240 



CATTLE AND HORSES. 



CHAPTER X. 



Horned cattle and horses — "Peste" — Salt trade — Church service — Bull-fight? — 

 Mariano Cuyaba — Rules and regulations of the town — Laws and customs of 

 the Creoles — A walk through the plaza at midnight — Scenes on the road to the 

 town of Loreto — Annual deluge — The beasts, birds, and fishes — Loreto — 

 Inhabitants — Grove of tamarind trees — Winds of the Madeira Plate — A bird- 

 hunter — Trapiche — 1 black tiger burnt out — Departure in Brazilian boats — 

 Enter the Marnore river again — An Indian overboard. 



Horned cattle and horses are scattered over the plains of Mojos far 

 away from the settled parts, and are now roaming wild through the 

 country, so that it is impossible to estimate their numbers. A Creole 

 returned to Trinidad from Reyes reported many thousand cattle roaming 

 wild between the Mamore and Beni rivers. 



These cattle and horses are suffering under the effects of an epidemic, 

 which the Creoles call "peste" — plague. This disease is said to have 

 been brought from Brazil, where the cattle are affected in the same way. 

 The horse seems to suffer the most. Within the last few years nearly 

 all the horses in Mojos have been swept away by the "peste." 



The first symptoms are weakness in the limbs. The animal does' not 

 lose his appetite, but gradually falls away, until his strength is entirely 

 gone, when he lies down and eats the grass around him even to the 

 roots with a most ravenous hunger. The nearer death approaches the 

 greater his desire for food, when he ceases to be able to hold up his 

 head, and finally is lost. We have seen a fine saddle-horse in good 

 order kept clear of the peste by placing a cake of Potosi salt where he 

 might lick it when he chose. This noble animal seemed really to feed 

 upon the salt. His coat was sleek, and he held his head up above the 

 pampa horses, who are never supplied with this expensive article. 



The cattle all look miserably thin and stunted, as though not well fed, 

 yet the plains are covered with a fine growth of grass. This epidemic 

 commenced in 1846. There is notching the sweeping effect it has had 

 upon the cattle. As to the horses, we judge they have nearly all been 

 destroyed. We see them still dying about on the plain. Mules are 

 affected in the same way, though they linger longer than horses. Salt 

 dissolved in water will sometimes bring them to after they are unable 

 to stand on their legs. 



As we never heard the Gauchos of the pampas of Buenos Ayres 



