We Then Rode On To Our Sleeping-Place, And
Had For Supper "Carne Con Cuero," Or Meat Roasted With The
Skin On It.
This is as superior to common beef as venison
is to mutton.
A large circular piece taken from the back
is roasted on the embers with the hide downwards and is
the form of a saucer, so that none of the gravy is lost.
If any worthy alderman had supped with us that evening,
"carne con cuero," without doubt, would soon have been
celebrated in London.
During the night it rained, and the next day (17th) was
very stormy, with much hail and snow. We rode across the
island to the neck of land which joins the Rincon del Toro
(the great peninsula at the S. W. extremity) to the rest of
the island. From the great number of cows which have
been killed, there is a large proportion of bulls. These wander
about single, or two and three together, and are very
savage. I never saw such magnificent beasts; they equalled
in the size of their huge heads and necks the Grecian marble
sculptures. Capt. Sulivan informs me that the hide of an
average-sized bull weighs forty-seven pounds, whereas a
hide of this weight, less thoroughly dried, is considered as
a very heavy one at Monte Video. The young bulls generally
run away, for a short distance; but the old ones do not
stir a step, except to rush at man and horse; and many
horses have been thus killed. An old bull crossed a boggy
stream, and took his stand on the opposite side to us; we
in vain tried to drive him away, and failing, were obliged
to make a large circuit. The Gauchos in revenge determined
to emasculate him and render him for the future
harmless. It was very interesting to see how art completely
mastered force. One lazo was thrown over his horns as he
rushed at the horse, and another round his hind legs: in a
minute the monster was stretched powerless on the ground.
After the lazo has once been drawn tightly round the horns
of a furious animal, it does not at first appear an easy thing
to disengage it again without killing the beast: nor, I
apprehend, would it be so if the man was by himself. By the
aid, however, of a second person throwing his lazo so as to
catch both hind legs, it is quickly managed: for the animal,
as long as its hind legs are kept outstretched, is quite
helpless, and the first man can with his hands loosen his lazo
from the horns, and then quietly mount his horse; but the
moment the second man, by backing ever so little, relaxes
the strain, the lazo slips off the legs of the struggling beast,
which then rises free, shakes himself, and vainly rushes at
his antagonist.
During our whole ride we saw only one troop of wild
horses. These animals, as well as the cattle, were introduced
by the French in 1764, since which time both have greatly
increased.
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