THE EUMINANT OEDEE. 279 



We now come to the Ox proper. 



The male and female of this species are respectively the Bull 

 and Cow. The Ox in this case, as understood by us, is a BuU 

 deprived of the attributes of his sex in order to render him 

 more docile, submissive, and easily fattened. The Bull is, 

 therefore, exclusively an animal for reproduction. Its easily 

 offended, wild, and even violent disposition prevents its being 

 used like the Ox in agricultural labour ; and, on the other 

 hand, its dry and sinewy flesh is inferior as food. Therefore 

 only a sufficient number of Bulls are kept to maintain the 

 species in the requisite number. When very young, m.ost Bulls 

 undergo the operation which transforms them into Oxen, and 

 thus acquire a fitness to perform agricultural labour, and be 

 improved as food for Man. The young males are called Steers, 

 and the females Heifers. 



There is, at the mouth of the Rhone, stretching from the town 

 of Aries to the Mediterranean, a vast extent of marshy land, 

 intersected by woods. This tract has been formed by successive 

 deposits of the river, and is called the Camargue. Large herds of 

 cattle live in an almost wild state in these humid plains and 

 solitary woods. The Bulls of the Camargue are aU black, of a 

 moderate size, with long tapering horns. Their wild nature, 

 agility, and exceptional strength render them very dangerous. 

 They are employed in the Bull-fights, or "courses," of which 

 the Provencals and inhabitants of Bas-Languedoc are so passion- 

 ately fond. 



The herds of the Camargue are guarded by herdsmen called 

 Gardians. These are armed with a trident, and mounted on small, 

 spirited Horses (Camargue Horses), which, like the Oxen, graze at 

 liberty in this delta. When about to be killed, the cattle are penned 

 up, allowed a little rest, and better food, to improve their flesh. 



In South America, especially in the vast pampas of the basin of 

 La Plata, immense herds of Wild Cattle are to be found, descended 

 from animals introduced into those countries at the time of their 

 appropriation by Europeans. At one time innumerable quantities 

 of these were killed only for their hides, which were sent to all 

 the markets of the world in the untanned state ; but at the pre- 

 sent date the Buenos-Ayrians have learnt to manage the meat so 

 as to forward it dry or pressed to a great distance. The flesh of 



