CATTLE BRANDING
THEY reached the western corral about ten o'clock, and found the
branding already under way. Several dozen _peon gauchos_ had assembled
and they had driven the horses to be branded into an enclosure.
"See, Niño, these are all young animals; they have never had the iron on
them."
"Why do you brand them, Uncle Juan? Your _estancia_ is so large surely
they could not stray on to a neighbour's ranch; and then the _gauchos_
watch them carefully?"
"Yes, but there are so many thousands that, despite the best of care,
our horses stray away occasionally. Before every yearly round-up, we
send _peons_ to all the neighbouring ranches to gather in the strayed
ones; and if our brand is on them there is never any question as to
their owner. I am gradually having the outskirts of the _estancia_
enclosed in barbed wire fencing, but it is so many leagues around that
it is no easy matter. But look, see how they catch them!"
They were using the _bolas_, and although Francisco had often seen them
in the shop windows, he had never seen them in use. They are an
aboriginal device for lassoing cattle and horses. They consist each of
three stone balls covered with leather and all attached to long thongs,
two of which are longer than the third. The ends of these thongs are
attached together and when the _gaucho_ uses them he raises his hand
holding these ends above his head and whirls them around and around to
gather momentum, then opening his hand the weapon flies away to coil
itself about the feet of the animal that he wishes to lasso. These
_gauchos_ are so skilful in the use of the _bolas_ that their aim is
unerring, and although it sometimes bruises the captive's legs, it is a
most convenient method for catching a fleet-footed horse or cow.
[Illustration: "BLAZED THE LINES OF THE TRES ARROYAS ON ITS HIP"]
When the _gaucho_ in the enclosure had caught a horse by this means, he
immediately pulled it to the ground. A _peon_ sat on its neck while
another held it by a rope around its fore-legs, and a third blazed the
lines of the Tres Arroyas brand on its hip. The mark was in the shape of
a horseshoe, inside of which was a cross; and at least ten of these
groups were busy all of the time, burning it on the young animals.
"What do you raise these wild horses for, Uncle Juan?" inquired
Francisco, who had not missed one single detail of the performance.
"They are not fine horses like Barboza here," and he patted his steed's
neck affectionately.
"No, they are not, by any means. These wild horses are raised for their
hides mainly, although very little of them goes to waste when they are
skinned. Look over yonder, near that cluster of mud huts, where the
hides are drying in the air and sun."
Francisco's eyes followed the end of the silver riding whip that his
uncle used to point with, and saw tier after tier of poles, from which
were stretched horsehides to stakes in the ground below.
Turning to Don Carlos, the _mayor domo_, who was near-by, the Colonel
inquired the worth of the horses being branded.
"Not less than ten or twelve dollars each," answered the superintendent.
"These are very good ones. Does the Señor care to have his breakfast
now?"
For some time, Francisco had been feeling pangs of hunger. His hurried
_café_ had not been sufficient nourishment for the long hot ride, and
now his hunger was aroused by odours that came to his nostrils like
pleasant messengers; yet, he could not see anything cooking.
"Uncle, shall we eat out here with the _gauchos_?" he asked, wild-eyed.
"Very near them anyhow, but not exactly _with_ them. Manuel came ahead
of us to prepare our _almuerzo_, which is in process of cooking over
yonder behind that clump of willows. Before we eat you shall see the
_gauchos_ eat, but I warn you it is not a prepossessing sight.
"Here, Don Carlos, have the men go to their breakfast now, the lad wants
to see their table manners."
Don Carlos rode into the corral, spoke a few words and the branding
ceased. Each man mounted his own pony, for an Argentine cowboy never
walks, be his journey ever so short. With cheers and shouts they
galloped toward the mud huts near-by.
Francisco and the Colonel followed at a more dignified pace. They found
the men gathered about in groups, squatting on the ground or sitting on
ox skulls.
The beef had been quartered and roasted on a spit over a charcoal fire,
outside one of the huts. Each man, without ceremony, had "fallen to" and
helped himself, by cutting great chunks of the meat from the large piece
on the fire.
Holding one end with his teeth and the other with his hand, each man
would sever the bite about two inches from his mouth with one of his
silver-handled belt knives.
"You see how superfluous are knives, forks and plates," said the Colonel
in an undertone to Francisco as they watched this primitive process.
"And now for our own breakfast. I am as hollow as is the wild pumpkin
at the end of summer," and he gave a sharp blow to his horse, another to
Barboza, and they were off towards their own waiting meal in the shadow
of the willows.
