It frequently happens that the friction of a rough horsecloth, or the hardness or compression of the saddle galls the back of the horse; and if, after long fatigue, his horsecloth be taken off, whilst he is still smoking with sweat,it is swelled by the sudden admission of the cold air, or of rain, till the tumour by degrees grows into a wound. The ulcerated and bloody flesh is quickly infested by swarms of flies, the eggs and filth of which ingender white worms. Delay is dangerous; for the worms increase rapidly every hour, and creep to the interior parts of the animal. If you wish to save your horse, you must immediately dig the worms out of his flesh with a small stick, and stop up the cavities where those insects lay with chewed tobacco leaves, the bitterness of which kills the worms, drives away the flies which breed them, and prevents the progress of corruption. The scar must be anointed with tallow every day, that fresh hair may grow there. The Indians smear their horses' backs either with the rootguaycuru, well masticated with their teeth, or with melted tiger's fat, or with the shell of thearmadilloburnt to ashes; but these remedies seldom effect a complete cure. From a book of Father Martin Szentivan, a Hungarian, on the treatment of animals, I learnt a remedy much superior to any of those American ones, and which has been successfully adopted by many Paraguayrians. Salt, well ground, and mixed with vinegar and yolk of egg, is applied to the horse's back once a day, as it cleans away the blood, keeps off worms, and in a few daysremoves the swelling, and renews the skin and hair. The same author advises the application of a white onion, pretty well roasted. We ourselves have seen many horses preserved by both remedies. Certain large birds, of various colours, carnivorous, and of the vulture kind, may aptly be called horses' physicians; for they perch upon their ulcerated backs, and are deterred by no kicking from taking away the blood and the worms; though with their sharp beaks they very often enlarge the wound. Bats, also, greatly exceeding those of Europe in number and size, not only molest, but even injure the horses. Vast numbers of them fly up and down the plain. They sit upon the horse, and whilst they wound his back with their bills, create a gentle breeze by the continual motion of their wings, lulled by which the horse makes no resistance, and suffers his blood to be sucked by the bat. The wound that remains, unless it be sprinkled with hot ashes, soon swells, and by degrees becomes ulcerated, which clearly proves that bats are in some measure venomous. Showers continuing day and night, for many weeks, necessarily deluge the whole plain country with water, and the horses can find no dry land whereon to place their feet. Hence, from feeding so long, immersed in water, their hoofs are softened tosuch a degree, that being unable to stand on their feet, and to seek pasture, they perish, though perfectly healthy in other respects. Sometimes horses labour under strangury, or dysury. A Spaniard saddles a horse afflicted with such a disease, instead of physicking him, and spurs him to a full gallop, till he is covered with sweat. Nor is there any occasion to repeat the operation. A horse, which was in a dying condition a little before, soon recovered, for he inundated the plain. Sometimes horses are seized with convulsion of the nerves, or with rheumatism, so that they cannot stand on their legs; on such occasions the Spanish soldiers tie their feet with a rope, and lay them on the ground, then throw plenty of urine on their legs, and kick them several times with their heels; when untied they mount and compel them, however unwilling, to run. This violent, but speedy method of healing, I found, to my surprize, attended by the desired effect. As Paraguay swarms with horses, in as great number as insects, she cares very little about curing them when they are sick. In Europe, where horses are scarcer and more valuable, we cannot wonder at their having many physicians and many medicines. What if I should say that, in Paraguay, both are unnecessary? For there it is plain that horses are afflicted withless frequent and less heavy complaints; because they generally enjoy their full liberty, wander up and down the plains at will, breathe the pure air of Heaven, feed on the fresh grass, drink and bathe at pleasure in running streams, are never employed in bearing burdens and drawing carts, and are consequently more healthy and spirited than European horses, which, during the greatest part of their lives, are chained, like thieves, in dark stables, which resemble dungeons, are obliged to fill rather than refresh their stomachs, with hay dryer than a stone and straw harder than a board, taste oats seldomer and more sparingly than country people do cakes, and endure frequent and long hunger and thirst, sometimes through the dishonesty or laziness of servants, sometimes through the avarice of their masters, who are more anxious about employing than about feeding their beasts; not to mention the continual annoyance they undergo from the putting on and taking off of their iron shoes; and even the pain frequently inflicted on them in this operation from the awkwardness of blacksmiths. All these circumstances considered, instead of wondering that the horses of our country are subject to so many diseases, I rather feel surprized that one remains alive.Mules in company with horses