Travelling all night, and a ride of thirty miles in the fresh morning
air, have a tendency to produce a keen appetite; and the present
occasion proved no exception to that rule.
After breakfast I rested and wrote some letters, while the gentlemen
inspected the farm and stud. The proprietor of this estancia has the
best horses in this part of the country, and has taken great pains to
improve their breed, as well as that of the cattle and sheep, by
importing thorough-breds from England. Unlike the Arabs, neither
natives nor settlers here think of riding mares, and it is considered
quite a disgrace to do so. They are therefore either allowed to run
wild in troops, or are used to trample out corn or to make mud for
bricks. They are also frequently killed and boiled down, for the sake
of their hides and tallow, the value of which does not amount to more
than about 10_s_. per head. Large herds of them are met with at this
time of the year on the Pampas, attended by a few horses, and
accompanied by their foals.
The natives of these parts pass their lives in the saddle. Horses are
used for almost every conceivable employment, from hunting and fishing
to brick-making and butter-churning. Even the very beggars ride about
on horseback. I have seen a photograph of one, with a police
certificate of mendicancy hanging round his neck, taken from life for
Sir Woodbine Parish.
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