248 RAG-TIME AND TANGO
take more than an Imperial gesture to find a substitute for
Argentine cattle. The proof, to put it brutally, is in the
eating. You cannot create quality by resolution of an
Imperial Conference. That is a thing of slower growth. It
comes from lavish spending on the finest stock and from the
deep pastures of the Pampa ; and as you perambulate the
alleys of the Buenos Aires Show, the results stir softly in
the straw beside you—portentous sheep encased in wool
like huge crustaceans in their carapaces, pigs of unusual
silhouette, and gigantic cattle of all shapes and sizes. An
appraising crowd strolls with you; for it knows that Argen-
tina depends more upon those quadrupeds than upon guns.
That is a simple fact which helps to keep the New World
saner than the Old,
The crowds wander down the alleys, lingering to stare at
the competing monsters. But the largest crowd of all at
any hour of the day is drawn by the prize bull. All hours
are the same to him, as he breathes softly in his awe-
inspiring nest; for he is comfortably embedded in an
enormous cube of fodder. At intervals, his respectful
guardian prevails on him to rise; and then we see that he
is the size of a small locomotive, but mor^ lovable, as (unlike
many locomotives) his white bulk is suffused with pink.
But he is mostly to be seen massively recumbent in that
block of fodder. There is something singularly impressive
about a residence that is entirely edible. More than a
touch, indeed, of millionaire's dementia informs the whole
conception; and one begins to wonder why no successful
Wall Street' operator has ever built himself a house of foie
gm. But the whole life of the gran campeon is very like
a millionaire's. For that bulk represents a vast accumu-
lation of nourishment and leisure; and strange stories are
told of his favourite delicacies. The tastes of a prize bull
are often ruinous to purchasers; and as you gaze at the
mild-eyed bulk, it is not easy in Buenos Aires to repress the
thought that the huddled masses round the docks would be
better for a little of the same care. I remember at the end