fill the plainsof Paraguay, nor shall they be separated in my relation. You will see many of them equal in height to horses, but, on the other hand, the major part are less than those which Italy or Spain produces. You may judge of the multitude of them from this circumstance, that Paraguay yearly sends about eighty thousand to Peru, in return for which she receives all the silver to be seen in her churches and houses, with no inconsiderable advantage. For unbroken mules, two years of age, valued, generally speaking, at three Spanish crowns in Paraguay, fetch ten and often fourteen in Peru. Who can reckon the number of mules, employed either in bearing burdens or in carrying a rider, in the cities and estates of Paraguay? Many thousands of them are constantly occupied in conveying the herb of Paraguay from the woods to the cities, and numbers are yearly sacrificed both to the roughness of the road and the cruelty of their drivers. I have known estates which contained four thousand mules, and many more thousand mares kept for breeding mules.The young mules, at two years old, are taught to carry burdens or to bear a rider; but being extremely wild, occasion their instructors continual trouble and danger. However docile and obedient they may have appeared in times past, you never can entirely trust to them. For asthe Spanish proverb goes, a mule will serve his master seventy years, that he may kick him to death at last. Broken legs, bodies dragged along the ground, cut hands, heads dashed against trees or stones, and other accidents of the same nature, mournfully confirm the truth of this adage. For mules, though stronger than any horse, though accustomed to traverse woods, rocky places, and trackless plains, with both a firmer and gentler pace, and though less liable to hurt their feet, are much more to be dreaded by their riders, on account of their being constantly suspicious of danger. All of a sudden they halt on the road astonished, smell the grass, prick up their ears to listen, and with eyes wandering in every direction descry the most distant objects. The uncommon colour of a plant, a strange smell, the piping of birds, the rustling of trees, or an unusual agitation of the leaves occasioned by the wind, fills them with suspicions of the approach of a tiger, especially at dusk, or at dark night. Presently, seized with sudden terror, they run away with their rider, and unless he be possessed of great presence of mind, either throw him on the ground or drag him along with his feet sticking in the stirrup. The kicking of mules is very dangerous, on account of its being so quickly and frequently repeated. These animals, therefore,are never more to be dreaded than when they are themselves afraid, for at such times they become unmanageable, and seem as if they had lost their senses. As the trade in mules is lucrative in Paraguay, it is also dangerous to the merchants, on account of the exceeding timidity of these animals. Ten thousand mules, entirely free and without bridles, are often driven, by a few Spanish guards, in one drove. At the slightest alarm they all take to flight, hurry over the plain, and hide themselves in interminable deserts, whilst no industry in the horsemen, nor swiftness in the horses, is sufficient to bring them back again. Many have been ruined by mules running away and being lost in this manner.I have been acquainted with men, in other respects brave and intrepid, who, warned by the danger of others, resolved never in their lives to ride on a mule. I have known many more, who, scorning the most excellent horses, would never travel on any other animal. Neither is this preference to be condemned, for mules, though fearful and treacherous, possess many good qualities which do not belong to horses. Their pace, especially that of the amblers, is easy and firm, by which means they always tread with safety, whether they have to ascend rocks or to creep over marshy places, though horses are better forcrossing deep marshes and rivers, on account of their height. One mule is sufficient in a long and difficult journey which would fatigue four horses. Mules are contented with the readiest and coarsest food, though generally fat and sleek. Many of them surpass the swiftest horses in speed, as I have often observed in the races of the soldiers. They are longer lived than most other beasts. In the town of S. Joachim I had mules more than thirty years old, which would bear a rider, and sometimes contrive to kick him off too. Moreover they are possessed of athletic strength, for they are accustomed to carry almost four hundred weight, in journies of many months, through very rough roads, when laden with the herb of Paraguay. In a word, I am unable to determine whether the virtues or vices of mules preponderate.By the right of relationship asses should be spoken of between horses and mules. They wander by crowds in the plains of Paraguay, and with their braying prevent the neighbouring inhabitants from the enjoyment of sleep. In Italy and Portugal the ass is a very much employed animal, and used both for the pannier and the saddle. In Paraguay they enjoy a perpetual exemption from labour. In the larger estates great numbers of asses are maintained for the purpose of breeding mules. The femaleasses are less prolific than you would imagine, but we were never able to discover the cause of their sterility. Asses continually fall a prey to tigers, especially those kept