The horses in this country are very spirited, and perform almost incredible labor. They seldom work longer than a week at a time, being then turned out to pasture for months together. Their sole food is grass, and the treatment they endure from their masters is most harsh and unfeeling. They are frequently galloped until their generous fire is spent, and they drop through exhaustion and fatigue. The make of the bridle is alone sufficient to torture the animal, being of the heavy Spanish fashion. They are never shod. The girths of the saddles are of a curious construction; they are generally formed of shreds of green hide, or of the sinew of the neck; the middle part is twenty inches broad, and each end is terminated by an iron ring. One of these ends is made fast to the saddle by its ring; to the other side of the saddle is attached a third ring and a pliable strap, which, being passed through it and the girth-ring three or four times, affords the rider great purchase, and enables him to gird the saddle very tight, which is thus kept so firm in its place that a crupper is unnecessary, and indeed is never used.
Trained horses sell here at from five to seven dollars each; horned cattle, in good condition, by the herd of a thousand, at two dollars a head; mares at three rials (1s. 6d. sterling) each. Sheep are very scarce and are never eaten; they are kept by some families merely for the sake of their wool, which is made into flocks for bedding. It is worthy of remark, that, in the remote parts of the interior, where no settlements have been made, the cattle are found of a dark brown color, except on a small part of the belly, which is white, but when they become domesticated, they produce breeds of a lighter color, with hides beautifully spotted and variegated. The fine herds bred in many parts of this district, have often tempted the Portugueze to make predatory incursions; and the country being accessible by fine open passes to the frontier, as well as to the north side of the Plata, these violations of territory have been carried on to a very serious extent. So frequent were they at one period, that it became necessary to appoint a military force to parade the boundaries and to defend the Spanish settlements against these inroads.
PEON CATCHING CATTLE.
PLOUGHING FOR WHEAT.————OSTRICH NEST.
In taking a general view of the country, a stranger cannot but observe, with regret, that while nature has been profuse in her blessings, the inhabitants have been neglectful in the improvement of them. Here is, for instance, abundance of excellent clay and plenty of wood on the margin of the rivers, yet it is rare to meet with an inclosure, even for a kitchen garden, much more so for a corn-field. They generally choose their grounds for tillage by the banks of a rivulet, so as to have one side or sometimes two sides bounded by it; the remainder is fenced in the most clumsy and bungling manner imaginable. Ploughing is performed by the help of two oxen yoked to a crooked piece of wood, about four inches in diameter, and pointed at the end. After the ground has been rooted up, the wheat is sown, without any previous attempt to clear it from noxious seeds. While it grows up, it is never weeded; so that wild oats, poppies, and other pernicious herbs, thriving among it in wild luxuriance, obstruct the sun’s rays and hinder it from ripening kindly. Indian corn, beans, melons, &c. are all treated in a similar way. The wheat, when ripe, is cut down with sickles, and gathered into heads or sheaves. A circular pen of from forty to sixty yards in diameter is then formed with rails and hides; in the centre of this enclosure is placed a quantity of about one hundred or two hundred quarters of wheat in the straw. The pile is so formed as to have the ears on the outside as much as possible. A small quantity is pulled down towards the circumference of the circle, and a herd of about twenty mares is driven in, which, being untamed, are easily frightened and made to gallop round. At this pace they are kept by means of whips for four or five hours, until the corn is trod out of the ears, and the straw is completely reduced. Another parcel of the sheaves is then pulled down, and a fresh herd of mares is let in, and this operation is repeated until the whole heap is reduced, and the straw is broken as small as chaff. In this state it is left until it blows a brisk gale; and then the winnowing is performed by emptying baskets of the mixed grain and chaff at an elevation of eight feet from the ground. While the chaff is borne away by the current of air, the grain falls, and at the close of the operation, is sewed up in green hides. In this state it is sent to Monte Video, where it is ground for consumption, or exported. It is obvious, that by the above mode of separating the grain, a considerable quantity must be lost by abrasion, and by mixture with a large portion of earth which cannot be blown away by the wind.
The climate and soil are equally favorable for the growth of grapes, apples, peaches, and in short every species of fruit belonging to the temperate zone, but these are known here only as rarities. That inestimable root, the potatoe, would thrive abundantly, if once introduced; but, though much has been said in recommendation of it, the people remain totally averse to this or any other proposal for improving their means of subsistence, and seem to wish for nothing beyond the bare necessaries of life. Indeed the state of society among them weakens those ties which naturally attach men to the soil on which they are accustomed to subsist. The Peons, brought from Paraguay in their infancy, grow up to the age of manhood in a state of servitude, uncheered by domestic comfort; at that period they generally wander, in search of employment, toward the coast, where money is in greater plenty. There is no specie in circulation in the interior; their wages are paid monthly in notes on Monte Video. The men, for the most part, are an honest and harmless race, though quite as liable, from the circumstances of their condition, to acquire habits of gambling[6], as the higher classes of the people, numbers of whom fall victims to that seductive vice. The various evils hence resulting are multiplied by the lax administration of the laws; even in case of murder the criminal has little to fear if he can escape to a distance of twenty or thirty leagues; he there lives in obscurity, probably for the remainder of his life, without ever being brought to justice. I know not whether this want of vigilance in the magistracy be not a temptation for the numerous refugees who seek shelter here, such as European Spaniards, who have deserted from the service or have been banished for their crimes. These wretches, loaded with guilt, flee into the interior, where they seldom fail to find some one or other of their countrymen who is willing to give them employment, though frequently at the peril of his life. By the corrupt example of these refugees, the innocent Creole is soon initiated in vice, and becomes a prey to all those violent passions which are engendered and fostered by habitual idleness.