Manuel had killed a small kid soon after reaching the corral, and had
roasted it on a spit in its skin over a fire of dry thistles and
charcoal. He was basting it with salt water, which he had brought in a
bottle. In the coals below were sweet potatoes roasting in their
jackets. So tempting were the combined odours of lamb and sweet potatoes
that Francisco ran to the little stream to wash himself, in order that
he might begin to appease his appetite at once.
"I _never_ was so hungry," said he, as he took the tin plate offered him
by Manuel. "I think I could eat with my hands like the cowboys! Do they
ever eat anything but meat?"
"Seldom. They care but little for vegetables; not enough to take the
trouble of raising a few. Meat and _galletas_, the hard biscuit of the
Pampas, often three or four months old, is all they have besides their
_máte_, that they _must_ have always.
"Que esperanza! lad, this lamb is good! It takes me back to other days.
Many times on our expeditions into the provinces have I eaten thus."
"Tell me, do tell me of one while we eat and rest," coaxed Francisco.
"There were many, lad," said the Colonel, as he passed his plate back to
Manuel for another piece of the smoking, savoury lamb. "I've never told
you of the expedition of General Roca into Patagonia. I was commanding a
regiment at that time, one of the regiments that became famous because
of that remarkable undertaking.
"Patagonia is all of the southern-most part of this continent lying
between the Rio[20] Negro and the Straits of Magellan, excepting the
narrow strip between the Andes and the Pacific Ocean, which belongs to
Chile. This country is not the barren, unproductive country now that it
was before our expedition carried civilization to its wild wastes and
reclaimed those vast prairies from the Indians."
"But, Uncle Juan, what right had Argentina to take the land from the
Indians of Patagonia? They had lived there for centuries and it was
theirs."
"It is a long story, Niño, and I shall give you only the bare outline.
You see, Patagonia is a series of vast terraces from the Atlantic Ocean
to the foot of the Andes. On these well watered steppes, Patagonian
Indians, mainly the Chennas, raised their cattle, allowing them to rove
at will. But the winters there are most severe, especially when a
_pampero_ blows; so, during the winter months, they drove their immense
droves of cattle to the northward into the foothills of the Andes, where
it was warmer. During these winter sojourns close to the frontier of our
Republic, they lived by murdering and stealing from our settlements, and
the development of our lands was being retarded because these pioneers
were obliged to flee to the cities and leave their fields of grain and
maize, their vineyards and their cattle to the mercy of the marauders.
"Gradually the outposts of our civilization were creeping closer to
Buenos Aires, instead of extending and growing as they should. Do you
now see why we were justified in fighting them?"
"Yes, but I didn't know they had made any trouble. I supposed they were
peaceful."
"Far from it. At last when Don Nicolas Avellaneda became President, he
sent General Roca, who was my general, and the Minister of War, into
Patagonia to exterminate these Chennas.
"It was not an easy task, for these Indians are a fierce race, giants in
size and strength. Do you know how they came by their name,
Patagonians?"
"I have never heard, it must have something to do with their feet as
'patagon' means 'large foot.'"
"That's it exactly. Magellan, the discoverer, saw their footprints in
the sand and because of their magnitude, he believed them to be giants,
and called them that before he had ever seen them.
"Well, General Roca never knew discouragement, and he set about their
defeat by digging great trenches, twenty feet deep and twenty feet wide,
while the Indians were up in the mountains with their herds of cattle.
"These trenches he covered with boughs, over which earth was scattered,
and when all was ready he sent us back to drive the Chennas toward the
ditches.
"It was a terrible price to pay for their cruelty, and I shudder now as
I recall that awful day; but nearly all civilization is bought with
blood, and it certainly ran in torrents then. The Indians, unsuspecting,
fell headlong, thousands of them, into the trenches, and the few that
were unhurt by the fall or by being crushed in the trenches were made
prisoners and distributed among the victorious regiments as servants or
soldiers. The women and children were captured and sent to the cities to
work.
"Ah! But those ditches! The birds, foxes, and armadillos must have grown
fat on the thousands of bodies we left on that plain."
Francisco begged for more, his eyes were ablaze and his cheeks flushed,
but the Colonel said:
"No more of fighting, anyhow; but come here by the stream, now that we
have finished our meal, and I will tell you of some of the animals I saw
in Patagonia."
"Did you ever chase ostriches?" eagerly inquired the boy.
