230 



in relation to the otliers, for I have seen some of 

 them which weighed near two thousand pounds. 



There are some landholders in Chili, whose farms 

 are sufficient to keep twelve thousand head of cattle. 

 At the end of each winter they usually select a thou- 

 sand head, either cows or oxen, in order to fat them ; 

 for this purpose, they drive them to the richest pas- 

 tures, where they usually keep them till about 

 Christmas, when they kill them. This slaughter, 

 which is always a great festival for the peasants, is 

 expected with the utmost impatience, and they con- 

 duct it as follows. The herdsmen drive twenty or 

 thirty of these fat cattle into an enclosure made with 

 stakes, which is always erected upon a plain ; the 

 peasants, well mounted, surround the enclosure, 

 and when thay have taken their stations, one of the 

 cattle is let out. As soon as the beast finds himself 

 at liberty he takes flight, and all the company pursue 

 him, each endeavouring adroitly to hamstring him 

 with a sharp iron shaped like a crescent attached to 

 the end of a lance. Whenever a beast falls, the 

 butchers immediately dispatch him, by thrusting a 

 kind of long knife into the nape of his neck. When 

 all the beasts are killed, they are dragged to one 

 spot, where they are flayed, and the tallow separated 

 from the beef. This last they usually cut up into 

 long narrow strips, salt it a little, and dry it in the 

 sun. A very considerable commerce is carried on 

 in this beef, especially with Peru and the mines. It 

 keeps very well, and, as it is not strongly salted, 

 is preferred to the salt provisions received from 

 Holland and England. Tlxe tallow is mostly ex- 



