NOTES ON BRAZIL. 



2S9 



each party are communicated ; and it is much if a foreigner does not 

 think the interview long. If parties join, who are going in the same 

 direction, particularly if they consist of young men, a scene of frolic 

 ensues. They act all the parts of mimic war of attack and defence, of 

 flight and pursuit ; commencing with the thongs attached to their 

 bridles, they soon take out their knives, and flourish them so earnestly 

 as apparently to threaten serious mischief, though none is done. Their 

 safety arises, no doubt, principally from their dexterous horsemanship, 

 and their imperturbable good-temper. The greater sedateness of elderly 

 people renders them more desirable companions over such dreary wastes. 

 The guides in general approve themselves trust-worthy men. A gentle- 

 man of my establishment, bringing from Porto Alegro a quantity of 

 gold, entrusted a wedge, worth about seven hundred pounds, to his 

 guide, to whom it seemed neither a temptation nor a burdensome 

 charge, for it was carelessly thrown about in his wallett, and delivered 

 in safety. 



The horses in this country are light and active, with a good portion 

 of blood ; but, ridden without shoes, their hoofs become broad and flat. 

 Many are kept on every farm for breeding and labour ; the latter are 

 generally allowed, when young, to pasture with a trained mare, often 

 attended by her sucking foal, and sometimes by progeny of different 

 ages. When they have continued long with their female companion, 

 they do not willingly leave her ; this attachment renders them peculiarly 

 useful in travelling. Some are reared for sale, whose value is commonly 

 about three pounds twelve shillings. I was offered one of them in Rio 

 Grande, with his bridle and saddle for a hundred dollars ; the stirrups 

 were of silver, the head-stall covered with plates, and the crupper orna- 

 mented with stars of the same metal ; the trappings must have been worth 

 more than ten times as much as the horse. 



Mules are by no means common, nor are they proper to pasture 

 among mares, on account of a singular quality often observed in them. 

 The female mule has a strange attachment to a foal, she caresses it, and 

 becomes so jealous that she will not suffer the mother to approach ; 



