a step, except to rush at man and horse; and many horses have been thus
killed. An old bull crossed a boggy stream, and took his stand on the
opposite side to us; we in vain tried to drive him away, and failing,
were obliged to make a large circuit. The Gauchos in revenge
determined to emasculate him and render him for the future harmless. It
was very interesting to see how art completely mastered force. One
lazo was thrown over his horns as he rushed at the horse, and another
round his hind legs: in a minute the monster was stretched powerless on
the ground. After the lazo has once been drawn tightly round the horns
of a furious animal, it does not at first appear an easy thing to
disengage it again without killing the beast: nor, I apprehend, would
it be so if the man was by himself. By the aid, however, of a second
person throwing his lazo so as to catch both hind legs, it is quickly
managed: for the animal, as long as its hind legs are kept
outstretched, is quite helpless, and the first man can with his hands
loosen his lazo from the horns, and then quietly mount his horse; but
the moment the second man, by backing ever so little, relaxes the
strain, the lazo slips off the legs of the struggling beast, which then
rises free, shakes himself, and vainly rushes at his antagonist.
During our whole ride we saw only one troop of wild horses. These
animals, as well as the cattle, were introduced by the French in 1764,
since which time both have greatly increased. It is a curious fact,
that the horses have never left the eastern end of the island, although
there is no natural boundary to prevent them from roaming, and that
part of the island is not more tempting than the rest. The Gauchos
whom I asked, though asserting this to be the case, were unable to
account for it, except from the strong attachment which horses have to
any locality to which they are accustomed. Considering that the island
does not appear fully stocked, and that there are no beasts of prey, I
was particularly curious to know what has checked their originally
rapid increase. That in a limited island some check would sooner or
later supervene, is inevitable; but why had the increase of the horse
been checked sooner than that of the cattle? Capt. Sulivan has taken
much pains for me in this inquiry. The Gauchos employed here attribute
it chiefly to the stallions constantly roaming from place to place, and
compelling the mares to accompany them, whether or not the young foals
are able to follow. One Gaucho told Capt. Sulivan that he had watched
a stallion for a whole hour, violently kicking and biting a mare till
he forced her to leave her foal to its fate. Capt. Sulivan can so far
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