ps were
formed into column, the band struck up a lively air, and thus was a
human being launched into eternity.
Few current matters strike the stranger as being more peculiar than
the Cuban milkman's mode of supplying the required aliment to his town
customers. He has no cart bearing shining cans, they in turn filled
with milk, or with what purports to be milk; his mode is direct, and
admits of no question as to purity. Driving his sober kine from door
to door, he deliberately milks then and there just the quantity
required by each customer, delivers it, and drives on to the next. The
patient animal becomes as familiar with the residences of her master's
customers as he is himself, and stops unbidden, at regular intervals,
before the proper doors, often followed by a pretty little calf, which
amuses itself by gazing enviously at the process, being prevented from
interfering by a leather muzzle. Sometimes the flow of milk is checked
by an effort of the animal herself, when she seems to realize that the
calf is not getting its share of nourishment. The driver then promptly
brings the calf to the mother's side, and removes the muzzle long
enough to give the little one a brief chance. The cow freely yields
her milk while the calf is close to her, and the milkman, muzzling the
calf, adroitly milks into his measure. The same mode is adopted in
India and the south of Spain. There are at least two good reasons for
delivering milk in hot climates after this fashion. First, there can
be no adulteration of the article; and second, it is sure to be fresh
and sweet. This last is a special desideratum in a climate where ice
is an expensive luxury, and the difficulty of keeping milk from
becoming acid is very great. The effect upon the cow is by no means
salutary, causing the animal to produce much less in quantity than
when milked clean at regularly fixed hours, as with us. Goats are
often driven about for the same purpose and used in the same manner.
It was a surprise not to see more of these animals in Cuba, a country
especially adapted to them. Cows thrive best upon grass, of which
there is comparatively little in the tropics,--vegetation runs to
larger development; but goats eat anything green, and do well nearly
anywhere. It is a singular fact that sheep transported to this climate
cease gradually to produce wool. After three or four generations they
grow only a simple covering, more like hair than wool, and resemble
goats rat
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