A VISIT TO TUB COUNTRY. 351 



kept for this purpose only and to increase the stock of horses. If the estate does not possess so 

 many, they air cither h..rrowed for the occasion from relations or intimate friends, or are hired 

 in the neighborhood. On the appointed day the mares an- divided into two equal droves; each 

 of \\hich is ii^iiin Mibdivided, and retained under control of its particular inquilino. A small 

 j-ait iif the I'ilt- heiii-4 raked ..in so as to cover the entire surface of the era, the mares an- d: 

 in l.y squads, each s^iiad lid lowed by its Kiij.ervisor, well mounted. When all the animals are 

 arranged, at a shout from the mayordomo, stationed on top of the pile, the whole drove is started 

 t.i a lull run. After a given number of turns, the count of which is kept by the mayordomo, 

 or yi'yuarizo, (from yegua, a mare), he calls out "vuelta/" (wheel!) the race in that direction 

 is arrested, and they turn upon their tracks at a like speed. Away they go, round and round 

 again, dust and straw whirling in clouds among the excited mass, maddened by the shouts and 

 gestures of the drivers and the crowd who throng the stakes or trees of the enclosure. Greatly 

 do the boys love to climb the posts to urge on the half-tamed animals with domestic whips, as 

 it' themselves were not sufficiently scare-crows to frighten any ordinary horse. Among so large 

 a number of mares, terrified by shouts and screams and occasional lashes from half a hundred 

 men and boys, half the time buried and blinded by flying straw, it would be wonderful if all 

 retained their footing. Under such circumstances, a stumble is necessarily attended by a piling 

 up of all who follow. Yet such is the mass of straw, and the extraordinary skill of natives as 

 horsemen, that they are rarely injured ; but, as the cat is reputed to do in like cases, they are 

 pretty sure to land on their feet. Knowledge of horses and horsemanship begins with early 

 boyhood, and often with early grtVZ-hood, too, for there are not a few of the gentler sex in Chile 

 who at times manage their steeds with a skill and fearlessness startling to us astronomical 

 sailors. How often have I envied the freedom and ease with which the guatas sat when my 

 own beast, no doubt easily divining how much my education had been neglected, was disposed 

 to exhibit airs and graces regardless of the discomfort and instability he occasioned. 



But there are no riders more merciless than Chilenos. The poor brutes who carry them so 

 well at the time, are treated with harshness subsequently, with disregard of their necessities, 

 amounting almost to barbarity. Elsewhere the horse is valuable., and interest prompts care of 

 him : not so here ; a handsome paddle is often of greater value in the market than the good 

 horse on which it is placed. Until recently, saddles of European make were quite uncommon, 

 and guasos even now adhere to the old-fashioned saddle-tree, piled with blankets and covered 

 with skins to a height that their thighs are completely buried in the long, seemingly silken 

 wool. Were it not so hot, pellons, as these are called, would be most comfortable to the 

 rider, but whether so to the animal may very safely be doubted. The stirrups are large trian- 

 gular blocks of wood, eight or nine inches across at the base, elaborately carved, and generally 

 painted black. They have apertures into which the toes may be inserted, and are extremely 

 comfortable, as well as protectors to the feet when riding through bushes or thorny fields. A 

 Mendoza bridle, made of delicately-cut fibres of raw bide not larger than a broom straw and 

 very handsomely plaited, a bit so powerful that a horse at full speed may be arrested and thrown 

 on his haunches, and a pair of spurs weighing from two to three pounds, with rowells as much 

 as four inches from point to point, complete the equipment. One must not suppose the spurs 

 do execution proportionate to their inordinate length ; for, in fact, the rowells are often about 

 the size of goose quills, and very little sharper ungainly, clanking, and noisy things, that give 

 the most comical appearance to their wearers, who go tip-toeing to and from the horse. Except 

 in the fineness of the skins composing the pellon and the costlinessof the stirrups and bridle, the 

 horse-furniture of the era riders is the sarae as that of the gentleman guaso a load of itself, under 

 which one would think the quadruped would swelter in the heat of a January sun. But they 

 go at tip-top speed ainid the impeding straw, aud perhaps without a mouthful of food or a drop 

 of water from morning until night. As the whole of the cavalcade wanted on the road is some- 

 times driven from one city to the other without even a handful of alfalfa, and not more than one 

 drink of water, neglect of this kiud made the greatest impression on me during journeys to and 



