1832.] THROWING THE BOLAS. 45 



balls no sooner strike any object, than, winding round it, they 

 cross each other, and become firmly hitched. The size and 

 weight of the balls varies, according to the purpose for which 

 they are made : when of stone, although not larger than an 

 apple, ihey are sent with such force as sometimes to break the 

 leg even of a horse. I have seen the balls made of wood, and as 

 large as a turnip, for the sake of catching these animals without 

 injuring them. The balls are sometimes made of iron, and these 

 can be hurled to the greatest distance. The main difficulty in 

 using either lazo or bolas is to ride so well as to be able at full 

 speed, and while suddenly turning about, to whirl them so 

 steadily round the head, as to take aim : on foot any person 

 would soon learn the art. One day, as I was amusing myself 

 by galloping and whirling the balls round my head, by accident 

 the free one struck a bush ; and its revolving motion being thus 

 destroyed, it immediately fell to the ground, and like magic 

 caught one hind leg of my horse ; the other ball was then jerked 

 out of my hand, and the horse fairly secured. Luckily he was 

 an old practised animal, and knew what it meant ; otherwise he 

 would probably have kicked till he had thrown himself down. 

 The Gauchos roared with laughter ; they cried out that they 

 had seen every sort of animal caught, but had never before seen 

 a man caught by himself. 



During the two succeeding days, I reached the furthest point 

 which I was anxious to examine. The country wore the same 

 aspect, till at last the fine green turf became more wearisome 

 than a dusty turnpike road. We everywhere saw great numbers 

 of partridges (Nothura major). These birds do not go in coveys, 

 nor do they conceal themselves like the English kind. It appears 

 a very silly bird. A man on horseback by riding round and 

 round in a circle, or rather in a spire, so as to approach closer 

 each time, may knock on the head as many as he pleases. The 

 more common method is to catch them with a running noose, or 

 little lazo, made of the stem of an ostrich's feather, fastened to 

 the end of a long stick. A boy on a quiet old horse will fre- 

 quently thus catch thirty or forty in a day. In Arctic North 

 America* the Indians catch the Varying Hare by walking spirally 



* Hearue's Journey, p. 383. 



