CHAPTER VIII
CATTLE BRANDING
THEY reached the western corral about ten o'clock, and found thebranding already under way. Several dozen _peon gauchos_ had assembledand they had driven the horses to be branded into an enclosure.
"See, Nino, these are all young animals; they have never had the iron onthem."
"Why do you brand them, Uncle Juan? Your _estancia_ is so large surelythey 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, wesend _peons_ to all the neighbouring ranches to gather in the strayedones; and if our brand is on them there is never any question as totheir owner. I am gradually having the outskirts of the _estancia_enclosed in barbed wire fencing, but it is so many leagues around thatit is no easy matter. But look, see how they catch them!"
They were using the _bolas_, and although Francisco had often seen themin the shop windows, he had never seen them in use. They are anaboriginal device for lassoing cattle and horses. They consist each ofthree stone balls covered with leather and all attached to long thongs,two of which are longer than the third. The ends of these thongs areattached together and when the _gaucho_ uses them he raises his handholding these ends above his head and whirls them around and around togather momentum, then opening his hand the weapon flies away to coilitself 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 isunerring, and although it sometimes bruises the captive's legs, it is amost convenient method for catching a fleet-footed horse or cow.
"BLAZED THE LINES OF THE TRES ARROYAS ON ITS HIP"]
When the _gaucho_ in the enclosure had caught a horse by this means, heimmediately pulled it to the ground. A _peon_ sat on its neck whileanother held it by a rope around its fore-legs, and a third blazed thelines of the Tres Arroyas brand on its hip. The mark was in the shape ofa horseshoe, inside of which was a cross; and at least ten of thesegroups were busy all of the time, burning it on the young animals.
"What do you raise these wild horses for, Uncle Juan?" inquiredFrancisco, who had not missed one single detail of the performance."They are not fine horses like Barboza here," and he patted his steed'sneck affectionately.
"No, they are not, by any means. These wild horses are raised for theirhides mainly, although very little of them goes to waste when they areskinned. Look over yonder, near that cluster of mud huts, where thehides are drying in the air and sun."
Francisco's eyes followed the end of the silver riding whip that hisuncle used to point with, and saw tier after tier of poles, from whichwere stretched horsehides to stakes in the ground below.
Turning to Don Carlos, the _mayor domo_, who was near-by, the Colonelinquired 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 Senor care to have his breakfastnow?"
For some time, Francisco had been feeling pangs of hunger. His hurried_cafe_ had not been sufficient nourishment for the long hot ride, andnow his hunger was aroused by odours that came to his nostrils likepleasant 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 aheadof us to prepare our _almuerzo_, which is in process of cooking overyonder 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 wantsto see their table manners."
Don Carlos rode into the corral, spoke a few words and the brandingceased. Each man mounted his own pony, for an Argentine cowboy neverwalks, be his journey ever so short. With cheers and shouts theygalloped toward the mud huts near-by.
Francisco and the Colonel followed at a more dignified pace. They foundthe men gathered about in groups, squatting on the ground or sitting onox 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" andhelped himself, by cutting great chunks of the meat from the large pieceon the fire.
Holding one end with his teeth and the other with his hand, each manwould sever the bite about two inches from his mouth with one of hissilver-handled belt knives.
"You see how superfluous are knives, forks and plates," said the Colonelin an undertone to Francisco as they watched this primitive process.
"And now for our own breakfast. I am as hollow as is the wild pumpkinat the end of summer," and he gave a sharp blow to his horse, another toBarboza, and they were off towards their own waiting meal in the shadowof the willows.
Manuel had killed a small kid soon after reaching the corral, and hadroasted it on a spit in its skin over a fire of dry thistles andcharcoal. He was basting it with salt water, which he had brought in abottle. In the coals below were sweet potatoes roasting in theirjackets. So tempting were the combined odours of lamb and sweet potatoesthat Francisco ran to the little stream to wash himself, in order thathe might begin to appease his appetite at once.
"I _never_ was so hungry," said he, as he took the tin plate offered himby Manuel. "I think I could eat with my hands like the cowboys! Do theyever eat anything but meat?"
"Seldom. They care but little for vegetables; not enough to take thetrouble of raising a few. Meat and _galletas_, the hard biscuit of thePampas, often three or four months old, is all they have besides their_mate_, 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 toManuel for another piece of the smoking, savoury lamb. "I've never toldyou of the expedition of General Roca into Patagonia. I was commanding aregiment at that time, one of the regiments that became famous becauseof that remarkable undertaking.
"Patagonia is all of the southern-most part of this continent lyingbetween the Rio[20] Negro and the Straits of Magellan, excepting thenarrow strip between the Andes and the Pacific Ocean, which belongs toChile. This country is not the barren, unproductive country now that itwas before our expedition carried civilization to its wild wastes andreclaimed those vast prairies from the Indians."
"But, Uncle Juan, what right had Argentina to take the land from theIndians of Patagonia? They had lived there for centuries and it wastheirs."
