3320 Zoology of Panama. 



Pigs thrive tolerably well, and are kept on account of their lard, 

 which to the Panamian cook is as indispensable as butter is to the 

 European. 



The horses are small and lean. I once saw a European, who, on 

 being offered a hackney horse, took the animal under his arm, and 

 lifting it up, exclaimed, " Here is a thing for a man to ride upon ! " 

 The spectators were in a roar of laughter. The colour of most horses 

 is gray, or rather a dirty white, and the price of a common cargo- 

 horse is from 5 to 20 reals. Asses are seldom used, but mules are 

 highly valued. 



Goats are not extensively reared, and sheep mere objects of curio- 

 sity. Bullocks are seldom used as beasts of burden or of draught, 

 and are so numerous, that not uncommonly 5000 or 6000 are seen 

 grazing in one plain. Their price varies from 1 to 12 reals. On large 

 estates, from 500 to 1000 are killed at one time ; the meat, cut into 

 strips, slightly salted, and dried in the sun, is sent, under the name of 

 Tasajo, to Choco, where it obtains a good price. The hides, worth 

 from 6 to 8 reals apiece, are shipped to the United States, the tallow 

 to Peru. Cheese is made in small quantities ; butter is hardly nomi- 

 nally known. Cattle are allowed to roam about at liberty, and have 

 become wild, as is the case over the whole of tropical and subtropical 

 America. In Southern Africa, where no more pains are taken to con- 

 fine them, the horses and bullocks are meek, and keep in the vicinity 

 of human habitations. The difference must probably be attributed to 

 the number of carnivorous beasts with which the Cape Fauna abounds, 

 while in the hotter portions of America, where few ferocious animals 

 are met with, the herds may pursue their grazing unmolested, and 

 therefore no longer seek the protection of man. 



On poultry more care is bestowed. Domestic fowls have multi- 

 plied to a great extent : the value of a couple varies between 4 and 

 8 reals. It is reported, however, that some localities are unfavour- 

 able to their development. Mr. Lloyd asserts that at Portobelo fowls 

 introduced from Carthagena or Panama cease to lay eggs, and that 

 their flesh becomes tough and unpalatable. Turkeys, in some dis- 

 tricts, are plentiful, and will fetch from 6 to 8 reals apiece. Ducks 

 and Guinea-fowls are scarce, and geese unknown. 



Berthold Seemann. 

 London, December 6, 1851. 



