The Eaton Democrat. (Eaton, Ohio) 1875-1903, 1885-11-19
TEXAN SHEEP-HERDERS.
The Free and Easy Life Led by the SheI
herds of Texas ana Mexico.

hcruS VI 1cXdB ana MexlcOs =
In riding about the range it was very
pleasant to find, as one constantly did,
by the side of some "motte" (Texan for
a considerable cluster of scrub grewth),
or beneath the shade of a great live
oak, OR on the barren face of a divide,
the little canvas A-tents of the herders,
nestled costly to circular pens for the
sheep, and generally surrounded BY
brush to prevent the intrusion of inquis-
tive cattle. Within the tent a Sheep
skin or SO, stretched on the ground or
on a lattice of branches. for his bed.
and without, a padlocked chest, with a
coffee mill screwed to the top, in which
he keeps his rat ons, a skillet and a few
other utensils hanging from the branches
OF a neighboring tree. a whitened buff
falo's skull for a metate, a smoulderins
tire-this little spot. with its surround
ing fence shutting out the solitude. is
the herder's palace, schloss. villa, town
and country house. SECURE" says
Juan. as he lights a brown cigarette
and quenches the yellow fuse in an
empty cartridge shell, '.man wants but
little here below" They were a genial
and hospitable set. the herders, and if
one arrived about mid day they would
regale him with scraps of jerked beef. a
cake of unleavened bread cooked in the
skillet. and coffee which, considering
what it was made of, was a very in
spring drink. In particular 1 recall
the pastor Patrico, a very pretty fellow,
with curly black hair and eyes, a fine
nose with a patrician lift to the nostrils,
a little black mustache, br;stling like a
cats. on a smiling lip. a red handker-
chief about his neck; he was very volu-
BILE of soft words, and made the waste
blossom with his distinguished manner
A dozen of these camps were to be dis
covered about the range, and the brush
fences and unused corals of man more,
which had been used and would be used
again as the sheep were moved from
grazing-ground to grazing-ground and
! portions of the range temporarily ex-
hausted.
From his camp the herder goes forth
at daybreak with his flock Of fourteen
hundred ewes and lambs or two thou
sand wethers. grazing slowly toward
the creek or neighboring water-hoIe,
where at noon he lies up in the shade;
and to it he slowly returns in the cool
of the afternoon. the flock moving in
loose order among the mosquitoes, tax
ing a nip here, a nip there, but ever
hanging together and dependent, the
most gregarious of animals. In their
unityof action, in their interdependenea
and solidarity, the timid sheep are ca.
pable of a momentary suggestion OF
awe. About weaning-time a couple OF
large focks got temporarily together,
and one could see driven by the
herder a compact mass of four thou,
sand advancing over the prairie with a
quick step, "a unit in aggregate, q
simple in composite" their impossible
c~ountenances gazing ixedly forward,
resembling. it seemed to me. a brigade
going into action. For most of the
year it is thought by no means advisa.
BILE the fold the sheep in the corral al
night, so they sleep at large near it.
Especially on moonlight nights they are
apt to be uneasy and move from their
background short distances, when the
herder quits his tent. and, rolling d
cigarette, follows his fanciful flock
about the blanched and wistful prairie
till they subside; then, throwing his
cloak over his shoulder with the swing
of an hidalgo, he falls asleep beside
them.
The herder's incidents are the fort,
nightly arrival of his rations and the
weekly Or possibly more frequent visit
of the superintendent to count and ex-
anime his flock and inquire after the
general condition of things. The Mex
ican herder invariably denies all knowl-
edge of English and compels one to
meet him on his W ground, which, il
is needless to say, is a far cry from Gas.
tile; and in encounters between Juan
and the superintendent the fine feathers
of syntax are apt to fly in a way l shall
not attempt to OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES
Ho11zjDe