"It is a long story, Nino, and I shall give you only the bare outline.You see, Patagonia is a series of vast terraces from the Atlantic Oceanto the foot of the Andes. On these well watered steppes, PatagonianIndians, mainly the Chennas, raised their cattle, allowing them to roveat will. But the winters there are most severe, especially when a_pampero_ blows; so, during the winter months, they drove their immensedroves of cattle to the northward into the foothills of the Andes, whereit was warmer. During these winter sojourns close to the frontier of ourRepublic, they lived by murdering and stealing from our settlements, andthe development of our lands was being retarded because these pioneerswere obliged to flee to the cities and leave their fields of grain andmaize, their vineyards and their cattle to the mercy of the marauders.
"Gradually the outposts of our civilization were creeping closer toBuenos Aires, instead of extending and growing as they should. Do younow see why we were justified in fighting them?"
"Yes, but I didn't know they had made any trouble. I supposed they werepeaceful."
"Far from it. At last when Don Nicolas Avellaneda became President, hesent General Roca, who was my general, and the Minister of War, intoPatagonia to exterminate these Chennas.
"It was not an easy task, for these Indians are a fierce race,
giants insize 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 inthe 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 theirdefeat 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 theditches.
"It was a terrible price to pay for their cruelty, and I shudder now asI recall that awful day; but nearly all civilization is bought withblood, and it certainly ran in torrents then. The Indians, unsuspecting,fell headlong, thousands of them, into the trenches, and the few thatwere unhurt by the fall or by being crushed in the trenches were madeprisoners and distributed among the victorious regiments as servants orsoldiers. The women and children were captured and sent to the cities towork.
"Ah! But those ditches! The birds, foxes, and armadillos must have grownfat 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 wehave finished our meal, and I will tell you of some of the animals I sawin Patagonia."
"Did you ever chase ostriches?" eagerly inquired the boy.
"Yes, yes, several times and it is great sport; and once, for threedays, I had only ostrich eggs to eat. You see, we were digging thosesame trenches and could not spare many of the men for hunting. I was illand could not eat the army rations, so Jose brought me ostrich eggs andcooked them as the Indians do--in the red-hot coals."
"And was Jose with you on that expedition?" exclaimed Francisco.
"Yes, through all my campaigns he has been my body servant. It was Josewho told us how the Indians catch ostriches; he had heard it when a boyamong his tribe of Araucanians."
Francisco clapped his hands in anticipation.
"A circle of fire around a great area was built and the huntsmenremained within this circle. The ostriches and guanacos that were thusimprisoned in the circle of fire were easy prey for they fear fire andran almost into our arms. Why, what's the matter, Nino?"
The interest had died out of Francisco's eyes and he sat with his handsclasped 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'sloyalty to his conviction, but determined to draw him out on thesubject.
"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 eventhough the President, himself, commands him; and I don't think huntinganimals in that fashion is fair. The little English boy I play with atschool is always saying that we Spaniards are not--well, he calls it'sporty.' That's their English word for it. He says that the Englishmenare 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 theexcitement of the chase merely for the excitement as they do; we areless active in our temperament, and prefer to gain our ends with theleast expenditure of energy. I want you, above all things, my lad, to bebroad-minded, and able to see your own shortcomings, so think thismatter 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 ableto 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 theopportunity?"
"I should do it as the English lad tells me he saw them do it in ChubutTerritory; 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_. Hesaw his father chase them there and he says they hunt them in an openplain, not in a circle of fire. They give the birds an equal chance withthem for their lives, and if the ostrich can't outrun them, then, whenthey are within throwing distance, they whirl the _bolas_ around theirlegs and trip them. He says it is fun to see an ostrich run; itstretches out its long neck and with its awkward long legs kicks up agreat cloud of dust behind it. He also told me about seeing guanacosand pumas. Did you ever hunt them, Uncle?"
"Yes, but guanacos are hard to shoot because of their keen sense ofsmell, they can scent a human being over a mile away; but their flesh isdelicious, 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 twometros in length. Are those guanaco skins in the dining-room at the_estancia_--the tawny yellow ones with white spots and such deep softfur?"
"Yes, and the ostrich robe that your aunt uses in her carriage is madeof the breasts of young ostriches; it is as soft as down and markedbrown 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 thelong plumes worn in ladies' hats; these are called the 'rhea' and arean allied species. Speaking of skins, Francisco, I will tell you of onethat will interest you. It is a vicuna, and one of the finest I haveever seen. It was presented to your great-grandfather, General Lacevera,by a chief of the Incas, as a vicuna robe is worn only by one of royalblood among the Indians. It saw service as your great-grandfather's_poncho_ during his remarkable career, and is now over one hundred yearsold, yet it is as soft as velvet. Being one of our family heirlooms, itshall 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, Nino,remember you are a Lacevera."
Sleep was sweet that night, and Francisco's head was scarcely on hispillow when guanacos, vicunas and even _gauchos_ were forgotten indreamless slumber.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 20: River.]