Page:Journal of the Right Hon. Sir Joseph Banks.djvu/401

Rh sweep of their semicircle in front 7 feet 6½ inches. One caution is, however, exceedingly necessary in buying these beasts, which is that one of them of any given size does not weigh half as much as an ox of the same size in England; in this we, who were ignorant of the fact, were very much deceived. The larger animals which we guessed to be 400 lbs. did not weigh more than 250, and the smaller which we guessed to be 250 not more than 160; this vast difference proceeded first from a total want of fat, of which there was not the least sign, but more especially from the thinness of the flanks, and thin pieces which were literally nothing but skin and bone. Their flesh, notwithstanding this, was not bad; it was well tasted and full of gravy: not that I can put it on a footing with the leanest beef in England, yet I should suppose it better than a lean ox would be in this burnt-up climate.

Mr. Lange told us that when the Portuguese first came to this island there were horses upon it, an opinion from which I confess I rather apostatise; but, to waive the dispute, horses are now very plentiful. They are small, generally eleven or twelve hands high, but very brisk and nimble, especially in pacing, which is their common step. The inhabitants appear to be tolerable horsemen, riding always without a saddle, and generally with only a halter instead of a bridle. This is not, however, the only benefit that these islanders receive from them, for they use them as food, and prefer their flesh to that of buffaloes and every other sort but swine's flesh, which holds the highest rank in their opinion.

Their sheep are of the kind that I have seen in England under the name of Bengal sheep; they differ from ours in having hair instead of wool, in their ears being very large and flapping down, their horns almost straight, and in their noses, which are much more arched than those of our European kind. These sheep are, I believe, very frequently called cabritos, from their resemblance to goats, which, though I cannot say it appeared to me at all striking, yet had such an effect on the whole ship's company, officers and seamen,