280 



SLAUGHTEJl OF CATTLE. 



April 



lowing in impotent rage, and two cows were held tightly by 

 lassoes — one being caught by Simon alone, and the other by 

 his two companions. One of the men jumped off, and fastened 

 his cow^s legs together so securely, that she could only limp 

 along a few inches at a time ; his horse meanwhile keeping the 

 second lasso tight, as effectually as if his master had been on 

 his back. Both lassoes were then shaken off, and one thrown 

 over Simon'^s cow, which had been trying in all kinds of ways 

 to escape from or gore her active enemy, who — go which way 

 she would — always kept the lasso tight ; and often, by check- 

 ing her suddenly, half overset and thoroughly frightened her. 

 Leaving his horse as soon as the cow was secure, Simon ham- 

 strung the bulls, and left them where they fell, roaring with 

 pain and rage. He then remounted, and all four cantered 

 back towards the ' estancia** (or farm), where the tame cattle 

 are kept. Simon was asked to kill the poor brutes before he 

 left them; but he shook his head, with a sneer, and remarked, that 

 their hides would come off easier next day ! At daybreak, the 

 following morning, half-a-dozen tame cattle were driven out to 

 the place of slaughter, and with them the frightened and 

 already half-tamed cows (which had been left tied in a place 

 where they had nothing to eat), were easily driven in to the 

 farm. The two bulls were at last killed, skinned, cut up, and 

 the best parts of their carcases carried to the settlement. The 

 hides of those two animals weighed seventy-three and eighty-one 

 pounds. 



Speaking to Simon myself one day about the indiscriminate 

 slaughter of cattle which I had heard took place occasionally, 

 he told me that the gauchos used sometimes to kill them for 

 their tongues only, and, perhaps, a steak or two, for ' asado^ 

 (meat roasted on a stick), without taking the trouble to skin 

 them; being too great epicures in their way to feast twice 

 upon the same animal. 



In 1834, w^hile surveying the sea-coast of these islands, in 

 the Adventure, Lieutenant Wickham, Mr. Low, and Mr. 

 Johnson had many a bull hunt; but though there was as 

 much or more risk in their encounters, being on foot, with 



