A PECCARY HUNT ON THE NUECES. 139 



means of which the individuals of a herd 

 could be dexterously shifted into various 

 corrals. The branding of the calves was 

 done ordinarily in one of these corrals and on 

 foot, the calf being always roped by both fore- 

 legs ; otherwise the work of the cowpunchers 

 was much like that of their brothers in the 

 North. As a whole, however, they were dis- 

 tinctly more proficient with the rope, and at 

 least half of them were Mexicans. 



There were some bands of wild cattle living 

 only in the densest timber of the river bot- 

 toms which were literally as wild as deer, and 

 moreover very fierce and dangerous. The 

 pursuit of these was exciting and hazardous 

 in the extreme. The men who took part in 

 it showed not only the utmost daring but the 

 most consummate horsemanship and wonder- 

 ful skill in the use of the rope, the coil being 

 hurled with the force and precision of an iron 

 quoit ; a single man speedily overtaking, 

 roping, throwing, and binding down the fiercest 

 steer or bull. 



There had been many peccaries, or, as the 

 Mexicans and cowpunchers of the border 

 usually call them, javalinas, round this ranch 

 a few years before the date of my visit. Until 

 1886, or thereabouts, these little wild hogs 

 were not much molested, and abounded in 

 the dense chaparral around the lower Rio 

 Grande. In that year, however, it was sud- 

 denly discovered that their hides had a market 

 value, being worth four bits that is, half a 

 dollar apiece ; and many Mexicans and not 



