144 THE OX AND ITS KINDRED 
and a second in which the skin is absolutely bare ; 
but it is not stated whether the latter are wild or tame. 
The most remarkable of all South American cattle 
is, however, the so-called niatu or niata breed, which 
is stated by Darwin to have been in existence at 
least as early as the year 1760, when specimens were 
kept in the neighbourhood of Buenos Aires as 
curiosities. This breed must have originated subse- 
quently to 1552, when cattle were first introduced into 
this part of America ; and it is believed to have been 
developed by Indian tribes living to the south of the 
La Plata River. Darwin ^ described the breed as 
follows : " The forehead is very short and broad, 
with the nasal end of the skull, together with the 
whole plane of the upper molar teeth, curved up- 
wards. The lower jaw projects beyond the upper, 
and has a corresponding upward curvature. The 
upper lip is much drawn back, the nostrils are seated 
high up and are widely open, the eyes project out- 
wards, and the horns are large. The neck is short, 
and in walking the head is carried low. The hind 
legs appear to be longer, compared with the front 
legs, than is usual. The exposed incisor teeth, the 
short head and upturned nostrils, give these cattle 
the most ludicrous, self-confident air of defiance." A 
bull of this breed I saw in La Plata in 1893 was 
black and white : its skull is now in the British 
Museum. 
European cattle were introduced by Columbus 
during his second voyage into the island of San 
Domingo,^ and in twenty-seven years their number 
had increased to 4000, while in 1587 it was estimated 
^ Animals and Plants under Domestication, vol. i. p. 93. 
^ Brehm's "Tierleben," Sdugetiere, vol. iii. p. 303, 1891. 
