It occurred to my
mind at last that, with so many cows, it might be possible to procure
some milk and introduce a little change into our diet. In the evening
I broached the subject, proposing that on the following day we should
capture a cow and tame her. Some of the men approved of the suggestion,
remarking that they had never thought of it themselves; but the old
negress, who, being the only representative of the fair sex present,
was always listened to with all the deference due to her position,
threw herself with immense zeal into the opposition. She affirmed that
no cow had been milked at that establishment since its owner had paid
it a visit with his young wife twelve years before. A milch-cow was
then kept, and on the senora partaking of a large quantity of milk
"before breaking her fast," it produced such an indigestion in her
that they were obliged to give her powdered ostrich stomach, and finally
to convey her, with great trouble, in an ox-cart to Paysandu, and
thence by water to Montevideo. The owner ordered the cow to be released,
and never, to her certain knowledge, had cow been milked since at La
Virgen de los Desamparados.
These ominous croakings produced no effect on me, and the next day I
returned to the subject. I did not possess a lasso, and so could not
undertake to capture a half-wild cow without assistance. One of my
fellow _agregados_ at length volunteered to help me, observing
that he had not tasted milk for several years, and was inclined to
renew his acquaintance with that singular beverage.
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