Evening star., 1898-11-12

This looks like a stone. 1t forms in
punches as hard as rock and from three
TO eight feet tall 1t is hard that you
cannot cut it with sharp knife. On hot
days a pale yellow gum comes out on its
surface and a rich aromatic odor fills the
surrounding air 1t is known here as the
balSam bog
1t is always cloudy in the Falklands. The
air is moist and the aspect of nature is
dreary in the extreme. Imagine a dull
leaden sky hanging low over reddish brown
moors. out of which here and there jut
the ragged teeth of white rock masses.
and you have general idea of the Fdk-
land island landscape. The islands are
gently rolling, with here and there a rag
geo NIL; the land is rs black as your hat,
fuli OF peat, and here and there streaked
with little streams and spotted with treach-
erous bogs, in which horses and men are
sometimes lost The ground is so soggy,
in fact. that wagons cannot be used. There
is not four-wheeled vehicle in the whole
country. Carts can be used only in Fort
Stanley All travel is on horseback and
stranger dare not go from one sheep farm
TO another without a guide. Such hauling
as is done by the shepherds is on sedges
dragged over the wet but snowIess ground
by horses. All herding of sheep is done
upon horses and with shepherd dogs. which
are raised and trained for the purpose.
sheep Raising in the FaIkIands,
Notwithstanding all this. the islands are
excellent for cattle and sheep The 1au-
the animals feed out all the year round
Before sheep were introduced the islands
fdirly swarmed with wild cattle and wild
horses. About forty years ago it is esti-
mated that there were SO0,OGO wild cattle
on the island. Now these have all disap-
peared and almost that many sheep have
taken their places. The wild cattle were
the first cause of the settlement of the ISL
ards. A rich cattle and hides dealer of
MOntevideO named Lafone bought the right
to the southern part of East Falkland and
all of the wild cattle on the islands in
1871 for S5e.o@ down and the promise to
pay S1oD,GD additional in ten years from
1872. In this deal he got over GN,oO acres
of land and the skins of the wild cattle.
In 1852 he sold out his property to the
Falkland Islands Company for s150o00 and
since then this company has been the lead
ing power in the Falklands. 1t has bought
more land AID it now probably has more
than a million acres 1t has about 100000
sheep and it has sailing vessel which goes
to London once a year to carry it's wool
and bring back the canned goods, clothes,
sheep farming imple ments and other things
required by the islands. 1t has a line of
boats which periodically make the round
OF the islands. carrying the farmers such
goods as they order and bringing their wool
to Stanley for shipment to Europe. The
wool is put up in bales just as we bale
cotton. Much of it goes to the markets
by the regular steamers. That on which 1
take on loo bales of $50 pounds, each
which at 10 cents a pound, the price 1t
will bring in London. will make cargo
worth $1,000.
Among the Shepherds.
II does not take many shepherds to care
for these large flocks of sheep. The farms
are divided up into fields of several thou
sand acres each and fenced with wire
fences, so that all the shepherd has to do
is to ride about among the sheep. His life
is spent upon horseback, each shepherd be-
ing supplied with six horses. The shepherd
watches the flock, he takes the sheep out
of the bogs when they fall in and turns
them over if they fail down. The sneep
here. as in Patagonia, are large and fat,
some of the wethers weighing from 40 to
100 pounds. When such sheep roll upon
their backs they cannot get up. If left
alone in this condition they would lie and
kick until they died, were it not that they
are soon killed by the birds. The buz-
yards here hover over the sheep. They
watch them day and night, and the mo-
ment sheep is on its back they swoop
down upon il and pick out its eyes. They
keep picking at it until it dies in agony
An hour or SO later they have ripped its
skin open and torn the flesh from it's bones
The shepherds tell me it is inconceivable
how the buZzards find the sheep almost the
moment they fall, and that they attack
them even in the night The sheep also fall
into holes, of which there are many all
over the ISidnOS. IL IS the ShephSrdS buSi-
ness to get them out. They have to be
clipped to keep off the scab, and at shear
ing time. which lasts for two months. they
are driven to the wool shed and shorn
They are not washed as are our sheep be-
fore shearing. The wool Is carefully cut
Off. pat into bales of 600 to 800 pounds COW
cred with bagging. hooped with iron and
Slipped thus to London for sale. Most of
the sheep are of the cheviot and Australian
breeds They give heavy fieeces, the aver
age being from to 10 pounds. and running
from that up to p pounds, which was the
actual weight of fleece cut off this season.
Lonely Life.
This life of the shepherds must be a lenely
one They are, you know, all Scotchmen.
who have been brought out here from Scot
land for the purpose. Most of them are
married, and have large families Their
houses are scattered over the farms from
fifteen TO twenty miles apart They are
usually built near a little inlet where the
company'S boat can bring their supplies
and near a peat bed. The proprietor pays
each shepherd from so to S35 a month and
furnishes his meat and fuel. The meat is
mutton, which he can take from the flock
and the fuel is peat, which he must dig out
himself. In addition to this he has a gar
den patch, and with mutton and vegetables
A~