126 A BOOK-LOVER S PIOLIDAYS 



not the slightest fear, nailing him flat against 

 the wall with their chests, and spinning him 

 round when they struck him on occasions when 

 he was trying to make up his mind to resist. 



Meanwhile the bull- rider passed his hat among 

 the spectators, who tossed silver pieces into it 

 thus marking the fundamental difference be 

 tween the life we were witnessing and our own 

 Western ranch life. In Chile, with its aristo 

 cratic social structure, there is a wide gulf be 

 tween the gentry and the ranch-hands ; whereas 

 in the democratic life of our own cow country 

 the ranch-owner has, more often than not, at 

 one time been himself a ranch-hand. 



After the sports in the corral were finished eight 

 or ten of the huasos appeared on big horses at the 

 bar of which I have spoken, and took part in 

 a sport which was entirely new to me. Two 

 champions would appear side by side or half- 

 facing each other, at the bar. Each would turn 

 his horse s head until it hung over the bar as they 

 half -fronted each other, on the same side of the 

 bar. The object was for each man to try to 

 push his opponent away from the bar and 

 then shove past him, usually carrying his op 

 ponent with him. Sometimes it was a contest 

 of man against man. Sometimes each would 

 have two or three backers. No one could touch 



