JS21.] News from Parnassus.. .No. mi. 33 
of from one to three hundred. They 
are wild and dangerous, except to a 
man on horseback, and are driven by 
means of a few tame oxen in front. 
About six hundred oxen are killed 
daily for the use of the city. They are 
killed on large open grounds, are never 
knocked down, but drawn to the carts, 
and thrown down with the laso by 
peons , or labourers on horseback, and 
their throats instantly cut. Immense 
quantities of hogs are fed by picking 
the flesh off the heads, necks, feet, &c. 
and the offal. The carcase of an ex¬ 
cellent ox may be bought in the mar¬ 
ket at about five dollars. Sheep are 
numerous, but the mutton is ordinary, 
and the fleece not of the finest quality. 
The carcase is sold at from one to two 
rials, that is 7£d. and Is. 3d. sterling ; 
it commonly weighs about twenty-six 
pounds. 
No veal is eaten, except occasionally 
a cow with calf is killed, when the 
foetus, disgusting as it may appear, is 
sold as a delicacy. It is called hijo de 
vaca or nonato , that is, unborn. 
Buenos Ayres probably contains 
more dogs than any other place on 
earth ; it costs nothing to keep them, 
as they feed on the meat that is con¬ 
tinually thrown into the streets. They 
are of all kinds and sizes. There is a 
breed which has no hair, nor any thing 
upon their skin, which is black. In 
the country, at a distance from the 
town, are herds of wild dogs, which 
are dangerous to one who travels alone. 
Of wild animals, tigers are found 
within a few leagues of the town, lions 
at a considerable distance. In the small 
coppices are found deer, and a kind of 
wild hog, which has on its back a bag 
containing a particular fluid, this being 
taken out they are excellent eating. A 
kind of guinea-pig, the colour of a rat, 
i* common, as is the biscaccia , an her¬ 
bivorous animal of the rabbit kind. 
Hares are not found near the town, 
but in Patagonia are extremely abun¬ 
dant. Three species of the armadillo 
are found, the mataco , mulita , and 
peludo ; the tw T o latter abound, and are 
brought to market for sale, during the 
\v inter. In taste they resemble a suck¬ 
ing-pig. There are foxes and weasels; 
a species of the latter called the zorillo , 
is remarkable for the offensive liquor 
it ejects on its pursuers, which is its 
only means of defence ; it has a beauti¬ 
ful black and white fur. I knew an 
Englishman who was in pursuit of one, 
Monthly Mag. No. 357. 
ana was putting his hat over it to stop 
it, when it threw on him a liquor of 
such an abominable smell as to render 
his clothes useless for the future. The 
nerves, however, of the Indians are 
not fine enough to be affected by this, 
as they catch the animal and wear its 
skin. 
Rats and mice are, from the quantity 
of beef which is thrown away, in im¬ 
mense abundance. Common poultry 
is not cheaper, nor more abundant 
than in England. 
(To be continued.) 
For the Monthly Magazine. 
NEWS FROM PARNASSUS. 
No. VIII. 
MR. LAMB’S CATULLUS, 
r jnilERE are few poets who have had 
Jl more translators and imitators 
than Catullus. The latter class, in¬ 
deed, who have borrowed his ideas both 
with and without acknowledgment, 
includes many of the first poets of our 
own and other countries, and are ex¬ 
tremely numerous. No complete trans¬ 
lation of his Avorks, however, has hi¬ 
therto been executed with such suc¬ 
cess in England, as to attract t hat share 
of public admiration, which the beauty 
and genius of the original,if transferred 
into our language, so well merit. A 
complete translation of the works of this 
poet into English, appeared, it is true, 
so lately as 1795, which, although it 
professed to give “ the whole of Catul¬ 
lus without reserve, and in some way 
to translate all his indecencies,” has 
never gained any considerable reputa¬ 
tion. The field, therefore, may be 
considered to have been open for higher 
attempts, and the poetical world would 
have had to express their gratitude to 
Mr. Lamb, if he had executed his la¬ 
bours, so as to have naturalised one of 
the liveliest and sweetest of the 
old Roman poets—a task, however, 
which Ave fear those who are capa¬ 
ble of appreciating the beauties of 
the original, will imagine he has failed 
to perform. 
It is, indeed, a very arduous attempt 
to transfer the grace and elegance of 
classical ideas, with any degree of suc¬ 
cess, into another language. Unfortu¬ 
nately, too, for Mr. Lamb, Catullus is 
a writer who has had the good fortune 
to attract the admiration of many of 
our first poets, who have occasionally 
employed all their skill in exquisite 
E imitations. 