"Yes, yes, several times and it is great sport; and once, for three
days, I had only ostrich eggs to eat. You see, we were digging those
same trenches and could not spare many of the men for hunting. I was ill
and could not eat the army rations, so José brought me ostrich eggs and
cooked them as the Indians do--in the red-hot coals."
"And was José with you on that expedition?" exclaimed Francisco.
"Yes, through all my campaigns he has been my body servant. It was José
who told us how the Indians catch ostriches; he had heard it when a boy
among his tribe of Araucanians."
Francisco clapped his hands in anticipation.
"A circle of fire around a great area was built and the huntsmen
remained within this circle. The ostriches and guanacos that were thus
imprisoned in the circle of fire were easy prey for they fear fire and
ran almost into our arms. Why, what's the matter, Niño?"
The interest had died out of Francisco's eyes and he sat with his hands
clasped over his knees.
"Well, Uncle Juan, I'll tell you. I'm disappointed!"
"Disappointed! How?"
"Uncle Juan, I don't think that's fair play or good sport."
"_Que esperanza!_" exclaimed his uncle, secretly proud of the boy's
loyalty to his conviction, but determined to draw him out on the
subject.
"And who are you that you may sit in judgment on generals and captains?"
"Oh! I don't think one's rank has anything to do with one's opinions.
Uncle, if a _peon_ thinks a thing is not right he must not do that even
though the President, himself, commands him; and I don't think hunting
animals in that fashion is fair. The little English boy I play with at
school is always saying that we Spaniards are not--well, he calls it
'sporty.' That's their English word for it. He says that the Englishmen
are the truest sports on earth and that they would never hunt as we do."
"To a certain extent he is right, Francisco. We don't care for the
excitement of the chase merely for the excitement as they do; we are
less active in our temperament, and prefer to gain our ends with the
least expenditure of energy. I want you, above all things, my lad, to be
broad-minded, and able to see your own shortcomings, so think this
matter out and if you are convinced that we are not right as a people,
in our attitude towards sports, or anything else for that matter,
formulate your own opinions and then stick to them.
"It is through such men that all nations grow; and the men that are able
to see their national deficiencies are the great men, the reformers,
and the leaders.
"But in regard to the ostriches. How would you catch them if you had the
opportunity?"
"I should do it as the English lad tells me he saw them do it in Chubut
Territory; that's part of Patagonia, isn't it, Uncle?"
The Colonel nodded, smoking industriously.
"Well, he says the real way to catch ostriches is with the _bolas_. He
saw his father chase them there and he says they hunt them in an open
plain, not in a circle of fire. They give the birds an equal chance with
them for their lives, and if the ostrich can't outrun them, then, when
they are within throwing distance, they whirl the _bolas_ around their
legs and trip them. He says it is fun to see an ostrich run; it
stretches out its long neck and with its awkward long legs kicks up a
great cloud of dust behind it. He also told me about seeing guanacos
and pumas. Did you ever hunt them, Uncle?"
"Yes, but guanacos are hard to shoot because of their keen sense of
smell, they can scent a human being over a mile away; but their flesh is
delicious, tasting much like venison.
"Have you ever seen the puma skin in the library of my city house?"
"Yes, I have often seen it and one day I measured it; it was over two
metros in length. Are those guanaco skins in the dining-room at the
_estancia_--the tawny yellow ones with white spots and such deep soft
fur?"
"Yes, and the ostrich robe that your aunt uses in her carriage is made
of the breasts of young ostriches; it is as soft as down and marked
brown and white. The Patagonian Indian women often wear them for capes,
although they are very expensive.
"You know, the ostriches we have here are not the kind that produce the
long plumes worn in ladies' hats; these are called the 'rhea' and are
an allied species. Speaking of skins, Francisco, I will tell you of one
that will interest you. It is a vicuña, and one of the finest I have
ever seen. It was presented to your great-grandfather, General Lacevera,
by a chief of the Incas, as a vicuña robe is worn only by one of royal
blood among the Indians. It saw service as your great-grandfather's
_poncho_ during his remarkable career, and is now over one hundred years
old, yet it is as soft as velvet. Being one of our family heirlooms, it
shall be yours, as I have no son."
"That pleases me and I shall be very proud of it."
"As you well may be. Whatever fortunes come to you in life, Niño,
remember you are a Lacevera."
Sleep was sweet that night, and Francisco's head was scarcely on his
pillow when guanacos, vicuñas and even _gauchos_ were forgotten in
dreamless slumber.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 20: River.]