to breed mules, which they prefer to the common sort. No American ever accused asses of pusillanimity, for they bravely repel any tiger, whom they see approaching, with their heels, and defend themselves more pertinaciously than horses; but being here, as every where else, stupid and dilatory, are generally vanquished by the swiftness or cunning of tigers. The Spaniards also kill a great number every year for the sake of the fat which they have in their necks, and which is used, by tanners, to dress and soften stags' skins, and for other purposes. In this vast abundance of horses and mules which Paraguay rears, would not the most needy of the Spaniards or negroes be ashamed to ride upon an ass? But in the territories belonging to Rioja and Catamarca, where horses are not so abundant, the lower orders of Spaniards do not disdain to saddle asses. By a useful edict we took care to prevent the Guaranies from possessing horses, to deprive them of the dangerous opportunity of wandering. Persons of both sexes made use of their own asses to carry home the produce of the neighbouring fields. But those charged with guarding cattle andother offices in the town, always had horses and mules prepared and in readiness.Paraguay also abounds in numerous flocks of sheep, no ways differing from those of our country. Some of the Guarany colonies have counted thirty thousand, others fewer, according to the number of inhabitants and the size of the pastures. The wool was used chiefly for the clothing of the male Indians, for the women covered themselves with a piece of white cloth made of cotton. An Indian is never content unless he has his belly well filled, and his body well covered; so that a number of sheep and oxen seemed requisite to the preservation of these colonies, the latter supplying meat for food, and the former wool for clothing. Sheep, on account of their tenderness, demand greater care than the larger cattle. Hence we were extremely solicitous to supply them with diligent and faithful shepherds, whom we frequently admonished to bring the flock at stated hours to the folds, which being furnished with a roof, though not with walls, commodiously defended them against the night dew, the heat of the sun, and the attacks of lions and tigers; not to send the sheep into the plain till the sun and wind had dried up the dew; carefully to keep them from marshy places, from the dewy grass, and from thistles and thorns; for toomuch moisture affects sheep with a mortal cough, and thorns tear their wool; and, lastly, to look about anxiously for pastures abounding in nitre, wholesome grass, and plenty of water. Shepherds should take great care to collect the young lambs, as soon as they are yeaned, and remove them to a safe place, where they may be suckled and licked by their mothers. Should this precaution be neglected, they will certainly be crushed under foot by the old sheep. It is also proper to see whether they are afflicted with worms, which are often bred in the wool. It conduces much to the enriching an estate to distribute the whole flock, consisting of ten or thirteen thousand sheep, into lesser companies, and to assign to each separate folds, pastures, and shepherds, that the care being divided amongst many, each may perform his own office more easily and completely. By these arts the estates of the Guaranies daily gained such accessions of sheep as an European will hardly credit.Something must now be said of the climate of Paraguay. The temperature of the air varies in different places. Those which are nearest to the south are colder. In the Magellanic region, which is included in Paraguay, the cold is generally intense, the neighbouring mountains are constantly covered with snow, the southwinds are extremely violent, and dreadfully agitate that sea, which is dreaded by all sailors. The territory of Buenos-Ayres itself, situated in the 34th degree of lat. is too cold for tobacco, cotton, the sugar-cane, the herb of Paraguay, apes, and various kinds of parrots, to subsist there, though it produces plenty of wheat, as well as citrons, peaches, quinces, pomegranates, figs, &c. if the diligence of the agriculturist answer to the fertility of the soil. I never saw any snow beyond the mountains near the province of Chili. The year is divided into four seasons as in Europe, but in different order:—whilst the Europeans enjoy summer it is winter there; whilst it is spring in Europe, it is autumn with the Paraguayrians. For with them November, December, and January, are summer; February, March, and April, autumn; May, June, and July, winter; August, September, and October, spring. In the month of August the trees bud, the birds build their nests, the swallows return from their places of retirement. In the winter there is no snow and very seldom frost, so that melons and vegetables will grow up, and not be hurt by the asperity of the air. But in the mountains of Taruma, three frosts succeed one after another. The third, which is much severer than the other two, is always followed, about noon the sameday, by a tempest, accompanied with thunder, lightning, and torrents of rain, which causes the herbs, killed by the frosts, to revive, or fresh ones to spring up. The temperature of the air varies according to the wind. The south wind is cold, the north, hot: hence we often had winter and summer in the same day, whenever one wind succeeded to the other. Nor is the difference of winter fixed and