ISLAND OF MARAJO. 



343 



river-hogs ; then the alligators ; and, finally, the horses. It attacks the 

 back and loins; so that the animal loses the use of his hind-legs. 

 Government sent a young man to France to study farriery, in hopes to 

 arrest the disease ; but the measure was productive of no good results. 

 The disease still continues ; and, ten years ago, appeared for the first 

 time in the island of Mexiana, not far from Marajo. Within the last 

 year, nearly all the horses on this island have died. I believe it has 

 never attacked the horned cattle. 



Beeves are brought from Marajo to Para in small vessels, fitted for 

 the purpose. They are frequently a week on the passage ; and all this 

 time they are on very short allowance of food and water ; so that, when 

 they arrive, they may almost be seen through. 



The butchering and selling are all done under municipal direction ; 

 and the price of beef is regulated by law. This is about five and a half 

 cents the pound. Gentlemen maintain horses and milch cows in Para, 

 or its neighborhood. These are fed generally on American hay. Some 

 small quantity of grass is to be had from the roginhas, or small farms, 

 in the environs of the city ; and a tolerably good food for cattle is had 

 from a fine flour, found between the chaff and grain of rice. This is 

 called muinha, (quim, in Maranham^) and is very extensively used, 

 mixed with the chaff. 



The island of Marajo is very much cut up with creeks, which, in the 

 rainy season, overflow the low land, and form marshes, which are the 

 graves of a great number of cattle. The cattle, at this season, are also 

 crowded together on the knolls of land that &re above the waters in the 

 inundation, and many of them fall a prey to the ounees, which abound 

 on the island. These creeks are also filled with alligators. Mr. Smith, 

 former consul at Para, told me that he had seen the carcass of one there 

 which was thirty feet long. 



I saw a number of curious and beautiful animals in Para. Mr. 

 Norris had some electric eels, and a pair of large and beautiful 

 anacondas. I had never heard a serpent hiss before I heard these, and 

 the sound filled me with disgust and dread. The noise was very like 

 the letting off of steam at a distance. The extreme quickness and 

 violence with which they darted from their coil (lacerating their mouths 

 against the wire-work of the cage) was sufficiently trying to a nervous 

 man; and few could help starting back when it occurred. These 

 animals measured about eighteen feet in length, and the skin, which 

 they shed nearly every month, measured eighteen inches in circum- 

 ference. They seldom ate ; a chicken or a rat was given to them when 

 it was convenient. They killed their food by crushing it between their 



