THE RUMINANT ORDER. 
279 
We now come to the Ox proper. 
The male and female of this species are respectively the Bull 
and Cow. The Ox in this case, as understood by us, is a Bull 
deprived of the attributes of his sex in order to render him 
more docile, submissive, and easily fattened. The Bull is, 
therefore, exclusively an animal for reproduction. Its easily 
offended, wild, and even violent disposition prevents its being 
used like the Ox in agricultural labour ; and, on the other 
hand, its dry and sinewy flesh is inferior as food. Therefore 
only a sufficient number of Bulls are kept to maintain the 
species in the requisite number. When very young, most Bulls 
undergo the operation which transforms them into Oxen, and 
thus acquire a fitness to perform agricultural labour, and be 
improved as food for Man. The young males are called Steers, 
and the females Heifers. 
There is, at the mouth of the Rhone, stretching from the town 
of Arles to the Mediterranean, a vast extent of marshy land, 
intersected by woods. This tract has been formed by successive 
deposits of the river, and is called the Camargue. Large herds of 
cattle live in an almost wild state in these humid plains and 
solitary woods. The Bulls of the Camargue are all black, of a 
moderate size, with long tapering horns. Their wild nature, 
agility, and exceptional strength render them very dangerous. 
They are employed in the Bull-fights, or “courses,” of which 
the Provencals and inhabitants of Bas-Languedoc are so passion- 
ately fond. 
The herds of the Camargue are guarded by herdsmen called 
Gardians. These are armed with a trident, and mounted on small, 
spirited Horses (Camargue Horses), which, like the Oxen, graze at 
liberty in this delta. When about to be killed, the cattle are penned 
up, allowed a little rest, and better food, to improve their flesh. 
In South America, especially in the vast pampas of the basin of 
La Plata, immense herds of Wild Cattle are to be found, descended 
from animals introduced into those countries at the time of their 
appropriation by Europeans. At one time innumerable quantities 
of these were killed only for their hides, which were sent to all 
the markets of the world in the untanned state ; but at the pre- 
sent date the Buenos- Ayrians have learnt to manage the meat so 
as to forward it dry or pressed to a great distance. The flesh of 