certain. For some countries, Brazil for instance, are afflicted with continual rain at that season, whilst others are distressed by long droughts, lasting many months, as is the case with the territory of St. Iago del Estero. Thunderstorms are not peculiar, as in Europe, to the summer season, but are common to every part of the year: nor can it ever be said that this or that month, though a winter one, will be free from thunder, lightning, and hail. The heat of the sun is excessively painful to horses in travelling, but often more endurable to them when resting in the shade, than in Austria during the hottest part of the summer. That the cold in winter is not very intense you may collect from this circumstance, that the Indians of both sexes and of every age are accustomed to endure it, without danger of any bad consequence, with naked feet, uncovered heads, and no other clothing than a thin piece of linen, andthat the animals remain out of doors day and night. I do not deny that the Indians sometimes use cloaks made of otters' skins to defend them against the cold air. The shortest day with the Paraguayrians is in the month of June, the summer solstice in Europe. The sun rises at the sixth hour and fifty-second minute, and sets at the fifth hour and seventh minute. Their longest day is in the month of December, our winter solstice. The sun rises at the fifth hour and seventh minute, and sets at the sixth hour and fifty-second minute. I speak of that part of the sky under which lie the Guarany colonies situated in the 24th, 25th, 26th, 27th, 28th, and 29th degrees of latitude. From which it appears that there is no day in Paraguay so long or so short as in our Germany. The air of so extensive a province is necessarily various, but for the most part extremely healthful, and calculated to induce longevity.A history may justly be called defective, if it do not slightly touch upon what is most worthy of note in the wild beasts, amphibious animals, birds, fishes, plants, trees, and their fruit. We will begin with quadrupeds. The tiger appears first on the scene.
It frequently happens that the friction of a rough horsecloth, or the hardness or compression of the saddle galls the back of the horse; and if, after long fatigue, his horsecloth be taken off, whilst he is still smoking with sweat,it is swelled by the sudden admission of the cold air, or of rain, till the tumour by degrees grows into a wound. The ulcerated and bloody flesh is quickly infested by swarms of flies, the eggs and filth of which ingender white worms. Delay is dangerous; for the worms increase rapidly every hour, and creep to the interior parts of the animal. If you wish to save your horse, you must immediately dig the worms out of his flesh with a small stick, and stop up the cavities where those insects lay with chewed tobacco leaves, the bitterness of which kills the worms, drives away the flies which breed them, and prevents the progress of corruption. The scar must be anointed with tallow every day, that fresh hair may grow there. The Indians smear their horses' backs either with the rootguaycuru, well masticated with their teeth, or with melted tiger's fat, or with the shell of thearmadilloburnt to ashes; but these remedies seldom effect a complete cure. From a book of Father Martin Szentivan, a Hungarian, on the treatment of animals, I learnt a remedy much superior to any of those American ones, and which has been successfully adopted by many Paraguayrians. Salt, well ground, and mixed with vinegar and yolk of egg, is applied to the horse's back once a day, as it cleans away the blood, keeps off worms, and in a few daysremoves the swelling, and renews the skin and hair. The same author advises the application of a white onion, pretty well roasted. We ourselves have seen many horses preserved by both remedies. Certain large birds, of various colours, carnivorous, and of the vulture kind, may aptly be called horses' physicians; for they perch upon their ulcerated backs, and are deterred by no kicking from taking away the blood and the worms; though with their sharp beaks they very often enlarge the wound. Bats, also, greatly exceeding those of Europe in number and size, not only molest, but even injure the horses. Vast numbers of them fly up and down the plain. They sit upon the horse, and whilst they wound his back with their bills, create a gentle breeze by the continual motion of their wings, lulled by which the horse makes no resistance, and suffers his blood to be sucked by the bat. The wound that remains, unless it be sprinkled with hot ashes, soon swells, and by degrees becomes ulcerated, which clearly proves that bats are in some measure venomous. Showers continuing day and night, for many weeks, necessarily deluge the whole plain country with water, and the horses can find no dry land whereon to place their feet. Hence, from feeding so long, immersed in water, their hoofs are softened tosuch a degree, that being unable to stand on their feet, and to seek pasture, they perish, though perfectly healthy in other respects. Sometimes horses labour under strangury, or dysury. A Spaniard saddles a horse afflicted with such a disease, instead of physicking him, and spurs him to a full gallop, till he is covered with sweat. Nor is there any occasion to repeat the operation. A horse, which was in a dying condition a little before, soon recovered, for he inundated the plain. Sometimes horses are seized with