

COLLECTING THE CATTLE. 



235 



from the quantity of cattle, numbers are 

 reckoned very loosely ; it is therefore a com- 

 fortable and lucrative place, but the duties at- 

 tending it are heavy, require considerable cou- 

 rage, and great bodily strength and activity. 

 Some of the owners live upon their estates ; but 

 the major part of those through which I passed, 

 were possessed by men of large property, who 

 resided in the towns upon the coast, or who 

 were at the same time sugar-planters. 



The interior of Pernambuco, Rio Grande, 

 Paraiba, and Seara, contain^, properly speaking, 

 no wild cattle. * Twice every year the herds- 

 men from several estates assemble for the pur- 

 pose of collecting the cattle. The cows are 

 driven from all quarters into the area in front of 

 the house, and here, surrounded by several 

 horsemen, are put into spacious pens. This 

 being done, the men dismount, and now their 

 object is, if any of the cows are inclined to be 

 unruly, which is often the case, to noose them 

 by the horns so as to secure them ; or another 

 mode is adopted, which is by noosing one of the 



* Dr. Manoel Arruda da Camara says, that before the 

 dreadful drought of 1793, it was considered to be one of 

 the duties of the herdsmen to destroy the wild rattle, that 

 that which was already halt tamed might not be induced to 

 mix with it, and by this means become wild ; and he adds, 

 this is still the case in the Sertoens of Piauh.i. He published 

 his pamphlets in 1810. 



