340 



go a loss of twelve per cent, in the tanning*. 

 The southern part of the savannahs, vulgarly 

 called ^Llanos de arriba, is very productive in 

 mules and oxen ; but the pasturage being in 

 general less good, these animals are obliged to 

 be sent to other plains to be fattened before they 

 are sold. The Llano de Monai, and all the 

 Llanos de abaxo, abound less in herds, but the 

 pastures are so fertile, that they furnish meat 

 of an excellent quality for provisioning the coast. 

 The mules, which are not fit for labour before 

 the fifth year, and then bear the name of mulas 

 de saca, are purchased on the spot at the price 

 of fourteen or eighteen piastres. The horses of 

 the Llanos, descending from the s fine Spanish 

 breed, are not very large ; they are generally of a 

 uniform colour, brown-bay, like most of the wild 

 animals. Suffering alternately from drought 

 and floods, tormented by the stings of insects 

 and the bite of the large bats, they lead a hard 

 and uneasy life. After having enjoyed for some 

 months the care of man, their good qualities 

 are developed, and become sensible. A wild 

 horse, in the Pampas of Buenos Ayres, is worth 

 from half to a whole piastre ; and in the Llanos 

 of Caraccas from two to three piastres ; but the 

 price of the horse augments, when he has been 

 broken in, and is fit for agricultural labour. 

 Here are no sheep ; we saw flocks only on the 

 table-land of Quito. 