convulsion of the nerves, or with rheumatism, so that they cannot stand on their legs; on such occasions the Spanish soldiers tie their feet with a rope, and lay them on the ground, then throw plenty of urine on their legs, and kick them several times with their heels; when untied they mount and compel them, however unwilling, to run. This violent, but speedy method of healing, I found, to my surprize, attended by the desired effect. As Paraguay swarms with horses, in as great number as insects, she cares very little about curing them when they are sick. In Europe, where horses are scarcer and more valuable, we cannot wonder at their having many physicians and many medicines. What if I should say that, in Paraguay, both are unnecessary? For there it is plain that horses are afflicted withless frequent and less heavy complaints; because they generally enjoy their full liberty, wander up and down the plains at will, breathe the pure air of Heaven, feed on the fresh grass, drink and bathe at pleasure in running streams, are never employed in bearing burdens and drawing carts, and are consequently more healthy and spirited than European horses, which, during the greatest part of their lives, are chained, like thieves, in dark stables, which resemble dungeons, are obliged to fill rather than refresh their stomachs, with hay dryer than a stone and straw harder than a board, taste oats seldomer and more sparingly than country people do cakes, and endure frequent and long hunger and thirst, sometimes through the dishonesty or laziness of servants, sometimes through the avarice of their masters, who are more anxious about employing than about feeding their beasts; not to mention the continual annoyance they undergo from the putting on and taking off of their iron shoes; and even the pain frequently inflicted on them in this operation from the awkwardness of blacksmiths. All these circumstances considered, instead of wondering that the horses of our country are subject to so many diseases, I rather feel surprized that one remains alive.
Mules in company with horses fill the plainsof Paraguay, nor shall they be separated in my relation. You will see many of them equal in height to horses, but, on the other hand, the major part are less than those which Italy or Spain produces. You may judge of the multitude of them from this circumstance, that Paraguay yearly sends about eighty thousand to Peru, in return for which she receives all the silver to be seen in her churches and houses, with no inconsiderable advantage. For unbroken mules, two years of age, valued, generally speaking, at three Spanish crowns in Paraguay, fetch ten and often fourteen in Peru. Who can reckon the number of mules, employed either in bearing burdens or in carrying a rider, in the cities and estates of Paraguay? Many thousands of them are constantly occupied in conveying the herb of Paraguay from the woods to the cities, and numbers are yearly sacrificed both to the roughness of the road and the cruelty of their drivers. I have known estates which contained four thousand mules, and many more thousand mares kept for breeding mules.
The young mules, at two years old, are taught to carry burdens or to bear a rider; but being extremely wild, occasion their instructors continual trouble and danger. However docile and obedient they may have appeared in times past, you never can entirely trust to them. For asthe Spanish proverb goes, a mule will serve his master seventy years, that he may kick him to death at last. Broken legs, bodies dragged along the ground, cut hands, heads dashed against trees or stones, and other accidents of the same nature, mournfully confirm the truth of this adage. For mules, though stronger than any horse, though accustomed to traverse woods, rocky places, and trackless plains, with both a firmer and gentler pace, and though less liable to hurt their feet, are much more to be dreaded by their riders, on account of their being constantly suspicious of danger. All of a sudden they halt on the road astonished, smell the grass, prick up their ears to listen, and with eyes wandering in every direction descry the most distant objects. The uncommon colour of a plant, a strange smell, the piping of birds, the rustling of trees, or an unusual agitation of the leaves occasioned by the wind, fills them with suspicions of the approach of a tiger, especially at dusk, or at dark night. Presently, seized with sudden terror, they run away with their rider, and unless he be possessed of great presence of mind, either throw him on the ground or drag him along with his feet sticking in the stirrup. The kicking of mules is very dangerous, on account of its being so quickly and frequently repeated. These animals, therefore,are never more to be dreaded than when they are themselves afraid, for at such times they become unmanageable, and seem as if they had lost their senses. As the trade in mules is lucrative in Paraguay, it is also dangerous to the merchants, on account of the exceeding timidity of these animals. Ten thousand mules, entirely free and without bridles, are often driven, by a few Spanish guards, in one drove. At the slightest alarm they all take to flight, hurry over the plain, and hide themselves in interminable deserts, whilst no industry in the horsemen, nor swiftness in the horses, is sufficient to bring them back again. Many have been ruined by mules running away and being lost in this manner.
