CHAPTER XI.

CATTLE MARKING.

In all large and imperfectly settled countries the use of a private mark, or brand, is most important, not only as a means by which animals can be identified and recovered when lost, but as the evidence of legal transfer and of particular breed or strain of stock. Animals are most commonly marked with either some conspicuous and tenacious pigment, by slits or cuts of definite form made in the ear, or by initials or some symbol branded with a heated iron on some part of the body. Sheep may be both ear-marked and lettered with either red or black paint. The lettering is easily and expeditiously effected by the use of the cover or bottom of an old biscuit tin. Lay your sheet of tin on the table, and with the point of your knife sketch out the outline of the letter or letters you have determined on as your mark, taking care that they are of conspicuous size; then with a mallet and chisel cut out the letters. You will then have a sort of stencilling sheet; cut it to a convenient size, nail a piece of wood to it for a handle, and your marker is complete. Place it against your sheep, paint over the outside of the plate with a large paint-brush, and your mark is made in an instant. Your sacks, bags, and boxes can be marked in the same manner with the same contrivance. A herd of cattle can be temporarily marked by a newly-arrived settler in a quarter of an hour or twenty minutes, as follows: Procure a waggon whip handle or a long pole; then lash to its end a round ball of either hide, with the hair on, or a bit of old blanket, fixing on your ball to the stick just as the striker of a drum-stick is made. Dip this in a pot of paint or tar, and then put it adroitly against the haunch or shoulder of the animal to be marked. Give it a sudden sharp twist round, and there will be instantly formed a round ball-like spot. With a lot of timid newly-purchased cattle, with which you are anxious to move off at once, the above plan will be found a good one.

A native herdsman would despise such means of recognition; and many of the colonial farmers would know individually every horse, ox, or sheep in their possession, just as we know by expression of the countenance or peculiarity of figure any person among our own acquaintance; and we have even heard of a case in which the calf of a cow, that had been stolen many years before, was recognised by its resemblance to its mother, and the theft thus traced out and detected.

The cutting of marks in the ear seems to be the more primitive and, perhaps, the easier, as involving less need of tools or apparatus; but it is difficult to give sufficient variety to enable many farmers to have each a distinctive mark. One slit, or more, in the right or left ear, a "swallow-tail" in one and a slit in the other, or a hole punched with a wad cutter, are among the most common; but all are liable to be torn off by dogs or wild animals; and the hole in the ear is especially objectionable, as the creature itself is almost sure to tear it through by scratching with his hinder foot. Moreover, almost all are liable to be altered should the marked property fall into dishonest hands; and most farmers, and, it may be said, all traders, now employ the branding iron--fashioned to represent either their own initials or some arbitrary sign, as a cross, a square, a triangle, a circle or any segment of it, a star of any particular number of rays, the figure formed by crossing two triangles (as here shown).

In America, and some other countries, it is requisite on the purchase of animals--horses and mules especially--that the traveller should not only get a receipt for his purchase money, but get indorsed on it by the seller his acknowledgment of the new owner's counter-brand, in manner as follows: "Received of Capt. ----, the sum of ---- dollars, in payment for a brown mare mule. Seller's brand, O. B.; buyer's brand, W. Signature, &c." The new brand should be placed under the old one, and unless these precautions are taken the new purchaser stands a very excellent chance of having his recently-acquired stock seized on at some frontier post, and detained until the legality of the transfer has been ascertained. It is sometimes agreed on that the owner shall renounce all claim to an animal by reversing his own brand above that originally made by him, thus, [reverseB/A--invertedA/B]

There are tales, however, of certain dwellers at a distance from the law who have acquired considerable skill in altering the marks of any stray cattle that may fall into their hands, and this is an operation requiring no little skill, for should the mark be old, an iron made too hot will burn the addition in so deeply that it will for a long time display an air of freshness not in accordance with the original. Some initials are very easy of alteration; thus, C may be converted into O, or Q, or G; I may be made at least into thirteen letters without increasing its size, which, when it is used in combination with others, is a point of considerable importance, and into several more if a slight increase may be ventured on. P may become B or R, and L or F may be changed to E. It may be well for us to point out to those who have charge of Government stock, or are likely to have stolen animals offered them for sale, that the thief not unfrequently sees fit to adopt an anchor as his brand, as, if it is of proper size, the broad arrow, by the addition of the stock and flukes, makes a very respectable one. We have heard of an unscrupulous colonist who branded all his cattle with a frying pan, and had no particular place on which to apply it; thus, no matter what the brand on a stray horse or ox might be, he had nothing to do but to clap the red hot disk above it, and his own mark speedily and effectually obliterated every other. It is said that he afterwards repented, and, in proof of it, led a most exemplary life in a Government department for fourteen years.

It is a good plan to have a small iron and to brand cattle upon the horns, as it is impossible to efface the mark by any process that would not betray itself. This iron may also be used for branding small articles--such as tent poles, yokes, waggon-gear, or anything in the traveller's possession--not only as a precaution against theft, but as a means of affording an indication of his fate should he perish, as many a poor fellow has done in a gallant but fruitless effort to explore an unknown country.

Any man with a few tools and a moderate share of ingenuity can make his own branding iron from a suitable-sized chunk of soft iron. File it to the right form, give it an even surface; then with a pencil sketch the letter, or mark, on the iron, only taking care to reverse the object as you would in drawing on wood. When your pencil lines are complete, scratch them in with a sharp hard point. Rub a little gunpowder and grease into them in order that they may show conspicuously, and then, with a hammer and small cold chisel, proceed to chip away the superfluous iron until the pattern stands boldly and sharply out. Heat it and try the print on a board, and, if requisite, trim and file again until it is to your satisfaction. A large drill is of great service in making branding irons, which, when finished, can be attached to handles either by leaving a piece of metal on the back of the chunk long enough to weld the hand iron to, or a screw may be made at the back to hold it in its place. Some persons make chunk, hand iron, and all from one piece of metal; others form the letters, &c., from narrow strips of iron, bending them to the required figure, and then riveting them fast to a sort of frame. We, however, consider the solid chunk form of iron by far the best and most durable. A clear charcoal or wood fire is best for heating the brand in. It should be heated just hot enough to singe rather than burn into the skin; so long as the roots of the hair are destroyed the burning may be considered effective. As we have before stated, the particular strain, or breed, of certain animals may be known by the peculiar way in which they are branded. The Arabs have a great number of private marks, which few, save themselves, understand. Horses and dromedaries are marked in an entirely different manner. There is also a distinction drawn by them between large and small horses. The former are known as "Aneezah" Arabs, and, if of high cast, usually bear the peculiar mark of the tribe by which they are reared. All Arab horses under 14 hands are called "Nedjdi." These, when found by any tribe to possess more than ordinary purity of breed and excellence, are marked with an extremely narrow crescent, like a new moon, with the horns a little more than an inch apart. In the illustration on p. 481 we give a few examples of dromedary branding, as showing the particular class of animal indicated by it. 1. Amadabieh. 2 shows the general mark of a Bicharieh tribe, which will be seen to exist on all the other examples. The additions show the private brand of each small community, or division of the tribe, thus: 3. Amitirah; 4. Mahomed-Ouzabieh; 5. Menacir; 6. Achabab; 7. Cawarah; 8. Mahazi; 9. Valgat.

Having shown the marks by which many strains or breeds of camels may be known, it may not be amiss to give a few general hints on camel and hygeene purchase and management.