move the beat of galloping horses' hoofs has drawn near, and ceased. Two men have sprung to the ground, and are securing his legs with ropes; then one rises to draw the blade of a huge knife from its sheath at his belt. A minute later there is a pool of darker crimson by the side of the verbena patches. A couple of hours later there is a log fire upon the Campo, and the beef is being cut into long strips from where it is spitted above the blaze, and eaten wholesale as Gaucho appetite demands. In the meanwhile the carancho birds are gathering thickly above, for meat is cheap upon the open pastures, and they will be economically-minded Gauchos indeed who do not leave them the greater share of the carcass. CHAPTER XXII URUGUAY AS A PASTORAL COUNTRY Origin of the live stock of the country--Influence of the climate and pastures upon the first animals introduced--Live stock census of 1909--Importance of the breeding industry--Various ramifications--Principal items of home consumption--Articles of export--Quality of the first herds introduced--Type of original sheep and horses--Goats and pigs--The introduction of a superior class of animal--The _criollos_ and the _mestizos_--Breeds imported--Durham, Hereford, Polled Angus, and Devon cattle--Dutch, Norman, Flemish, and Swiss cattle--Growth of the dairy industry--Popular breeds of sheep and horses, and pigs--Principal countries from which the animals are derived--Growing value of the local-bred live stock--The manipulation of an estancia--Well-found estates--Uruguayan agricultural societies--Work effected by these--Government support--The Rural Association of Uruguay--Financial results of agricultural shows--Side products--Tallow--Hams--Tanning--"La Carolina"--A great dairy farm--The factory of Breuss and Frey--The _saladeros_, or meat-curing establishments--Number of animals slaughtered--Method by which the meat is cured--_Tasajo_--Countries to which it is exported--The frozen meat trade--"La Frigorifica Uruguaya"--Important growth of the new industry--Shipments of frozen meat. The great numbers of the live stock which to-day constitute the chief wealth of Uruguay owe their origin to the animals introduced by the Spanish _conquistadores_ at the beginning of the seventeenth century. These animals, which, of course, were drawn from the breeds that existed in Spain at that period, found themselves surrounded by conditions that were eminently favourable. Thus, beneath the influence of a temperate climate and of the rich and nourishing pastures that cover almost the entire surface of the Republic their numbers rapidly multiplied. It is for these reasons, moreover, that the breeding and traffic in these animals constitutes at the present day the principal industry of the inhabitants.