I have been acquainted with men, in other respects brave and intrepid, who, warned by the danger of others, resolved never in their lives to ride on a mule. I have known many more, who, scorning the most excellent horses, would never travel on any other animal. Neither is this preference to be condemned, for mules, though fearful and treacherous, possess many good qualities which do not belong to horses. Their pace, especially that of the amblers, is easy and firm, by which means they always tread with safety, whether they have to ascend rocks or to creep over marshy places, though horses are better forcrossing deep marshes and rivers, on account of their height. One mule is sufficient in a long and difficult journey which would fatigue four horses. Mules are contented with the readiest and coarsest food, though generally fat and sleek. Many of them surpass the swiftest horses in speed, as I have often observed in the races of the soldiers. They are longer lived than most other beasts. In the town of S. Joachim I had mules more than thirty years old, which would bear a rider, and sometimes contrive to kick him off too. Moreover they are possessed of athletic strength, for they are accustomed to carry almost four hundred weight, in journies of many months, through very rough roads, when laden with the herb of Paraguay. In a word, I am unable to determine whether the virtues or vices of mules preponderate.
By the right of relationship asses should be spoken of between horses and mules. They wander by crowds in the plains of Paraguay, and with their braying prevent the neighbouring inhabitants from the enjoyment of sleep. In Italy and Portugal the ass is a very much employed animal, and used both for the pannier and the saddle. In Paraguay they enjoy a perpetual exemption from labour. In the larger estates great numbers of asses are maintained for the purpose of breeding mules. The femaleasses are less prolific than you would imagine, but we were never able to discover the cause of their sterility. Asses continually fall a prey to tigers, especially those kept to breed mules, which they prefer to the common sort. No American ever accused asses of pusillanimity, for they bravely repel any tiger, whom they see approaching, with their heels, and defend themselves more pertinaciously than horses; but being here, as every where else, stupid and dilatory, are generally vanquished by the swiftness or cunning of tigers. The Spaniards also kill a great number every year for the sake of the fat which they have in their necks, and which is used, by tanners, to dress and soften stags' skins, and for other purposes. In this vast abundance of horses and mules which Paraguay rears, would not the most needy of the Spaniards or negroes be ashamed to ride upon an ass? But in the territories belonging to Rioja and Catamarca, where horses are not so abundant, the lower orders of Spaniards do not disdain to saddle asses. By a useful edict we took care to prevent the Guaranies from possessing horses, to deprive them of the dangerous opportunity of wandering. Persons of both sexes made use of their own asses to carry home the produce of the neighbouring fields. But those charged with guarding cattle andother offices in the town, always had horses and mules prepared and in readiness.
