The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-11-13


moors. out of which here and there jut the
ragged teeth of white rock masses. and you
have a general idea Of the Falkland island
landscape. The islands are gently rolling,
with here and there a ragged hill; the land
is as black as your hat, full OF peat. and
here and there streaked with little streams
and spotted with treacherous boys, in which
horses and men are sometimes lost. The
ground is so soggy, in fact, that wagons
cannot be used. There is not a four-wheeled
vehicle in the whole country. Carts can be
used only in Port Stanley. All travel is on
horseback, and a stranger dare not go from
one sheep farm to another without guide.
Such hauling as is done by the shepherds is
on sledges dragged over the wet but snow
less ground by horses. All herding Of sheep
is done upon horses and with shepherd dogs.
which are raised and trained for the pur-
pose.
SHEEP RAISING.
Notwithstanding all this the islands are
excellent for cattle and sheep. The latitude
here is about that of Holland, and the ami
mails feed out all the year round. Before
sheep were introduced the islands fairly
swarmed with wild cattle and wild horses.
About forty years ago it is estimated that
there were 100000 wild cattle on the island.
Now these have all disappeared and almost
that many sheep have taken their places.
The wild cattle were the first cause of the
settlement of the islands 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 1874 for $4,000 down and
the promise to pay 900 additional in ten
years from 1852. In this deal he got over
5000 acres of land and the skins of the
wild cattle. In 1852 he sold out his property
to the Falkland Islands Company for $780,
600 and since then this company has been
the leading power in the Falklands. 1t has
bought more land and it now probably has
more than million acres 1t has about $780,
600 sheep and it has a sailing vessel which
goes to London once a year to carry it's
wool and bring back the canned goods,
clothes, sheep farming implements and other
things required by the islanus. 1t has 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 regu-
lar steamers That on which 1 came is now
loading in the harbor. 1t will take on 200
bales of $50 pounds each which at 10 cents
will make a cargo worth $4,000.
1t does not take many shepherds to care
for these large f1ocks 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 on horseback, each shepherd being
supplied with six horses. The shepherd
watches the flock, he takes the sheep out
of the boys when they fall in and turns
them over if they fall down. The sheep
here, as in Patagonia, are large and fat
some of the wethers weighing from eighty
to one hundred 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 die, were it not that
they are killed long before by the birds. The
buzzards here hover over the sheep. They
watch them day and night, and the mo-
ment a sheep is on its back they sweep
Gown upon it ard pick out its eyes. They
keep picking at it until it dies in agony.
An hour or so later they have ripped it's
skin open and torn the flesh from its bones.
The shepherds tell me it is inconeeivable
how the buzzards find the sheep almost the
moment they fall, and that they attack
them even in the night. The sheep also fall
over the islands, 1t is the shepherds bust
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, put into bales of 900 to 800 poEnds COW
cred with bagging hoped with iron, and
shipped thus to London for SALE Most OF
the sheep are of the cheviot and Australian
breeds. They give heavy 1eeces, the aver
age being from eight to ten pounds, and
running from that up to twenty-one pounds,
which was the actual weight of a fleece cut
off this season.
A LONELY LIFE
This life OF the shepherds must be a lonely
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 little inlet, where the
company's boat can bring their supplies,
and near peat bed. The proprietor pays
each shepherd from $25 to $50 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
he does very well. His flour and other
things he must buy. His home is a little
cottage of two rooms and a lean-to rooted
with corrugated iron. One room serves as
a kitchen and living room and in the other
the family sleeps If there is an overflow
or a guest the loft or attic is also used as a
bedroom. The cooking is done in a curious,
oven-Iike pot, which is sheIved under a
CRATE set in the stone wall of chimney or
fireplace. The fuel is peat and the hot
ashes fall down upon the pot and around it,
The pot is tightly closed at the top, and it
serves for boiling, baking and stewing. The
shepherd has mutton as steady diet He
has mutton chops for breakfast, roast NUT
ton for dinner. and slice of cold mutton
for supper or lunch. The shepherds seldom
leave their farms and the women almost
never. I heard Of one woman who has not
been to town for eighteen years. Her last
visit was when she came to Port Stanley to
be married. Think of living away out on
the dreariest moorland, under the dreariest
sky. in a two-roomed Cottage with no
neighbor within fifteen miles and of coming