MODERN ARGENTINA.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1039, 31 January 1911, Page 8

MODERN ARGENTINA.

. the mustering of oattle. : ; Many ' tilings concerning '• tho Argen;irte aro of,-interest to New Zealandcra. This following particulars aro extracts frqmi a; recent publication, and give a graphic account of .cattle mustering in the .big republic:— : Tho cattle-mustering, or"Rodeo" as it .is termed;" on an Argentine Estancio : is-a isight-worth'.secing, especially when its units run. to..thousands, as is often the ( case., . He'rrlioebel, in his work '. oh, "Modern . Argentina,"' 1 graphically describes, it ..thus:—"The : bcnls' aro . driven.together at.a cortain point marked; bj..a, jargo upright, jjost... Viewed from a-distance,- one ■ sees a" lino that lengthens and contracts; from.timo to time, and seeins.to writhe.and heave curiously. . Above it hangs a dust cloud thit is visible ftir leagues. Approached nearer, the lino resolves itself into a broad mass of red, white; dun and other oolour's,- above which are? sheafs and' 1 forests' of'horn's,'which' beiid 'and' sway like branches .in tho wind. Tho . cattle aro' wheeling round.'and 'round. «Wih'.th'o post'in the centre as a, pivot.' They" como by in. rank' after rank, col- ' ujnri; after column. ' Upon'.the outskirts tM forms, (if; the mounted Gauchos . stand,, out, above; tlio mass of. moving backs. If 'tlie cattle stay their nionot- ' ottoiis ; tramping 'for -.a'- moment'they' are ; urged 'on again".; ' '"But; if'the sight of tins huge mass . of 'animals; be impqsing", what of the souiid?:*, There'are, thousands of head ofi.cattle .in: a bunch,; and each of them . has. something- to' sa'y.'' There' ~ comes : wave \ipbn .Svayo, billow. upon, billow of. hoarse, bellowing. 'roars 'that rise-. , and fall- in volume, but never entirely dio '.away.-' At'time the diii sinks sufficientj'ly;to permit the rumbling of the heavy tho occasional clash of horn against horn to bo heard. But the .Ddxt, moment nothing but tho all-dead- . enilig bellows, sound onco" again." In January, 1906, an interesting competition took' place at Buenos Ayres between a company of Texan •cowboys and a-number of Argentine peons, when in tlie.'matter of fiiio. display 'and dash— so.'far as; cattle-pinching" was concerned—the Argentines' wero complete-lyl.-outclassed.. As rough l riders neither sido scored,'as apparently, the Republic Sid''not-contain a "bucker" capable of • unseating any ontv of. the competitors. The'lassoing and "roping" a steer by a cowboy was a marvellous feat of nerve and-horsemanship, but too often the. result to the steer .was a horn wrenched off or a broken limb, and- in some instancesj the : unfortunate animal's life 3jad to be put an end to;. Few estancieros, says Herr ICoebel, would have care.d to entrust their fine, stock- to the mercies of the Texans, even the G'aueho himtelf-having toned down the' vigour . of-his dealings with tho cattle in ac-. , cordance with their increase in value.