Paraguay also abounds in numerous flocks of sheep, no ways differing from those of our country. Some of the Guarany colonies have counted thirty thousand, others fewer, according to the number of inhabitants and the size of the pastures. The wool was used chiefly for the clothing of the male Indians, for the women covered themselves with a piece of white cloth made of cotton. An Indian is never content unless he has his belly well filled, and his body well covered; so that a number of sheep and oxen seemed requisite to the preservation of these colonies, the latter supplying meat for food, and the former wool for clothing. Sheep, on account of their tenderness, demand greater care than the larger cattle. Hence we were extremely solicitous to supply them with diligent and faithful shepherds, whom we frequently admonished to bring the flock at stated hours to the folds, which being furnished with a roof, though not with walls, commodiously defended them against the night dew, the heat of the sun, and the attacks of lions and tigers; not to send the sheep into the plain till the sun and wind had dried up the dew; carefully to keep them from marshy places, from the dewy grass, and from thistles and thorns; for toomuch moisture affects sheep with a mortal cough, and thorns tear their wool; and, lastly, to look about anxiously for pastures abounding in nitre, wholesome grass, and plenty of water. Shepherds should take great care to collect the young lambs, as soon as they are yeaned, and remove them to a safe place, where they may be suckled and licked by their mothers. Should this precaution be neglected, they will certainly be crushed under foot by the old sheep. It is also proper to see whether they are afflicted with worms, which are often bred in the wool. It conduces much to the enriching an estate to distribute the whole flock, consisting of ten or thirteen thousand sheep, into lesser companies, and to assign to each separate folds, pastures, and shepherds, that the care being divided amongst many, each may perform his own office more easily and completely. By these arts the estates of the Guaranies daily gained such accessions of sheep as an European will hardly credit.
Something must now be said of the climate of Paraguay. The temperature of the air varies in different places. Those which are nearest to the south are colder. In the Magellanic region, which is included in Paraguay, the cold is generally intense, the neighbouring mountains are constantly covered with snow, the southwinds are extremely violent, and dreadfully agitate that sea, which is dreaded by all sailors. The territory of Buenos-Ayres itself, situated in the 34th degree of lat. is too cold for tobacco, cotton, the sugar-cane, the herb of Paraguay, apes, and various kinds of parrots, to subsist there, though it produces plenty of wheat, as well as citrons, peaches, quinces, pomegranates, figs, &c. if the diligence of the agriculturist answer to the fertility of the soil. I never saw any snow beyond the mountains near the province of Chili. The year is divided into four seasons as in Europe, but in different order:—whilst the Europeans enjoy summer it is winter there; whilst it is spring in Europe, it is autumn with the Paraguayrians. For with them November, December, and January, are summer; February, March, and April, autumn; May, June, and July, winter; August, September, and October, spring. In the month of August the trees bud, the birds build their nests, the swallows return from their places of retirement. In the winter there is no snow and very seldom frost, so that melons and vegetables will grow up, and not be hurt by the asperity of the air. But in the mountains of Taruma, three frosts succeed one after another. The third, which is much severer than the other two, is always followed, about noon the sameday, by a tempest, accompanied with thunder, lightning, and torrents of rain, which causes the herbs, killed by the frosts, to revive, or fresh ones to spring up. The temperature of the air varies according to the wind. The south wind is cold, the north, hot: hence we often had winter and summer in the same day, whenever one wind succeeded to the other. Nor is the difference of winter fixed and certain. For some countries, Brazil for instance, are afflicted with continual rain at that season, whilst others are distressed by long droughts, lasting many months, as is the case with the territory of St. Iago del Estero. Thunderstorms are not peculiar, as in Europe, to the summer season, but are common to every part of the year: nor can it ever be said that this or that month, though a winter one, will be free from thunder, lightning, and hail. The heat of the sun is excessively painful to horses in travelling, but often more endurable to them when resting in the shade, than in Austria during the hottest part of the summer. That the cold in winter is not very intense you may collect from this circumstance, that the Indians of both sexes and of every age are accustomed to endure it, without danger of any bad consequence, with naked feet, uncovered heads, and no other clothing than a thin piece of linen, andthat the animals remain out of doors day and night. I do not deny that the Indians sometimes use cloaks made of otters' skins to defend them against the cold air. The shortest day with the Paraguayrians is in the month of June, the summer solstice in Europe. The sun rises at the sixth hour and fifty-second minute, and sets at the fifth hour and seventh minute. Their longest day is in the month of December, our winter solstice. The sun rises at the fifth hour and seventh minute, and sets at the sixth hour and fifty-second minute. I speak of that part of the sky under which lie the Guarany colonies situated in the 24th, 25th, 26th, 27th, 28th, and 29th degrees of latitude. From which it appears that there is no day in Paraguay so long or so short as in our Germany. The air of so extensive a province is necessarily various, but for the most part extremely healthful, and calculated to induce longevity.
A history may justly be called defective, if it do not slightly touch upon what is most worthy of note in the wild beasts, amphibious animals, birds, fishes, plants, trees, and their fruit. We will begin with quadrupeds. The tiger appears first on the scene.