202 
ANIMALS. 
verdure for numerous herds. During the short season that these 
potreros are inundated, the cattle are driven to the more elevated 
savannas, remote from the river margins. The extensive table- 
lands in the central portions of the Isthmus, as well as the plains 
bordering the Pacific, also furnish abundance of excellent pastur- 
age. Indeed, the whole country seems peculiarly well adapted 
to the raising of horned cattle. With little care on the part of 
their- owners, they increase rapidly, grow to a large size, and 
have a remarkably sleek and well-favored appearance. Enjoy- 
ing a range of the finest pastures in the world, they are usually 
in good condition, and make fair beef. But they seldom, become 
very fat, especially on the Atlantic plains — a circumstance which 
may be reasonably attributed to the want of salt, and constant 
annoyance from the myriads of insects infesting the marsh and 
grazing lands. The inhabitants make very little use either of the 
flesh or the hides of their cattle ; and milk is a luxury seldom 
enjoyed. This is a trait of the Indian character, to have for- 
gotten, if it were ever known, the use of milk. 
On some of the estates it is not uncommon to find five, ten, 
or even twenty thousand head of cattle, many of which roam 
over the prairies in a wild state, and when required for beef, or 
any other purpose, are secured by means of the lasso. The dex- 
terity with which this instrument is used is truly astonishing — 
even women are familiar with the manner of throwing it, and 
children are early taught to lasso the chickens, dogs, and pigs, 
which, from their great numbers and perfect domestication, 
afford abundant sources for juvenile practice. 
In slaughtering, the inhabitants are characterized by acts of 
the utmost cruelty. Sometimes a poor beast is permitted to 
remain for a week tied to a tree, without water or food, and 
often in such a manner as to prevent a recumbent posture : if 
in this position the animal becomes troublesome, quiet is enforced 
by severing the ham-strings with a machete. Beef is cured by 
drying in the sun, being first cut into long, thin strips, which 
are rubbed with salt. This is called " carne seco." 
No attention is paid to the breeding of cattle, as little value 
is set upon them ; and the proprietor of the hacienda is often as 
poor amid his herds, as the peon whose life is spent in their care. 
