Page:Letters from the Battle-fields of Paraguay (1870).djvu/119



FROM RIO 1)E JANEIRO TO MONTE VIDEO. 89

Megatheroicl ; and the second, horses and black cattle, the former brought by Mendoza in 1536, and the latter intro- duced in 1553, by the Spaniards of Asuncion from the Brazil. The turnip must follow the mutton, and the fourth step will of course be agriculture : the latter should be combined with "pastoral pursuits^^ as soon as possible.

Twenty years ago sheep farmers throve. They led for a few years jolly lives of savage exile, and then they went home rich " for good.^^ Presently increased wages, and the higher prices of campo-land, once so cheajJ, combined with a more expensive style of establishment, with the in- security of life and property, and with the perpetual ^â€¢' pro- nouncings^^ of the native population, changed the face of affairs. The United States, formerly the best customer, came into the wool market, and the Morrill tariff imposed a protective duty prohibitory to all but the cheapest articles, these paying only six cents per pound. The last straw was the export duty of 10 per cent. (Mr. Ross Johnson says 15) levied by the Argentine Government â€” 5 in ready money, and 5 after fouv months. The Platines have reason to say, " The English are the only people who come here with money, and who go away without.^^ Certainly, Spaniards and Italians, Portuguese and Basques, Brazilians and Germans do not. But they are mostly " hands^^ as opposed to capital.

The oldsters on board told many a popular tale that shows which way the wind sets. One professed himself ready to walk a mile in order to kick a sheep. Another related how an emigrant had cut the throats of all his flock, and lastly his own â€” the best way to get rid of the business. Apparently all were eager to sell, none to buy : they were ready to sell for $1 what they had bought for $4; and some have taken \s. 'iOd., and even 1^. Qd. They asserted roundly that give a man three leagues of land and 20,000 sheep.