1831.]. The Laso; its Origin and Use. 377 



The laso, on the other hand, is made of very thin stripes of hides 

 plaited together like the thong of a whip. Attached to one end is a small 

 iron ring, through which the cord runs when it is thrown. Its length 

 varies from eight to ten yards, according as it is used, either on foot or 

 horseback. In the latter case, it is attached to the saddle-girth, and, 

 like the bolas, previously to its being thrown, is whirled horizontally 

 round the head of the rider. The horse should also be well trained, and 

 taught to turn the instant the laso has fallen on the object at which 

 it was thrown, for the purpose of tightening the noose. Great strength 

 of arm and quickness of eye are indispensable for the skilful use of the 

 laso — qualifications which can only be attained by long practice, com- 

 menced at a very early age. It is from this circumstance that we are 

 led to doubt the practicability of successfully introducing it into our 

 service. During a residence of nine years in South America, we never 

 met with, or even heard of, a European who was considered skilful in 

 the use of the laso ; but even were it possible, by dint of long practice, 

 to render our troopers expert in the use of this instrument, we might, 

 after aU, exclaim, " cui bono ?" In Europe there certainly exists no 

 field where its introduction could be attended with either advantage or 

 utility ; while, on the other hand, in South America, every circum- 

 stance in the habits of life of the natives renders the laso an instrument 

 of the first necessity. Almost as soon as he can walk, the young gaucho 

 may be seen launching his bolas at the inhabitants of the Basse-Cour ; 

 while urchins of a larger growth amuse themselves with the laso in 

 making war on the numerous flocks of water-fowl which swarm to the 

 banks of rivers for their pre)'. 



The laso-harness, used by the Buenos Ayrean artillery, certainly pos- 

 sesses the merit of extreme simplicity. Whether the trace attached to 

 the girth, in preference to the horse-collar, diminishes the draught of 

 the carriage, we will not venture to decide — the great advantage of this 

 harness consisting in the facility of unhooking a jaded horse from the 

 gun, and putting on another, not only without halting the carriage, but 

 without diminishing its speed. But in South America it must be borne 

 in mind, that every gun, as well as every regiment of cavalry, is accom- 

 panied by an immense number of supernumerary horses — a circumstance 

 which does not, and which never can, exist in the regular armies of 

 Europe. The introduction of this harness into our service would render 

 it absolutely necessary to have a driver on each horse, or the great 

 advantage of changing horses, without halting the gun, would be lost ; 

 but, in South America, the introduction of the practice of giving a rider 

 to each horse, has not arisen from any conviction of its superiority over 

 the European method, but from the impossibility of managing their half- 

 broken horses in any other way than by the application of their all-powerful 

 bits, and the murderous castigation of their ponderous spurs, which, to 

 the eye of an European, appear more calculated to kill a horse than to 

 urge it forward. 



In General IMiUer's excellent work on the war in South America, 

 many interesting anecdotes of the gaucho will be found ; but neitlier 

 the general, nor Captain Head, who has likewise treated the subject, 

 have related the following : — 



When the Portuguese army, under General Le Coi', conijiosed of 

 .'),000 peninsular troops, advanced, in the year 1817- from Rio Grande 

 do Sul to Monte Video, in their march across the j)lains of tiie Banda 



]\l.ftr. New Scries.— VoL.Xll. No. 70. 2 K 



