 voyage into San Domingo, and in 1540 some Spanish bulls and cows 

 were landed in the southern parts of the continent. Circumstances 

 favored their rapid increase, the herds became too large to be always 

 watched, and soon wandered about in perfect liberty. Within a hundred 

 years of their introduction, they were roaming over the Pampas in hun- 

 dreds and thousands, and were hunted by the natives as the Northern 

 Indians hunt the Bison of the Plains. At present the plains ,on both 

 sides of the River Platte and its tributaries are swarming with cattle. 

 They all have owners. Vast establishments named "Estancias" are 

 scattered over the Pampas ; and thirty thousand cattle, five thousand 

 horses, and twelve thousand sheep are moderate numbers for the animals 

 belonging to one owner. The cattle of each proprietor are branded with 

 his mark, and are looked after by Gauchos, who display incredible 

 courage, patience, and skill in their occupation, collecting the herds 

 when necessary, or catching those that have to be killed or sold. The 

 cattle are drilled, as far as possible, to assemble on the appearance of the 

 herdsman at a certain spot situated at a convenient distance from the 

 corral, and it is no unusual sight to see thirty-five thousand thus assem- 

 bled. The proportion of men employed is very small, when compared 

 with the numbers of the oxen. The usual allowance is four men to every 

 five thousand head ; thus an extent of two hundred square miles may 

 have only fifty inhabitants. 



Those that remain in a half-wild state, are for the most part taken 

 with the lasso, and sold to the drovers in troops of five hundred each. 

 When a five-year-old ox is lassoed by the horns, and he turns out a 

 Tartar, after a few ineffectual shakes of the head to throw off the lasso, he 

 directly darts at the horse, who immediately starts off at full speed, the 

 foaming ox close at his heels, and fast to the saddle with twenty-five 

 yards of lasso. The horse must take all that comes in his way ; patches 

 of long grass that reach up the stirrups, the burrows of the viscachas, 

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