Land in the interior, of such quality as to produce every sort of grain, or to feed all kinds of cattle, is often sold for a dollar, or even much less, the quadra, one hundred square yards, being more than two acres. When the horned cattle are sufficiently fat, or rather at the killing season, which is about the months of February and March, from five hundred to a thousand, according to the size of the farm, are slaughtered. The whole of the fat is separated from the meat and melted, forming a kind of lard called grasa, which is employed in domestic purposes. The tallow is also kept separate, and the meat is jerked. This process is performed by cutting the fleshy substance into slices of about a quarter of an inch thick, leaving out all the bones. The natives are so dexterous at this work that they will cut the whole of a leg, or any other large part of a bullock into one uniformly thin piece. The meat thus cut is either dipped into a very strong solution of salt and water, or rubbed over with a small quantity of fine salt. Whichever mode of curing is adopted, the whole of the jerked meat is put on the hide and rolled up for ten or twelve hours, or until the following morning. It is then hung on lines or poles, to dry in the sun, which being accomplished, it is made into bundles, lashed with thongs of fresh hide, forming a kind of network, and is ready for market. In this operation it loses about one third of its original weight. The dried meat, charqui, finds immediate sale at Lima, Arica, Guayaquil, Panama and other places. Besides the large quantity consumed in Chile, it furnishes a great part of the food of the lower classes, the slaves, and particularly the seamen, being the general substitute for salt beef and pork. The grasa and tallow are also readily sold at the places above mentioned, and are of more value than the meat. The hides are generally consumed in making bags for grain, pulse, &c., thongs for the various purposes to which rope is applied in Europe, or leather of a very good quality.
The slaughtering season is as much a time of diversion for the inhabitants of this country as a sheep-shearing is in England. For two or three days the peasants, huasos, are busy collecting the cattle from the woods and mountains, and driving them into an enclosure made for the purpose. The fat and lean cattle being mixed together, the latter are separated from the former, and driven out; after which one fixed upon for slaughter is allowed to pass the gate, where a peasant stands armed with a sharp instrument in the shape of a crescent, having the points about a foot apart, and as the beast passes he first cuts the hamstring of one leg, and then of the other. Should he miss his aim, a bystander follows the animal at full gallop, and throws the laso over its horns, by which it is caught and detained till another comes up, and either hamstrings or casts a second laso round its hind legs, when the two men, riding in different directions, throw the beast down, and immediately kill it. One of them now takes off the skin, collects into it the tallow and fat, which with the meat he carries to a shed, when the process of jerking, salting, &c. as already described, is immediately begun.
The females in the mean time are all busy cutting up the fat, frying it for grasa, and selecting some of the finer meat for presents and home consumption. The tongues are the only part of the head that is eaten, the remainder being left to rot. In the above manner great numbers of cattle are annually killed, their bones being left to whiten on the ground where they fed.
It is surprizing to Europeans and other strangers to see with what dexterity the laso is thrown. Made of platted or twisted raw hide, it is about one and a half inch in circumference, sometimes less, and being greased in the process of its manufacture, is extremely pliable, stronger than any other kind of rope of treble the thickness, and very durable. The length is from twenty to thirty feet, and at one end is a noose, through which a part of the thong being passed a running knot is formed. Instead of the noose there are occasionally a button and loop. The huaso (or laso thrower) extending the opening formed by passing the thong through the noose, lays hold of the laso, and begins to whirl it over his head, taking care that the opening does not close. Having determined on his object the laso is thrown with unerring precision. A bullock is caught by the horns, and a horse or a sheep by the neck; and as this is often done at full speed, the peasant will wind the end of the laso which he holds round his body, and suddenly stopping his horse, the entangled animal receives such a check that it is frequently upset. One end of the laso is often made fast to the sursingle, or girth of the saddle, particularly when a bull or large bullock is to be caught. On such occasions the horse, as if aware of the resistance he will have to make, turns his side towards the object, and inclines his body in the opposite direction. I have seen him dragged along by the beast, his feet making furrows in the ground, for more than two yards. The people are so expert in this art and so attached to it, that it is deemed quite disgraceful to miss the object. Several of the higher classes exercise it as an amusement, and not only in Chile, but in almost every part of South America which I visited; all classes, when residing in the country, carry the laso behind the saddle. Even the children are often seen throwing the laso, and catching the poultry, dogs and cats, in the houses, yards or streets. Thus this necessary accomplishment grows up with these people. In the late wars it has not been uncommon for the militia to carry their lasos, with which great numbers of Spanish soldiers have been caught and strangled. The rider being at full speed, the moment it was thrown, the unfortunate fellow who happened to be entangled could not extricate himself, and was dragged at the heels of his adversary's horse until he was killed.
Goats are fattened for their tallow and skins, which latter besides their application to the purposes of holding wine, spirits, cider, &c. are generally tanned with the bark of the palque or the peumo, instead of that of oak, and for shoes and similar articles make an excellent leather, called cordovan. The goats are altogether productive of great profit.
Some of the horses in the province of Conception are excellent, being similar in size and shape to the famous Andalusian. They are much valued in all South America, and fetch very high prices in Peru. I have seen them at Quito, which, considering the difficulties of transport that are to be surmounted, is a very great distance; but although every effort has been used to preserve the breed out of the territory of Chile, it has as yet been unavailing.
All kinds of provisions are plentiful in this province; poultry is remarkably cheap, fat and well flavoured; ducks and geese breed twice every year; turkeys and barn door fowls during the whole year; and from the mildness of the climate the broods thrive with little loss. The prices are consequently low: a good fat turkey may be bought for about one shilling, and fowls for sixpence a couple.
Apples, pears, peaches, nectarines, plums and cherries, are produced in such profusion that they are considered of no value. Figs are abundant and good; and the strawberry grows wild; I have seen some nearly as large as a hen's egg. The melons and sandias, water melons, are also very large, and are extremely nice, particularly the latter, to which the natives are partial. Olives do not thrive here. Near the river Maule there are cocoa nut trees or palms, differing from the other species of the same genus in the size of the nut, which is usually about as big as a walnut. Some of the trees are thirty feet high; the trunk is cylindrical, and free from leaves except at the top, where, similar to other palms, they form a circle, presenting a most beautiful appearance. The flowers are in four large clusters at the top of the tree, from whence the leaves spring. When in bud they are enclosed in a fibrous woody sheath, and when the fruit begins to form the spathe divides itself into two parts, each about three feet long and two broad. A bunch or cluster, often contains as many as a thousand nuts. Nothing can be more striking than this tree under the burden of its fruit, over which the branches form a kind of dome, supported by the column-like stem. The fruit resembles in every respect the tropical cocoa nut; the kernel is globular, having a space in the centre, which, when the nut is green, is filled with an agreeable milky tasted liquor, but when dry is quite empty. A curious method is employed for divesting the nuts of their outer rind. They are given to the horned cattle, and being swallowed by them, the filaceous substance is digested, and the nuts voided quite clean. All those sent to market have previously undergone this process! If a bunch of flowers or green nuts be cut from the palm, a large quantity of thick